Faculty of Arts and Science

Welcome to the Faculty of Arts and Science

Build your future through a flexible Arts and Science education that combines broad program choice, personalized learning, and real research opportunities.

  • Explore 20+ programs across the Arts and Sciences.
  • Learn in small classes with dedicated faculty support.
  • Get involved in research and gain experience beyond the classroom.
  • Study in modern facilities surrounded by 256 acres of forest.
  • First-year students admitted from high school are guaranteed a single room in residence.

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Future Students

Programs in our faculty

Available certificates & minors

 

Previously offered programs

Students previously admitted to Ancient Studies or Classical Studies, Anthropology, Economics, Gender Equality & Social Justice, and Religions & Cultures can find their program requirements in the Calendar Archive.

The entire Nipissing faculty of arts and science in convocation gowns standing in a group in front of the library background
Meet the Faculty of Arts and Science
students and instructors examine lab samples
State of the Arts and Science Labs
At Nipissing we have a variety of science programs ranging from geography to computer science. Our campus provides access to natural resources right outside the door and our labs are fully equipped to support your learning.
student support seminar
Award-winning Support Team
Our students have access to support from the top-rated Student Services team in Canada (Maclean’s University Ranking).
students at Monastery pond
Be Inspired by Our Natural Surroundings
We are located on the beautiful Laurentian Escarpment, surrounded by trails, ponds and lakes.

Current Students Program Resources

SHARCNET

SHARCNET is a consortium of 18 colleges, universities and research institutes operating a network of high-performance computer clusters across south western, central and northern Ontario.

Our technological facilities are ​up-to-the-minute, including computer labs and robotics labs. We also provide access to SHARCNET, a consortium of universities who share a network of high performance computers that enables research.

  • The Sun Lab (a dedicated Computer Science instructional space).
  • Physics Lab
  • Robotics Lab

Creative Writing Courses

Students wishing to enroll in ENGL 3516 and/or ENGL 3517 must prepare the following application package:

  • A letter of application containing all contact information, including student number, and indicating which course(s) student is applying for entry to
  • A portfolio of the student’s best work in poetry (5-10 pages, double-spaced) or prose (5-10 pages, double-spaced) or both, as required
  • Packages should be submitted, in paper copy, to the Chair of English Studies by April 15
  • Students will be contacted by the Course Instructor

 

Honours Seminars

Nipissing University Geography Club

Dedicated to enhancing the social and educational well being of geography students at Nipissing University, North Bay.

Our faculty study and teach a variety of fields in North American, European and World History. We have expertise in Canadian political and social history, modern and early modern European and British history, the Middle Ages, the colonial and antebellum United States, the Second World War and its aftermath, the history of genocide and war crimes trials, Russian/Soviet history, 20th century International history, and more!

The Seminar Experience at Nipissing University

Our students attend two hours of lecture and one hour of seminar per week. During the small weekly seminars students critically discuss the course material which includes historical documents. The seminar instructors also offer skills training to help students master university-level essay writing. The seminars are designed to help students get comfortable with expressing their ideas.

The History Department's Style Guide
The standard style and reference guide that students should use while writing their essays.

The Canadian Historical Association / La Société historique du Canada
Founded in 1922, the Canadian Historical Association / La Société historique du Canada is a bilingual not-for-profit and charitable association devoted to fostering the scholarly study and communication of history in Canada. It is the largest of its kind in the country.

The Association seeks to encourage the integration of historical knowledge and perspectives in both the scholarly and public spheres, to ensure the accessibility of historical resources, and to defend the rights and freedoms of professional and emerging historians in the pursuit of historical inquiry.

Cradling the Heart: An Anishnabek Creation Story (Video)
Terry Dokis is a citizen of Dokis First Nation with kinship connections to Nipissing First Nation. Over more than twenty-five years, Terry created, sustained, and taught in the Indigenous Studies program at Nipissing University. In 2018, just after he retired Terry generously agreed to work with Katrina Srigley and Greg Foster to gift us a version of the Nishnaabeg Creation Story he carries, Cradling the Heart: an Anishnabek Creation Story is the result.

The Nipissing Warriors Documentary (Video)
Nipissing University is proud to present this exclusive release of the documentary movie Warriors. Emerging from the Nipissing First Nation Culture and Heritage history preservation project, the movie was jointly produced by Dr. Katrina Srigley, professor of History; and Glenna Beaucage, Nipissing First Nation culture and heritage manager, in association with Regan Pictures.

Biidaaban Community Service-Learning (BCSL)
Community Service-Learning (CSL) is a form of experiential learning that addresses community needs. Faculty incorporate CSL opportunities in their courses for students to support community organizations in many ways. 

Indigenous Studies Student Showcase
A showcase of photos, artwork and cultural learning by our talented Indigenous students, staff and faculty. Plus, find details about upcoming indigenous events as well as an archive of past events, posters and other information.

Indigenous Resources Guide
A guide highlighting works by and about Indigenous Peoples.

Math Drop-In Centre
You can participate in math competitions like the Kangaroo Contest or in student-organized events like Pi Day. If you’re interested in teaching, you can get involved in running math circles at local elementary schools. You can also tutor your fellow students—or get some help yourself, if you need it—at the Math Drop-In Centre.

NUMERIC
The Nipissing University Mathematics Education, Research, and Information Centre (NUMERIC) represents a group of educators from the Faculty of Arts and Science (Mathematics/Physics), the Faculty of Education (Mathematics), and the local community who share an interest in promoting the learning and appreciation of mathematics through a variety of sponsored events.
We are pleased to announce that Nipissing University is an Afilliate Member of The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences. The Fields Institute, while focusing much of its attention on mathematics as a discipline, also features the Math Ed Forum which offers regular public meetings at Fields, as well as sponsoring a variety of mathematics education events and projects. 

Nipissing Computational Physics Laboratory (NCPL)
The general focus of the NCPL is to develop, implement and apply advanced numerical algorithms and computational methodologies for the solution of problems arising from nanophotonics for nanotechnology and nanomedicine applications. The NCPL is an advanced physics lab intended for junior and senior level students in science and engineering. We are primarily engaged with the design of algorithms for nanoscale and multiphysics problems described by 3D fully coupled partial differential equations. Our lab is equipped with high performance computational server and several workstations with multiple operating system environments, and running a number of computational and simulation programs including COMSOL Multiphysics, MATLAB, Maple, Mathematica, Numerical Recipes, the Electronic Workbench, and others.

Topology Research Group
Topology is a study of very far reaching generalization of geometric properties of objects, invariant under special types of deformations. Topological methods are widely used in functional analysis, differential equations, algebra, and other areas of mathematic. The following topics are of particular interest for the members of the department: dimension theory (classical, cohomological, extension, and asymptotic dimensions; infinite-dimensional spaces), selections, continuum theory, dynamical systems. 

Nipissing University Philosophy Society (NUPS)
Get involved beyond the classroom, the Nipissing University Philosophy Society is a monthly gathering where you can hang out with your peers and discuss ideas.

Nipissing University Peace Research Initiative

  • Alternatively, you may want to get involved with NUPRI, the Nipissing University Peace Research Initiative, which is dedicated to facilitating, coordinating, and providing common space for individuals and organizations to meet and develop peace-building projects and events. Its Agents of Peace project includes an innovative online database that catalogues the work of people who are dedicated to promoting peace, and you can participate.​
  • You can further your learning as an undergraduate student by taking on a research assistant role and working with a professor, which is excellent preparation should you want to pursue graduate studies.

Political Science Student Goals

1st Year - Educating intelligent, engaged citizens
Goal: To be able to speak and write intelligently about current politics using key concepts of political science.

2nd Year - Basic training in political science scholarship
Goal: To be able to write a political science essay referring to primary sources in the discipline.

3rd Year - Advancing scholarship through debate and collaboration
Goal: To be able to lead a seminar discussion, referring to key concepts and advanced texts using current political events for examples.

4th Year - Preparation for graduate or professional studies through specialized independent study
Goal: To be able to organize and write a major research paper and present an original thesis.

“…one must go the longer way and must labour no less in studies than in the exercises of the body, or else, … he will never come to the end of the greatest study and that which most properly belongs to him.” Plato Republic, 6.504d

Political Science Resources

CIA World Fact Book: From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, current information on a country's government, economy, geography, people, military from the perspective of this American intelligence agency.

Constitute Project: The World's Constitutions to Read, Search, and Compare. Links to full-text versions of documents available on the web.

ElectionGuide.org: Guide for election dates, information, and results for countries around the world covering 1998 to present.

openDemocracy.net: An online global magazine of politics and culture.

Government of Canada

Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Perseus Project: an extensive searchable digital collection of classic texts.

Wikipedia: An online open-source encyclopedia. A good place to begin identifying unknown terms or names.

Millennium: A progressive, graduate-student-run journal of international relations.

Foreign Affairs: A highly reputable journal of international relations. Use the sign up feature to have new issues delivered to your email address before they arrive on news stands.

Foreign Policy: An on-line compliment to the magazine on global politics, economics and ideas.

The Economist: Much more than economics: global news and views.

American Journal of Political Science

Human Rights Watch: An organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. Detailed issue and area specific reports are available to download.

Ceasefire: A web-based resource maintained by the Polaris Institute to collect news on Canada's military spending while promoting peace, disarmament and social justice.

Polaris Institute: A think-tank, media relations agency and lobby group working towards peace while providing orientation for citizen movements fighting for democratic social change in an age of corporate driven globalization.

Project Ploughshares: An ecumenical agency of the Canadian Council of Churches established in 1976 to implement the churches' call to be peacemakers. Their mandate is to work with churches and related organizations, as well as governments and non-governmental organizations, in Canada and abroad, to identify, develop, and advance approaches that build peace and prevent war, and promote the peaceful resolution of political conflict.

The Maps of War: A Flash animation of the various empires that have carved up the Middle East from 3000 BCE to the present.

Princeton Web Lectures: A selection of lectures delivered at Princeton University by distinguished scholars in streaming video.

Derrida and the Ends of Man: An account of Derrida's deconstruction of modernity and the sort of self that sustains that civilization.

Allan Bloom on Nietzsche: Audio of an Allan Bloom lecture on the relevance of Nietzsche.

Slavoj Zizek on love: Zlavoj Zizek on how to love the world.

China and the Olympics: Naomi Klein on China's role as a player on the global stage, and the emergence of its 'authoritarian capitalism'.

Chomsky on U.S. policy: Noam Chomsky on why the US expresses hostility towards Iran.

Justice vs. Power: Does progress have its basis in an underlying human nature? Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault debate.

Stop the Clash of Civilizations: Avaaz.org - 'the world in action' - is an on-line advocacy group and an instrument of an emergent global civil society.

SWLF 2995 Community Service-learning for Social Development

In recent years, students in SWLF 2995 (Community Service-learning for Social Development) have undertaken placements at a number of local agencies.

See complete list

Graduate Studies Workshops

Sociology at Nipissing University offers a range of methodological and theoretical approaches, but our areas of specialization focus on the following key areas:

  • Health, Demography and Aging: fertility and family planning; social gerontology; illness & mental disorder; palliative care; social determinants of health; retirement and pensions; age discrimination; human sexuality
  • Social Stratification, Work and Labour Markets: social origins and educational outcomes; hiring and retirement discrimination; gender inequality; school-to-work transitions; postsecondary access; employment outcomes; alternative forms of education
  • Science, Technology and Society: knowledge exchange, mobilization and commercialization; water reuse technologies; sociology of the environment; sociology of risk; indigenous knowledges; mass media and culture
  • Globalization, Development and Organizations: aboriginal communities and resource development; the global south; institutional analysis; sociology of organizations; sustainability and political processes

These substantive areas of interest are combined with expertise in contemporary and classical theories, program and policy evaluation, survey methods, quantitative research methods and statistics, and qualitative methods.

Professional, Non-profit Associations:​

Resources:

Thesis and Independent Study Applications

Facilities and Research Centres

Learn more about the interdisciplinary research taking place in our research centres and groups.

See Facilities & Research centres

Dean's welcome, Contact us, Resources, Policies & Regulations

Welcome from the Dean of Arts & Science

Welcome to the Faculty of Arts & Science at Nipissing University!

A man in gray shirt standing with the interior background of the library in view

We are delighted to have you as part of our vibrant academic community. Whether you are learning, teaching, researching, or supporting the work we do, your contributions make our faculty a dynamic and inspiring place.

The Faculty of Arts & Science offers an incredible range of opportunities to explore ideas, expand knowledge, and engage with the world. From the wonders of the natural sciences to the creativity of the arts and humanities, our disciplines invite curiosity and foster growth. Together, we are committed to excellence in education, research, and collaboration.

At Nipissing, we value small class sizes, personalized attention, and a welcoming environment where everyone feels at home. We emphasize experiential learning and diverse approaches to teaching and scholarship, ensuring that our community thrives both inside and outside the classroom.

Life at Nipissing is about more than academics. It’s about building connections, discovering new interests, and contributing to a supportive and inclusive campus culture. We encourage you to take advantage of the many opportunities available, whether through research, extracurricular activities, or community engagement.

Thank you for being part of our faculty. We look forward to working, learning, and growing together.

Community Engagement and Experiential Learning

Community Engagement Courses (CECs)

What’s the aim?

  • Community engagement courses foster student-community engagement through integrated learning where students and community members learn together about important social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues; indigenous history and culture; conflict resolution; food and land; death and dying; and many other topics that address our planetary challenges.
  • As you immerse yourself in the course content of your choosing, you will have the opportunity to connect with both the course instructor and Nipissing students.
  • We offer the courses for credit to students and non-credit for community members.
  • If you are a community member and would like to know more about our courses, please click here to be redirected to the Extended Learning page.
  • If you are a student, please register through WebAdvisor.

 

What's happening in Arts & Science