Academic Units

The Institute of African Studies builds on Carleton’s long history of expertise on Africa by pulling together the growing number of faculty members and experts in the Ottawa-Gatineau region to provide fresh insight into current and historical dynamics of Africa – from the slave trade that reshaped the continent and the Atlantic world to the richly textured and innovative religious practices and livelihood strategies, from conflicts, refugees, and peace-building efforts to the production and reception of world-renowned and locally-consumed literatures, music and film.

The School for Studies in Art and Culture is a dynamic interdisciplinary school that houses undergraduate and graduate programs in Art & Architectural History, Film Studies, and Music. Because we have three academic disciplines in one School, students take advantage of interdisciplinary approaches and benefit from the shared knowledge of faculty in all three disciplines.

The School of Canadian Studies tackles problems that do not fit easily into disciplinary boundaries, including the relationship between settlers and the land they occupy, the trauma of colonialism and the process of reconciliation, the complexities of understanding and preserving heritage, tensions between urban and rural parts of the country, nation-branding, and the representation and performance of identity. These problems demand creative and innovative research methods and ways of thinking; the goal of our programs is to help students develop the skills necessary to meet them.

The Centre for Initiatives in Education has a 25 year history of innovation with post-secondary access, incubating diverse educational programming to make university more accessible and inclusive.

The Department of Cognitive Science offers a unique, integrated approach to understanding how humans, animals, and machines think. It’s one of only a few programs of its kind in the world, combining insights from psychology, AI, philosophy, linguistics, and cognitive neuroscience.

The Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture is a haven for intellectually rebellious researchers. It offers a vibrant teaching and learning environment where research transcends conventional boundaries, and where interdisciplinary ideas and new dimensions of thought open up.

The English department offers students a diverse and vibrant array of courses, opportunities for community engagement and experiential learning, a lively community of peers, and program elements designed to help students discern how best to deploy their English degrees in their search for employment or in further studies.

Offering programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Women’s and Gender Studies and in Feminist and Gender Studies, FIST is a dynamic and inclusive intellectual community where students and faculty engage with critical issues related to gender, race, sexuality, disability, colonialism, and other intersecting structures of power.

The Department of French offers a range of programs to practice and improve both the oral and written French language.

The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies addresses climate crisis, inequality, colonialism, and social and environmental injustice within a community of dedicated scholars focused on tackling these urgent global issues.

The Department offers courses in African, American, Asian, Canadian, Caribbean, European, Latin American and South Asian history. Some courses trace the history of a region or period’s social, political and cultural change. Others are thematic and may examine women’s history, the histories of science, sexuality, food and drink, or slavery.

The College of the Humanities was founded in 1996 in order to provide an undergraduate education for students drawing on all the traditional Arts subjects through the Bachelor of Humanities degree program. The interdisciplinary character of the College has since been enhanced by the addition of two further degree programs, a Bachelor of Arts in Greek and Roman Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Religion.

The Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies brings together faculty and students from across the campus who share research interests that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries, in the arts, social and natural sciences. Across the programs, we offer courses that advance anti-colonial, decolonial, anti-racist, Indigenous, transnational, and community approaches to learning and research.

The School of Linguistics and Language Studies is the place on campus for all things language. SLaLS offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Linguistics and in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies, and a Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language (CTESL), world-class modern language courses, English as a Second Language for Academic Purposes (ESLA), and advanced Communication Courses for the Disciplines and Professions.

The Department of Philosophy’s track record of award-winning teaching and excellence in research helps shape its strong undergraduate program and its distinctive and robust two-year MA program.

The Department of Psychology is home to dedicated faculty members who are actively conducting both basic and applied research addressing questions such as: How do people adapt to life-changing events? Can future violent behaviour be predicted? How does understanding children’s thinking help teachers and parents?

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University is one of the oldest and most highly regarded departments within its disciplines in Canada. Offering undergraduate and graduate programs in Sociology and Anthropology, and a Minor in Community Engagement, the department is a lively hub of academic research, training, and learning.