Note: This is the 2010–2011 edition of the eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or click here to jump to the newest eCalendar.
Faculty of Arts Course Requirements
All required and complementary courses used to fulfil program requirements must be completed with a grade of C or better. If you fail to obtain a satisfactory grade in a required course, you must either pass the supplemental examination in the course if this option is available, or repeat the course. Course substitution will be allowed only in special cases; you should consult your academic adviser.
Normally, you are permitted to repeat a failed course only once. (Failure is considered to be a grade of less than C or the administrative failures of J or KF.) If a required course is failed a second time, you must appeal to the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) for permission to take the course a third time. If permission is denied by the Associate Dean and/or by the Committee on Student Standing, on appeal, you must withdraw from the program. If the failed course is a complementary course required by your program, you may choose to replace it with another appropriate complementary course. If you choose to substitute another complementary course for a complementary course in which a D was received, credit for the first course will still be given, but as an elective. If you repeat a required course in which a D was received, credit will be given only once.
Full details of the course requirements for all programs offered are given in each unit’s section together with the locations of departmental advisory offices, program directors and telephone numbers should further information be required.
Jump To:
- Course Prerequisites
- Course Overlap
- Courses Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science
- Inter-University Transfer Credit Policy for Courses Taken Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science
- Inter-Faculty Transfer Credit Policy for Courses Taken Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science
- Policy on Distance Education Courses
- Internship Courses
- Courses in English as a Second Language (ESL)
- First-Year Seminar Courses
Course Prerequisites
Faculty of Arts Course Prerequisites
The Faculty of Arts does not prevent you from registering for courses if you do not have the required prerequisites. However, if you lack the prerequisite course, you must consult with the instructor of the course you want to take, to ensure that you have the necessary background. Please note that other faculties may not allow registration without the required prerequisite courses.
Course Overlap
Faculty of Arts Course Overlap Policy
You will not receive additional credit towards your degree for any course that overlaps in content with a course for which you have already received credit at 91ÉçÇø, CEGEP, at another university, or Advanced Placement exams, Advanced Level results, International Baccalaureate Diploma, or French Baccalaureate. It is your responsibility to consult Arts OASIS or the department offering the course as to whether or not credit can be obtained and to be aware of exclusion clauses specified in the course description in this publication. Please refer to the following website for specific information about advanced standing credits and 91ÉçÇø course exemptions: www.mcgill.ca/student-records/transfercredits.
Credit for statistics courses will be given with the following stipulations:
- Credit will be given for ONLY ONE of the following introductory statistics courses: AEMA 310, BIOL 373, ECON 227D1/D2, ECON 257D1/D2, EPSC 215, GEOG 202, MATH 203, MGCR 271, MGCR 273, PSYC 204, SOCI 350.
- Credit will be given for ONLY ONE of the following intermediate statistics courses: AEMA 411, ECON 227D1/D2, ECON 257D1/D2, GEOG 351, MATH 204, MGCR 272, PSYC 305, SOCI 461. Only when ECON 227D1/D2 or ECON 257D1/D2 is combined with PSYC 305, will credit be given for both courses.
- Students who have already received credit for MATH 324 or MATH 357 will NOT receive credit for any of the following: AEMA 310, AEMA 411, BIOL 373, ECON 227D1/D2, ECON 257D1/D2, EPSC 215, GEOG 202, GEOG 351, MATH 203, MATH 204, MGCR 271, MGCR 272, MGCR 273, PSYC 204, PSYC 305, SOCI 350.
- For 500-level statistics courses not listed above, students must consult a program adviser to ensure that no significant overlap exists. Where such overlap exists with a course for which the student has already received credit, credit for the 500-level course will not be allowed.
- PSYC 204 may not be taken if a grade of 75% was received in an equivalent course completed at CEGEP.
Credit for computer courses will be subject to the following restrictions:
Courses Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science
Courses Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science (Bachelor of Arts Degree)
The following regulations apply to you if you wish to take courses outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science:
- Regardless of the minimum credit requirement towards your B.A. degree, you are allowed a maximum of 12 credits in elective and/or complementary courses taken in faculties other than the Faculties of Arts and of Science.
-
In
certain designated programs that include a number of required and complementary
courses in other faculties,
you are permitted a maximum of 30 credits outside the
Faculties of Arts and of Science. These programs are as follows:
- Faculty programs:
- Minors:
- Education for Arts students
- Finance for non-Management students
- Management for non-Management students
- Marketing for non-Management students
- Musical Applications of Technology
- Musical Science and Technology
- Operations Management for non-Management students
- Minor Concentrations:
- Major Concentrations:
- Honours:
- Joint Honours:
- If you combine any two or more of the programs listed above, you may not exceed 40 credits outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science.
-
Any courses taught at 91ÉçÇø
University may be used towards the maximum allowed with the following
exceptions:
- Continuing Education: Continuing Education courses with a teaching unit that starts with C are not for credit (except for CHEM).
- Distance Education: Refer to Policy on Distance Education Courses in this publication.
- For the purpose of this policy, courses taught in other faculties and specifically listed in the Arts or Science section of this publication are considered as courses taught in the Faculties of Arts and of Science.
- For the purpose of this policy, all courses taken to fulfil the requirements for an approved field semester will be considered as courses in Arts or Science.
Inter-University Transfer Credit Policy for Courses Taken Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science
Faculty of Arts Inter-University Transfer Credit Policy for Courses Taken Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science
If you transfer from a faculty outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science at another institution, you may transfer up to a maximum of 30 credits under the following conditions:
- Only courses passed with a grade of C or better will be transferred. Grades of C-, P or S are not acceptable. The letter grades applied by your former home institution take precedence over the numerical grades if provided.
- Decisions on whether a course is outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science will be based on the original faculty in which your course was taken.
- Refer to Policy on Distance Education Courses.
- Transfer credits for Continuing Education courses will be granted only if the courses can be used towards a degree program in a faculty other than Continuing Education at your former home university.
- You will be allowed to take courses outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science at 91ÉçÇø only if you have transferred fewer than 12 credits, and then only up to a maximum of 12 credits.
- If you register for a Faculty of Arts program that requires additional credits outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science, you will be allowed to take only the number of credits outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science required to complete your program. These programs are listed under Courses Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science.
Inter-Faculty Transfer Credit Policy for Courses Taken Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science
Bachelor of Arts Inter-Faculty Transfer Credit Policy for Courses Taken Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science
You will normally have counted for credit (for grades of D or better) and/or GPA (regardless of the grade) all courses in Arts and Science, and up to a maximum of 30 credits of courses outside of Arts and of Science.
- You will be allowed to take courses outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science at 91ÉçÇø only if you have transferred fewer than 12 credits, and then only up to a maximum of 12 credits.
- If you register for a Faculty of Arts program that requires additional credits outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science, you will be allowed to take only the number of credits outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science required to complete your program. These programs are listed under Courses Outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science.
Policy on Distance Education Courses
Policy on Distance Education Courses for the Faculty of Arts
A maximum of 6 credits of elective courses taught through distance education may be used towards your degree at 91ÉçÇø. Courses taught through distance education from institutions other than 91ÉçÇø will be approved as transfer credits under the following conditions:
- the course is given by a government-accredited, degree-granting institution acceptable to 91ÉçÇø;
- the course counts for credit towards degrees granted at the institution giving the course;
- prior approval for the course is obtained from Arts OASIS.
The combined total of regular course credits and distance education course credits may not exceed the permitted maximum number of credits per term according to Faculty regulations. Courses taught through distance education may not be used to complete program requirements, except on an individual basis when serious, documented circumstances warrant it. In such cases, prior approval must be obtained from your departmental academic adviser and the Associate Dean (Student Affairs).
Internship Courses
Internship Courses (Faculty of Arts)
The Faculty of Arts offers internship courses for credit. For more information, refer to Faculty of Arts Internship Program.
Courses in English as a Second Language (ESL)
Courses in English as a Second Language (ESL) - Bachelor of Arts Degree
Up to a maximum of 12 credits of ESL courses, including academic writing courses for non-anglophones, are open to you if your primary language is not English and you have studied for fewer than five years in an English-language secondary institution.
Placement tests are required for all courses offered through the English and French Language Centre. Soon after the tests are evaluated, you will be issued a departmental approval for course registration.
First-Year Seminar Courses
Faculty of Arts First-Year Seminar Courses
Registration for First-Year Seminars is limited to students in their first year of study at 91ÉçÇø, i.e., newly admitted students in U0 or U1. These courses are designed to provide a closer interaction with professors and better working relations with peers than is available in large introductory courses. These seminars endeavour to teach the latest scholarly developments and expose participants to advanced research methods. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. The maximum number of students in any seminar is 25, although some are limited to even fewer than that.
You may take only one First-Year Seminar. If you register for more than one, you will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them. For a complete listing, see First-Year Seminars.
The First-Year Seminars offered by the Faculty of Science are also open to Arts students. For a complete listing, see Faculty of Science > Registration for First-Year Seminars in this publication.