Why Choose Arts at the U of A?

Dream Big. Options. Reputation. Results. Location.  

Dream Big 

A large research-intensive university means millions of dollars in scholarships, numerous student services and facilities, Canada's second-largest research library (great for all those papers), and more than 400 student groups!

A large Arts Faculty means:

• 350 full time faculty to instruct you, among them many leaders in their fields
• a thriving Arts student association, the Collective Body for Arts Students (CBAS)
• a large scholarship pool
• many education abroad opportunities, including our School in Cortona, Italy
• the opportunity to participate in Community Service Learning, a link between academic coursework and community-based experiences  
  
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Options

The U of A has 17 faculties with over 200 undergraduate programs and 170 graduate programs. We offer you a connection to the global community with 295 international linkages and exchanges in more than 50 countries at over 100 different institutions. Moreover, the U of A ranks fourth in annual sponsored research funding at Canadian universities. This means opportunities to get involved in research at the undergraduate level.

Program Options:

• 20 departments and institutes representing 30 majors/minors
• paid research opportunities at the undergraduate level through the Roger S. Smith Award
• 20+ languages to study, including American Sign Language
  
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Reputation

The U of A in its 100 year history has become one of the world's top research universities and has a goal of being in the top 20 by 2020. The U of A also leads the country with 28 professors who have received national 3M Teaching Fellowships, Canada's highest award for university teaching excellence. We are also the only university in Canada to win national collegiate championships in all 11 team sports and the most national championships in the past 25 years.

Proven Excellence:

• Recently Professors David Kahane (Political Science) David Barnet (Drama) received the 3M Teaching Fellowship, Canada highest award for teaching excellence and educational leadership.
• our Industrial Design program had the distinction of being the first and only Canadian design school to be accepted into New York's International Contemporary Furniture Fair in the exhibit's two-decade history.
• in 2009, 18 reseachers in the Faculty of Arts were awarded over $1.3 million dollars in national grants
• In 2009, Professor Jonathan Hart (English & Film Studies, Comparative Literature) was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Visiting Chair Award. In 2008, Professors Lois Harder (Political Science) and Paul Hjartarson (English & Film Studies) received awards from the renowned Canada-US Fulbright program.
  
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Results

The sky is the limit for U of A graduates. Our grads are accepted into graduate programs, business programs, law, medicine and dentistry programs offered at the U of A and other major universities worldwide.

Attaining your goals:

• we have a Faculty of Arts Career Development Officer dedicated to helping you connect with the career you desire
• over 95% of our grads have jobs six months after graduation
• as an internationally-accredited program, our grads have a degree that is recognized and prized worldwide
  
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Location

The Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta is located next to the very cool historical neighbourhood of Old Strathcona, which includes Whyte Avenue, Edmonton's arts & entertainment district. Characterized by cafes, restaurants, theatres, funky clothing shops and music stores, Whyte Ave. has everything to satisfy a student's off-hours fun needs.

Diverse Diversions:

• Edmonton is home to one of the largest theatre communities in Canada, including the largest Fringe Theatre Festival, whose home turf is Whyte Ave.
• Thriving music scene including blues, celtic, jazz and rock venues all within blocks of each other on Whyte Ave.
• 9 book and magazine stores, 54 clothing stores, 20 gift stores and more.