New Programs
Special Topics courses
Winter 2025 Special Topics courses
For the most current course information, please refer to the Academic Calendar and Banner. Courses are in person on campus, unless otherwise noted.
Special Topics in Atlantic Canada Studies
Thursdays, 4–6:30 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Renée Hulan
ACST 4831/6671 – Environmental Histories of Atlantic Canada (CRN 28008/28009)
Thursdays, 1–3:45 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Heather Green
ASNT 1827 – Introduction to Korean Language II (CRN 28275)
Special Topics in Asian Studies
Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:30–3:45 pm
Instructor: TBA
ENGL 3834 – Queer Lives and Letters (CRN 28076)
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1–2:15 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Luke Hathaway
Special Topics in French and Intercultural Studies
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30–3:45 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Annick MacAskill
Study French literature and film by artists from the LGBTQ+ community, including Jean-Luc Lagarce and Nina Bouraoui. This course is taught in English with texts and films in English translation and with subtitles.
GDST 4426.2/6642.2 – International Human Rights & Development (CRN 28039/28041)
Special Topics in Global Development Studies
Remote asynchronous | Instructor: TBA
Although most countries have accepted international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the full realization of human rights remains problematic across the world. This course will guide students to achieve an understanding of how development policies and practices impede or facilitate the realization of human rights in ways that are gendered, racialized and classed. Through weekly seminars and lectures, students will further gain knowledge about pressing global issues such as healthcare, labour, migration and the environment through a dual rights-based and developmental perspective.
GDST 4844.2/6826.2 – Development Administration (CRN 28139/28140)
Remote synchronous | Thursdays 4–6:30 p.m. | Instructor: TBA
Explore key issues in development management and the roles of different kinds of development professionals. Students will examine the tasks involved in sustainable development processes; how culture affects development management in the South and North; issues of participation, community empowerment, and capacity building; and effective approaches to project management and evaluation. These themes will be explored with an eye toward rethinking conventional development approaches in the context of contemporary issues such as foreign assistance, agriculture, climate change, health, education, housing and migration.
ICST / HWSS 2827 – An Intercultural Approach to Health & Wellness Enhancement (CRN 28284/28283)
Special Topics in Intercultural Studies / Health, Wellness and Sport in Society
Mondays and Wednesdays, 1–2:15 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Charles P. Beaupré
ICST 3826 – Intercultural Cinema (CRN 27624)
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30–3:45 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Charles P. Beaupré
IRST 3832.2 – Understanding Northern Ireland (CRN 28108)
Special Topics in Irish Studies
Remote synchronous | Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1–2:15 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Edward Molloy
Study the Northern Ireland Conflict (1968-1998) through an array of primary and secondary sources including reportage, cinema, television and poetry. For more details, contact irishstudies@smu.ca.
LING 4848 – Neuroscience Research Methods (CRN 28085)
Special Topics in Linguistics
Tuesdays, 1–3:45 p.m. (with labs on Thursdays)
Instructor: Patrick Carolan
LING 4518 – Bilingualism (CRN 28084)
Special Topics in Applied Linguistics
Mondays and Wednesdays, 1–2:15 p.m.
Instructor: Shiti Malhotra
POLI 3826 – Espionage and Covert Relations (CRN 27859)
Selected Topics in Political Science
Remote synchronous | Tuesdays, 4-6:30 p.m.
Instructor: TBA
RELS 2826.1 – Monsters (CRN 28122)
RELS 4832.1 – Cults and Popular Culture (CRN 28124)
Tuesdays 2:30–5 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Mary Hale
Cults, or New Religions, are often viewed as harmful and negative (and, of course, some are!). But they are also fascinating and give us important insight into the various ways people try to make sense of their world. In this seminar course, we look beyond some of the stereotypes to the many different ways cults and popular culture influence one another. Among other things, we will look at cultural artifacts (such as architecture, clothing, fine art), planned communities and agriculture. We will also explore how cults have been formed in response to books and movies and social issues (Church of All Worlds, Jediism, The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster). Students are also welcome and encouraged to explore their own relevant interests. The course uses a broad selection of method and theory, drawing, among others, from religion, media, and cultural studies.
SJCS 3832 – Carework (CRN 28128)
Special Topics in Social Justic & Community Studies
Mondays, 4-6:30 pm
Instructor: Dr. Jessica Ticar
WGSS 3829 – Power and Pop Culture (CRN 28129)
Special Topics in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1–2:15 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Bishop Owis
WGSS 4829/WGST 6838 – The Academic Incubator: Creating Real World Applications for Academic Knowledge (CRN 28132/CRN 28135)
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Michele Byers
Have you ever wondered how to use the incredible things you’ve learned during your degree out in the “real” world? This class is an incubator in which you will do exactly that! This seminar will provide a playful space for experiments in knowledge-translation (taking academic knowledge out of the university and into the wider world). Most students think about this transition, but rarely get time or guidance to experiment.
This class is open to students from all faculties and fields of study, recognizing that interdisciplinarity is a cornerstone of modern life. You'll have opportunities to creatively share knowledge with people outside your own discipline, and the space to brainstorm ideas, develop plans, and try things out with them. The possibilities are virtually endless, but here are a few:
- Start a business or develop a product
- Generate policy or conduct an experiment
- Community build and engage in direct action and/or advocacy
- Share knowledge/information, or create a new course
- Write a book or create art, craft or literature
- Produce a short film, podcast or script.
- Design an online / social media presence
- Make something accessible that wasn’t before.
WGSS 4830 – Intersectionality: Theories, Methods and Praxis (CRN 28133)
Wednesdays, 4–6:30 p.m.
Instructor: Dr. Benita Bunjun
Spring/Summer 2025 Special Topics courses
New Arts programs launched in 2023-2024
Major in Public Humanities and Heritage
The new Public Humanities and Heritage program gives students a foundational understanding of theory and practice in the core areas of public humanities (archaeology, archive and museum studies, public history, tourism, digital humanities and collections management). Students gain valuable critical thinking, research and writing skills, and historical and cultural literacy, alongside hands-on, practical work experience in field placements. Students may choose to major in Public Humanities and Heritage or add it as a second major.
Major in Law and Ethics
Available as a major, this new program offers the opportunity for diverse disciplinary perspectives on the law and on ethics. It will give students the chance to think critically about the law and legal institutions, as well as a wide range of moral and legal issues. Studying law and ethics together makes it possible to raise fundamental questions about the ethics of various social practices, and about how laws can function to make a society more (or sometimes less) just.
Minor in Climate Change Studies
Climate change is one of the defining environmental and social problems of our lifetime. As a student pursuing a Minor in Climate Change Studies, you will engage in an interdisciplinary program of study that will prepare you for an understanding of climate change from diverse perspectives, examining scientific, political, psychological, economic and ethical dimensions of the problem and its solutions. The new minor is housed within the Bachelor of Environmental Studies program, but it’s open to students in all programs across Saint Mary’s.