Honours Arts & Science

Honours Arts & Science is a direct-entry Bachelor's honours degree that bridges arts and science through an integrated core curriculum built around inquiry-based learning, with an emphasis on developing writing, speaking, and critical-reasoning skills applied to scholarly questions of public concern. Enrollment is limited and class and tutorial sizes are kept small. The first year includes required core courses in knowledge practices, Indigenous studies, writing, argumentation, and a global-challenges inquiry course, together with calculus and science electives; later years add progressively more elective choice, including upper-year inquiry courses on topics such as coding, theatre, global justice, and environmental policy. A study-abroad option through the McMaster Exchange Program is available in the third year, and students can choose a fourth-year thesis or an individual-study course; the page notes co-op or internship options are not currently available. More than thirty Combined Honours pairings with other disciplines can be added. A supplementary application is required, with distinct admissions pathways noted for Black, Latin American or Latinx, and Indigenous applicants. Graduates have gone on to fields including biochemistry, cultural studies, dentistry, education, health policy, law, and occupational therapy, and the program is delivered at McMaster University's Hamilton campus.