At Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada, Global Humanities: Master of Arts (MA) is offered as a master's degree in Humanities & Cultural Studies programme. The programme runs for 24 months, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 2,193 per semester (CAD 2,193 per semester for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Master's Degree
Field:Humanities & Cultural Studies
Duration: 24 months
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 2,193 / semester
International tuition: CAD 2,193 / semester
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
SFU's Global Humanities MA is a thesis-based, cross-disciplinary degree organized loosely around three thematic strands: classical, medieval and Renaissance thought; Asian literary and religious traditions; and modernity and its critics, with related interests in social and political thought, religion and culture, and the humanities' relationship to citizenship and the environment. Students work in small cohorts with close one-on-one mentorship as they combine coursework with an independent thesis project, and the program pairs well with SFU's Institute for the Humanities and its SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies for wider intellectual community. Current SFU undergraduates can pursue an accelerated-master's option that shaves four to twelve months off the normal timeline, and beyond doctoral preparation the program also draws career-focused applicants from education, publishing, media and the civil service, plus those studying for personal enrichment.
Requirements
Minimum GPA:3.50 / 4.33
Admission Requirements: The Global Humanities MA looks for an undergraduate degree with at least a 3.5 GPA in the humanities or a related discipline such as classics, history, art history, philosophy, English, women's studies, geography, sociology, anthropology or political science, against the university's general graduate floor of at least a 3.0 GPA; no specific prerequisite courses are listed. International applicants are exempted from an English-language test only if their prior degree was taught and examined in English in a country where English is the primary language, otherwise SFU's institution-wide thresholds apply (IELTS Academic 6.5 overall, 6.0 per band; TOEFL iBT 90 overall, 20 per section), since the program page does not publish its own scores. Acceptance depends heavily on a Global Humanities faculty member agreeing to act as senior supervisor, and conditional or qualifying admission may be offered where relevant professional experience compensates for a weaker academic record.
Application Details
Start Date:Fall
Application Deadline:Domestic applicants apply through EducationPlannerBC, with one set of dates per applicant type rather than by citizenship. Fall 2027 entry: high-school-route applications open 1 October 2026 and close 31 January 2027, while transfer applications open 1 March 2027 and close 15 April 2027 (Education and Contemporary Arts transfer applicants may apply from 1 October 2026). Spring 2027 entry runs 1 July to 15 September 2026, and Summer 2027 entry runs 1 December 2026 to 15 January 2027. Admission documents are generally due 28 February 2027 (Fall) and offers must be accepted by 1 May. International applicants use the same EducationPlannerBC dates and portal; SFU publishes no separate international deadline. These are institution-wide dates; this programme publishes no deadline of its own.
