Program Overview & Courses

This interdisciplinary, skills-focused course parallels the other component courses of the full-time Academic Bridging Program, supplementing those courses while providing intensive, workshop-style training in the fundamental skills needed for success in the program in further university studies. The course will focus on the texts studied in both Contemporary Canada and Order and Disorder I and II, and a substantial amount of class time will be devoted to preparing for and writing the term assignments for those courses and helping students integrate their entire Academic Bridging experience.

This interdisciplinary, skills-focused course parallels the other component courses of the full-time ABP Science Option, supplementing those courses and helping students integrate their entire Academic Bridging experience, while providing intensive, workshop-style training in the fundamental skills needed for success in further university studies in Mathematics and the Sciences. The course will also provide academic advising and planning, to help students understand and navigate university culture. 

This interdisciplinary course provides an introduction to the changing nature of contemporary Canadian society by examining the historical roots of a variety of themes, such as Aboriginal issues, regionalism, French-English relations, gender/women’s issues and immigration/multiculturalism. They are examined in a variety of interdisciplinary sources that include geography, history, politics, literature and culture.

In this course students will learn how to read and analyze outstanding classic and contemporary examples of drama, poetry, and fiction, including contemporary Canadian works.  Besides introducing critical and rhetorical skills essential for success in all fields of study, the course addresses major issues of the human condition – love and friendship, aging and death, the natural and social environment, heredity and free will.

This interdisciplinary course introduces major issues regarding the sustainability of the global environment in the face of human development by integrating Humanities and Social Science with the fundamental concept of environmental sciences. It focuses on a variety of themes, such as human development and health issues, environmental toxicology, solid and hazardous waste, air and water pollution, climate change, ethical concerns, food resources, renewable energy and conservation and sustainability.

This interdisciplinary course provides an introduction to the cultural and social impacts of present-day popular mass media. Themes explored include the economic and political forces that shape the media world, the role of technology, and issues of representation, gender, and social justice. The course examines a wide range of texts, emphasizing popular culture produced in Canada, and students will have the opportunity to draw extensively on their own interactions with popular media. 

This course focuses on mathematical concepts and skills needed for success in First Year university Math and Science courses. Students will develop quantitative reasoning abilities required to critique arguments and make decisions, and will gain a deep understanding of functions modeling relationships. The course highlights multiple representations of each topic, emphasizing connections, and workshop-style sessions enable students to strengthen the skills they learn. 

This course covers the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for success in First Year university Chemistry and other Sciences such as Biology. Topics include atoms, elements, and compounds; the chemical and physical properties of gases, liquids, and solids; chemical reactions; and the importance of chemistry in understanding the world around us, with attention to how it can address issues in medicine, the environment, and sustainability.

This course centres diverse, under-acknowledged narratives of people, such as Indigenous and racialized peoples, within the territories of "Canada" to challenge monolithic, linear, and uncritical representations of this country's history and future. Archival materials, maps, place names, art, literature, film, and other texts will be approached from interdisciplinary perspectives to reveal different orientations to historical events, social injustices, and futures of this territory.