Human & Social Development

Lara Lammers

Lara Lammers' call to nursing

A nursing student from Nelson, BC, received our faculty's top academic honour for students after completing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Photo by Kelly Young. 

Academic distinction
Kelli Stajduhar

Palliative care for all

Kelli Stajduhar, a nursing professor and Canada Research Chair in Palliative Approaches to Care in Aging and Community Health, has been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada for her internationally renowned work. 

Dying with dignity
Hart and Gwen Will

Giving is good

Dr. Hartmut Will and wife Gwen Will created a graduate fellowship with our Indigenous Governance program to help advance democratic renewal in Canada.

Working with community

Indigenous knowledge

The Indigenous Governance program draws on the advice and counsel of Elders. Here, the program team meets with, and learns from, Songhees Elder Dr. Skip Dick (second from left).

Learning from Elders
Renée Monchalin (right) and Astrid Pérez Piñán

Access to health services

Renée Monchalin, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health and Social Policy, and Astrid Pérez Piñán, an assistant professor in the School of Public Administration, are working to improve access to abortion services for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

Reproductive rights
Students answer questions

Students talking to students

Check out our livestreaming broadcast where students from our seven schools answer questions live from an online viewing audience.

What's it like to study at HSD?

Territory acknowledgement

We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the University of Victoria stands, and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. 

In this video, Songhees Elder Elmer George welcomes visitors to the traditional lands of the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ people in the lək̓ʷəŋən and English languages.


Come explore the human condition

We offer a range of degree programs and specializations through the following schools:


Our distinct, collective approach

HSD is home to many Indigenous areas of study, multi-disciplinary research projects and culturally informed student supports. Find your educational edge through the following:

  • Vital impact: Grapple with essential issues affecting humanity on a local-to-global scale
  • Dynamic learning: Collaborate and study ways to strengthen the pillars of society 
  • An extraordinary online environment: Choose from degrees offered by distance for more than  40 years

UVic dynamic edge