Electives by theme
Not sure what courses to take to round out your first year? After selecting courses required for your program, you'll likely be left with a number of elective slots to fill.
Choosing electives can seem daunting - there are many courses, offered by many academic units, from which to choose. The Faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences have grouped together courses into a number of thematic areas to help you as you explore your options. These courses are appropriate for first year students (or above), from any faculty.
Note: You can also review a complete list of 100- and 200-level courses without prerequisites if you would prefer to search by faculty and unit, rather than by theme.
Thematic areas and courses
Not all courses are offered in each term, so once you've found courses that interest you, check the academic calendar to confirm when each course will be offered for the upcoming session.
Ancient civilizations and societies
- GRS 101 - Discovering the Ancient Greeks
- GRS 102 - Discovering the Ancient Romans
- GRS 200 - Greek and Roman Mythology
- GRS 204 - The Ancient World on Film
- HSTR 236 - Medieval Beginnings
- HSTR 265A - China and the Premodern World
- LING 270 - The Evolution of Language
- MEDI 100 - Entering the Middle Ages
- MEDI 200 - Myths and Legends of the Middle Ages
- PAAS 150 - Premodern Chinese Culture
- PAAS 152 - Essentials of Chinese Civilization (in Chinese)
- PAAS 170 - Premodern Southeast Asian Cultures
- PAAS 180 - Premodern Japanese Culture
- RCS 200A - Introduction to Judaism, Christianity and Islam
- RCS 200B - Introduction to Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and the Chinese Religions
Canada
Children, youth and education
- FRAN 265 - Global French Connections *
- FRAN 394 - Children’s and Young Adult Literature in French **
- GNDR 100 - Gender, Power and Difference
- SLST 180 - Magic and the Fairy Tale World
* Taught in French; can submit assignments in English
** Requires fluent French; suitable for École Brodeur graduates or similar
Environment
Film and media
- FRAN 335 - Cinema of the French-Speaking World (taught in English)
- GNDR 200 - Popular Culture and Social Media
- GNDR 206 - Monstrous Women
- GNDR 210 - The Zombie in Popular Culture
- GMST 153 - Representations of the Holocaust in Popular Culture
- GRS 204 - The Ancient World on Film
- SPAN 185 - Hispanic Culture Through Film
Finance, economics, and the workplace
* Requires completion of the AWR as pre-requisite
Genocide and human rights
- GMST 153 - Representations of the Holocaust in Popular Culture
- HSTR 120 - History of Human Rights
Global development
Health and sexuality
The history and science of language
Human geography
- LAS 100 - Introduction to Latin American Studies
- FRAN 265 - Global French Connections *
- GNDR 100 - Gender, Power and Difference
- HSTR 101F - Food in World History
- IS 100 - Reciprocity and Responsibility to the Place You Are Now
- IS 101 - Indigenous Foundations
* Taught in French; can submit assignments in English
Human thought and fantasy
Improving your writing (at any level)
- ATWP 101 - Fundamentals of Academic Literacy
- Focus is on sentence and paragraph-level skills and basic essay writing; recommended for students who want extra support as they prepare for university academic writing
- ATWP 135 - Academic Reading and Writing (meets AWR)
- ENGL 146 - Contemporary Literature (meets AWR)
- ENGL 147 - Literary Traditions (meets AWR)
- ENGL 225 - Technical Communications (requires AWR as pre-requisite)
Indigenous culture, history, and language
International politics and foundations of the current global order
- EUS 100 - Introduction to European Studies
- HSTR112A - World History 1900-1945
- HSTR 112B - The World Since 1945-Present
- HSTR 115 - The Second World War
- HSTR 240B - Europe, Napoleon to the European Union
- HSTR 265A - China and the Premodern World
- HSTR 265B - China and the Modern West
- HSTR 277B - History of the Middle East since World War II
- HSTR 210B - The United States from Post-War Reconstruction – present
- PAAS 105 - Pacific and Asia Today
Knowledge and big ideas
- ENGL 146 - Contemporary Literature (meets AWR)
- ENGL 147 - Literary Traditions (meets AWR)
- ENGL 207 - Intro to Cultural Studies
- ENGL 260 - The Bible as Literature
- GRS 200 - Greek and Roman Mythology
- HSTR 101A - Ten Days that Shook the World
- HUMA 120A - Humanities and the Making of the Intellectual Life
- HUMA 120B - Post-Medieval Humanities and the Making of the Modern Mind
- LING 100A - Foundations in Linguistics
- RCS120 - The People, Practices and Politics of Contemporary Yoga
- PHIL 100 - Introduction to Philosophy
Languages
- FRAN 100 - Intensive French I
- FRAN 120 - Intensive French II
- FRAN 150 - Conversation French
- FRAN 170 - Intensive French III
- FRAN 180 - Intensive French IIII
- FRAN 265 - Global French Connections *
- SLST 101 - Beginning Russian I
- GMST 101 - Beginning German I
- GMST 102 - Beginning German II
- GMST 118 - Introduction to Translating German Texts
- GREE 101 - Introduction to Ancient Greek I
- ITAL 100A - Beginners' Italian I
- ITAL 100B - Beginners' Italian II
- LATI 101 - Introductory Latin: I
- LING 274 - How to Learn a Language
- PAAS 118 - Intensive Beginner Modern Chinese I
- PAAS 120 - Introduction to Indonesian-Malay I
- PAAS 121 - Introduction to Indonesian-Malay II
- PAAS 128 - Beginner Korean I
- PAAS 129 - Beginner Korean II
- PAAS 138 - Beginner Japanese I
- SPAN 100A - Beginners’ Spanish
- SPAN 149 - Beginners' Spanish-Intensive
* Taught in French; can submit assignments in English
Law and justice
Social justice
- GNDR 100 - Gender, Power and Difference
- GNDR 206 - Monstrous Women
- GNDR 207 - Gender, Globalization and the Love Industry
- GNDR 219 - Gender and Tourism
- HSTR 101F - Food in World History
- HSTR 120 - History of Human Rights
- LAS100 - Introduction to Latin American Studies
- IS 100 - Reciprocity and Responsibility to the Place You Are Now
- IS 101 - Indigenous Foundations
- LAS200 - Latin America (or HSTR 276)
Societies and how they work
- GNDR 100 - Gender, Power and Difference
- IS 101 - Indigenous Foundations
- GMST 100 - Introduction to Germanic Studies
- PAAS 151 - Modern Chinese Culture
- PAAS 171 - Modern Southeast Asian Cultures
- PAAS 181 - Modern Japanese Culture
- RCS 200A - Introduction to Judaism, Christianity and Islam
- RCS 200B - Introduction to Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and the Chinese Religions
War and conflict
The following courses help support your academic progress. Taking an English course can help improve writing at all levels, while ED-D 101 will help you develop learning strategies for overall success at university.
- ATWP 101 - Fundamentals of Academic Literacy
- Focus is on sentence and paragraph-level skills and basic essay writing; recommended for students who want extra support as they prepare for university academic writing
- ATWP 135 - Academic Reading and Writing *
- ED-D101 - Learning Strategies for University Success
- ENGL 146 - Contemporary Literature *
- ENGL 147 - Literary Traditions *
- ENGL 225 - Technical Communications
Courses with an asterisk also satisfy UVic's Academic Writing Requirement.