Applied Ethics

Why choose Applied Ethics at UVic?

Applied Ethics helps you understand how ethical decisions shape workplaces, communities and everyday life. Start with two core philosophy courses, then build your minor by choosing classes across UVic that match your interests — from law and healthcare to climate action, Indigenous studies and more.

• Build skills employers value: problem solving, critical thinking, communication and ethical decision making.
• Study real issues: climate justice, AI, gender and power, health ethics, Indigenous knowledge systems and more.
• Connect learning to community through hands-on and place-based courses.
• Strengthen your degree if you’re interested in policy, law, public service, technology, healthcare, business or non-profit work.

What you’ll learn

• Study perspectives from philosophy, social sciences, Indigenous studies and more
• Learn how to evaluate arguments and make thoughtful, informed decisions
• Examine how power, representation and culture shape ethical challenges
• Develop skills you can use in leadership, advocacy and community-based work.

Hands-on learning

Apply an ethical lens outside the classroom with courses that put ideas into action.

• Work directly with people in your community and activist groups to understand the ethical questions behind community planning, decision making and social change.
• Take part in field trips to study how environmental policies impact communities. 
• Examine how movies shape our understanding of race, gender, culture and identity.

Co-operative Education (Co-op)

• Through UVic’s Co-op program, you’ll apply what you learn in paid, career-related positions that count toward your degree—and give you a head start after graduation.
• Co-op is available to everyone, including international students with co-op work permits.
• On average, 70 percent of UVic Co-op students graduate with a job offer already in hand.
• Unlike at some universities, at UVic, you don’t have to compete for a spot in Co-op.

Career possibilities

• Human resources coordinator
• Labour relations officer
• Legal professional
• Policy analyst
• Risk analyst

Inspiring courses

• Moral Problems of Contemporary Society
• Ethics: Theory and Practice

International students

Get Canadian work experience after you graduate

• Full-time international students who graduate from a bachelor’s degree program at UVic may be eligible for a post-graduation work permit in Canada for up to three years.
• Refer to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website for eligibility criteria.

Admission

This is a minor program that can be added to your primary degree to broaden your studies. You can declare your minor after one or more years of full-time study at UVic.

Your academic advisor can help you plan your courses to ensure you meet the requirements of both your major and minor programs.