York University campus

Arts & Humanities

BA Humanities at York University

York University, Canada

Programme overview

The Humanities program studies world cultures and the diversity of human experience, with attention to how peoples across times and places have expressed philosophical, religious, moral, political and aesthetic values. Students develop a critical approach to reading and research and can focus in one of four streams or explore widely. Offered at Keele Campus as a BA or international BA (iBA).

Faculty: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies  |  Intake: Fall, Winter and Summer entry (first and upper year)  |  Study mode: full-time, part-time, co-op  |  Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

What you will study

Cultural values, practices and ideas across times and places, with four streams to focus on. Experiential courses include Doing Culture: Narratives in Cultural Production (community-based research with Toronto art institutions) and Black Toronto Sounds (fieldwork contributing to a sonic map of the city), plus the Canadian Writers in Person series and optional paid co-op.

Career pathways

Advertising executive, educator, journalist, lawyer, public service professional, cultural critic, communications professional

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Ontario high school applicants: Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) ENG4U And five additional 4U or M courses Applicants with averages in the low-to-mid 70s or higher may be considered for admission. Maintaining your offer of admission to this program requires a final academic average of 70%. Requirements for other curricula are listed on the programme page.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the courses you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Undergraduate classes begin in Winter (January), Summer (May) and Fall (September); Fall 2027 (September) is the main intake with the January 2027 and May 2027 starts also listed.

Application deadlines for most programmes: Winter 2027 (January) entry November 18, 2026; Summer 2027 (May) entry April 1, 2027; Fall 2027 (September) entry January 15, 2027 for Ontario high school students and March 24, 2027 for out-of-province high school, international and university/college transfer and mature applicants. Applications are accepted until each programme is full.

Exceptions: Direct Entry Nursing and Nursing Second Entry apply by February 1; Nursing Post-RN for Internationally Educated Nurses by June 1; Schulich BBA and Social Work (BSW) accept no applications after January 15. Supplementary application deadlines for Fall 2027: Schulich BBA February 1, 2027; Creative Writing February 5, 2027; AMPD BFA/BDes programmes February 5, 2027; Concurrent Education March 19, 2027; Glendon International Studies & Business Administration March 31, 2027; Social Work February 16, 2027.

Applications are made through OUAC, or through the York University application for mature, international and transfer applicants, visiting students and certificate applicants; the York University application fee is $140 (non-refundable, Visa, Visa Debit or MasterCard). AMPD BFA/BDes programmes require a $20 supplementary application fee within the OUAC application.

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