What determines the prices of goods and services? How do individuals decide how much to spend and save? How can government policy help reduce environmental pollution?

These are questions we all face every day. Economics is our attempt to analyze and understand them. Often seen as being all about money, at its more basic level, Economics is concerned with the material well-being of human societies.

The Department of Economics has a long, celebrated history of academic excellence and is one of Canada’s leading departments for undergraduate and graduate education. By systematically addressing these economics questions and many others, we can help you make better decisions in your personal life, in your business life and as a global citizen. Economics is essential to understanding the world in which you live and work. 

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We are all aware of the grave environmental problems the world faces today, from climate change to habitat loss to environmental degradation. At the same time, we know that the solutions to these problems are not simple. No environmental issue can be treated in isolation from the society in which it exists. In Environmental Studies we realize that to make a difference in this field, students need knowledge of the cause and magnitude of environmental problems, as well as the tools to find solutions for them within the complex web of social, economic, and cultural factors we all live in. To give our students these, Environmental Studies at Queen’s takes an innovative approach to environmental education. We bring together faculty from a wide variety of disciplines – biology, chemistry, geography, geological sciences, economics, history, and policy studies, to name but a few – which lets us offer our students a truly multidisciplinary perspective on the challenging environmental problems facing humanity today

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This innovative, interdisciplinary program combines the arts, humanities, and social sciences, offering students a unique opportunity to design a degree suited to their interests and career goals. With 55 course offerings from 24 departments, above and beyond the unit’s strong and popular core classes, Gender Studies enables students to develop targeted programs attentive to gender, race, class, difference, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, globalization, and politics. The department administers a study program leading to a Certificate in Sexual and Gender Diversity, an invaluable tool on the job market. This option is available to all students regardless of their degree concentrations, allowing them to add a critical sexualities and gender diversity component to their degree. Interested students have the opportunity to spend an exchange term in Norway at the prestigious University of Oslo. The department offers a practicum at the fourth-year level for students invested in community engagement and social justice.

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Human geography is a diverse and vibrant subject that aims to understand how humans interact on the earth’s surface: the places they create, the boundaries they construct, the connections they make, and the environments they alter. Human geography has a rich intellectual tradition at Queen’s which is broad and plural so a wide range of research is undertaken. On the humanities side, human geographers draw on ideas of agency, power and meaning to analyze written texts, such as novels, travel writing, and visual images. On the social science side, geographers engage with diverse research methods to study how people seek their various needs and wants and how resources and services are uneven across the globe. Human geographers also engage in field research and practical assignments to bridge gaps between theory and practice.

In addition to a concentration in human geography, the department offers students the option of earning a certificate in Geographic Information Science and/or Urban Planning Studies. Undergraduates can also pursue a fast-track professional master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning. 

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Global Development Studies seeks to better understand the complex and unequal history of our shared world. Being interdisciplinary in nature, the program works closely with Geography, Economics, Environmental Studies, History, Languages Literatures and Cultures, Political Studies, Sociology, and Gender Studies as well as the Aboriginal Council of Queen’s University to understand the nature of the interactions between and within the countries of the Global North and the South. Global Development Studies looks at poverty, cultural imperialism, human rights, physical environments, social policy, and trade relations. It also examines the varying notions of freedom, democracy, and progress that inform different visions of development. Our students are committed to making our world a better place and do so with first-hand experience in development through workstudy placements and study abroad opportunities, including a course that is partially taught at the University of Havana. 

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Health Studies strives to understand the complex factors that influence physical, mental, and social health, and overall well-being. Drawing largely from social science disciplines, our courses explore the social determinants of health, approaches to health promotion, health policy, health behaviour change, epidemiology, and program planning and evaluation. You will be expected to challenge yourself and to think critically about health in relation to social justice, politics, and culture. And you will gain the skills you need to do that. The Health Studies program also offers students the opportunity to participate in community-based and research-based practicums in upper years, as well as a ‘mini-stream’ practicum in Movement and Health and a certificate in Disability and Physical Activity in our specialized exercise facility for people living with mobility impairment and/or intellectual disability. 

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Study social issues and how our society responds to these issues, while asking questions drawn from economic, political and philosophical perspectives. Society faces challenges that are complex and multi-dimensional, and our efforts to tackle these challenges require us to bring complementary intellectual skills together using multidisciplinary analytical and critical approaches. This program combines Economics, Philosophy, and Politics in ways designed to prepare students to enter graduate studies in their area of specialization; law, public service, international development, policy design and analysis, or any other career that calls for strong analytical and communication skills. 

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Politics is about power – who has it and how it is exercised by nation-states, individuals, groups, classes, or political parties, and how different interests are reconciled in and between communities. Political Studies is also concerned with institutions created to govern communities, as well as practices such as voting habits or protests, and how rules, behaviour and culture are created in societies. And since power in society is often dependent upon material resources, political scientists study the distribution of wealth, both within and between nations. Students sharpen their debating skills at the Queen’s Model Parliament, they discuss international issues at Queen’s Model UN or with the Queen’s International Affairs Association. Learning in Kingston, a city with a significant number of public sector institutions and well-recognized politicians as part of the faculty, politics at Queen’s extends beyond the classroom. 

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Psychology is the study of mental processes and behaviour. It covers a wide range of topics including cognitive and behavioural neuroscience, social influence, health, development, and abnormal behavior. Studying Psychology helps you answer questions like how our early experiences affect us, what we can do to better manage stress, and how our brains process information about the world.

In the social science stream of Psychology, you will focus on child development, personality differences, how people act in groups or organizations, sexuality, and health-related behaviours. You will study these in the context of both normal and abnormal behaviour. Home to 26 labs, psychology students have the opportunity to work alongside faculty researchers and graduate students to gain valuable research training. 

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Sociology investigates how societies work, and studies social life at every level, from personal relationships to how institutions and nations function, right up to global interconnections.

Queen’s Department of Sociology is widely known for its strengths in Criminology and the Law, Media (Informational and Surveillance), and Social Justice. Studying Sociology at Queen’s will help you understand the structures and dynamics of societies and the complex effects these have on human behaviour, public issues, everyday life, politics, culture, and individual life choices. Through courses focusing on topics as diverse as surveillance, the sociology of crime and delinquency, and consumer culture, you will start to understand how differing social forces produce order and influence what we do and how we think as a result. 

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