Bachelor of Arts and Science - Sociology & Chemistry (Optional Co-op)

For the Bachelor of Arts and Science, students must complete two majors: an Arts major, and a Science major. Sociology

Sociology is the study of society, including the interaction between individuals, groups, and institutions. Sociological study helps develop original ways of looking at the world and the individual’s place within it.

The application of sociological thinking can lead to a better understanding of social problems and issues and suggestions about how these issues may be overcome in real-world terms.

By studying sociology, students will gain insight into how people interact with one another and how values and beliefs both shape and are shaped by the structures and processes in society. The primary goal of the discipline is to stimulate sociological thinking — applying imagination and critical analysis to the many facets of social life.

Students of sociology will be exposed to a wide variety of alternative theories of social behaviour, structure, and change through a wide range of courses on topics such as: crime, religion, work, gender, age, ethnicity, politics, culture and health.

Chemistry

Chemistry studies the elements that comprise all matter. Everything in the world — the air, water, food, cars, even human bodies — are made from these elements.

There are five main branches of chemistry:

• Analytical focuses on the detection and measurement of chemical species used in fields like forensics. • Organic deals with carbon compounds, which are the main components of living matter. • Inorganic delves into all the remaining elements, most of which are found in the mineral world. • Physical looks at the study of the fundamental principles governing the behavior of matter. • Theoretical starts by exploring basic physical theories like quantum mechanics in order to provide frameworks within which all chemical phenomena can be understood.

The primary focus of the program is to provide students with extensive theoretical knowledge in all five branches, in addition to enhancing their technical and practical skills with hands-on experience. Throughout the program, students will receive intensive laboratory instruction on the transformation and safe handling of chemical compounds, as well as hands-on training in advanced instrumental techniques such as elemental analysis, optical spectroscopy, magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction and mass spectrometry.

Chemistry students will have access to state-of-the-art research facilities that provide the infrastructure to support the research interests of University of Lethbridge’s award-winning faculty, the instructors, as they investigate diverse areas of the chemical sciences including catalysis, nanomaterials and food chemistry.