Frequently Asked Questions

The Minor designation compliments another area of study that the student is majoring or specializing in, while the Major and Specialist designations are the main focus of the student’s study. To receive an Honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Honours Bachelor of Science (BSc), you will be required to complete a specialist and a minor, two majors, or a major and two minors.

Indigenous Studies is considered a Type 1 program. Type 1 programs have no enrolment requirements other than the successful completion of four full-course equivalents. No application is required. To enrol in a Type 1 program, log on to ACORN and in the side menu select “Enrol & Manage”  then “Programs.”

Please consult the Faculty of Art & Science Calendar.

Some Indigenous Studies courses include Community Engaged Learning as part of the course work. In addition, Indigenous Studies offers independent study courses that allow students to go beyond the material offered in INS courses by directing their own research.

Languages taught as a part of the Indigenous Studies program include: Anishinaabemowin (Anishinaabe), Inuktitut, and courses in Iroquoian languages. Fluency does NOT entitle you to a course credit in these language courses. To receive a credit for an Indigenous Studies language course you must enrol in the course and obtain a passing grade.

Indigenous Studies participates in the Faculty of Arts & Science Language Citation Initiative for Anishinaabemowin. The language citation in the Faculty of Arts & Science is official recognition on a student’s transcript that the student has progressed to an advanced level in the study of a language, and has been assessed as achieving “good” results in that study.

To achieve the language citation, a student must complete two full courses or their equivalent beyond the first-year level of language instruction, and must achieve at least a B- in each of the courses beyond the introductory level. The two full-course equivalents may be language instruction or may be those taught in the language to be assessed.

The language citation will consist of a notation on the transcript that reads: “Completed Requirements of Language Citation in [name of language].”

This will appear in the Arts & Science sessional segment of the student’s academic record on the transcript describing the courses and marks for the session in which the Citation is assessed as complete.

If you are ill or have a significant emergency that prevents you from attending a Final Exam, you may file a petition with your college registrar to request permission to defer writing the Final Exam. Note: if you have a minor emergency that delays your arrival at an exam that is still in progress, you should go immediately to the examination hall and follow the instructions of the Presiding Officer. An immediate remedy may be possible that avoids petitions and delay.

For term tests, you must speak with your instructor; for final exams, you deal with your college registrar’s office only. Note: a department or instructor cannot excuse you from writing a Final Exam, nor can they offer you an alternate date or form of exam, e.g., oral exam. All Final Exam remedies must come through petition.

Each college at U of T has a Writing Centre that provides individual consultations with trained writing instructors, along with group teaching in workshops and courses.

All students can work with academic advisors who are part of the registrar’s office of their specific Arts & Science college. To find out how you can connect with an academic advisor, contact your college’s registrar’s office.