General Studies

The Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) is a strong foundation-building, pathway program with considerable flexibility for students. The degree is aligned with Briercrest’s educational mission in the liberal arts and provides manifold pathways to professional disciplines and industries. There are two tracks available within the BGS: Education, and Arts and Science. The BGS Education track is designed to meet the “teachable” requirements for an after-degree, Bachelor of Education (Elementary Education Stream and Secondary Education Stream. The BGS Arts and Science track will largely proceed to further specific career training in fields such as: medicine and health care, teaching or education, law studies, business, and a variety of other professional fields. While the Bachelor of General Studies is itself an employable degree, it sets students on a course into many employable fields within Saskatchewan and Canada.

Outcomes

The Bachelor of General Studies requires students to choose two concentrations (three for Elementary Education). Beyond these disciplinary concentrations, the degree requires 24 credit hours at the 300+ level, ensuring a measure of depth. The design of this program first attends to the common core and then proceeds to the specific components of the curriculum as follows…

Christian Studies (27 credit hours) & Foundational Studies (18 credit hours).

1. Education Track – Education Foundations (9 c.h.)
   1. Elementary Education
      • Primary Teaching Area (18-22 c.h.)
      • Second Teaching Area (12 c.h.)
      • Second Teaching Area (6 c.h.)
   2. Secondary Education
      • Primary Teaching Area (30 c.h.)
      • Second Teaching Area (18-22 c.h.)
2. Arts and Science Track
   • Concentration One (24-33 c.h.)
   • Concentration Two (15 c.h.)

Major Requirements for Education Track:

1. Educational Foundations (9 credit hours):
   EDUC 200 Foundations of Education
   EDUC 205 Education Pre-Internship (non-credit)
   PHI 300 Philosophy of Education
   PSY 381 Psychology of Human Development: Children (elementary education track)
   OR PSY 382 Psychology of Human Development: Adolescents (secondary education track)
    
2. Elementary Education (36-40 credit hours)
   1. Primary Teaching Area - Choose one area (18-22 credit hours):
      English, Kinesiology, Music, Social Studies
   2. Second Teaching Area - Choose one area (12 credit hours):
      English, History, Kinesiology, Music, Social Studies
   3. Third Teaching Area (6 credit hours):
      KIN 262 Physical Activity and Wellness
      Science (choose from the following):
      BIOL 120 The Nature of Life
      CHEM 112 General Chemistry
      EVSC 210 Environmental Physics
      PHYS 125 Physics and the Universe
      
      Free Electives (to bring credit hour total to 90 credit hours)
      
       
3. Secondary Education (48-52 credit hours)
    
   1. Primary Teaching Area – Choose one (30 credit hours):
      English or Social Studies
   2. Second Teaching Area – Choose one (18-22 credit hours):
      Cannot be the same as your primary teaching area English, Music, or Social Studies
      
      Free Electives (to bring credit hour total to 90 credit hours)
       

Major Requirements for Arts and Science Track:

1. Concentration One - Choose one of the following disciplines (24-33 credit hours):
   Biblical Studies, English, History, Humanities, Music and Fine Arts, Philosophy, Psychology, or Social Science
    
2. Concentration Two - Choose one of the following disciplines which is distinct from the first concentration (15 credit hours): Biblical Studies, English, History, Kinesiology, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, or Social Science
    
3. Free Electives (to bring credit hour total to 90 credit hours)

PRT 400 Senior Portfolio (non-credit)
SL 1-6 Service and Experiential Learning (non-credit)

In addition, all Bachelor's degrees require the completion of Briercrest's core curriculum.