The B.A. & Sc. currently has three integrative courses available to students:

Integrative Topics Course (mandatory for multi-track students):

听- is a 3 credit course restricted to students registered in the B.A. & Sc. It is recommend to take this course in U0 or U1.听

For students in a multi-track or joint honours program:听BASC 201 is a required course.

For students in an interfaculty or honours program: BASC 201 is recommended (but not required) and can count as 3 credits of the 9 Arts credits that you must take in the Freshman/Foundation year program.听

For all B.A. & Sc. students: BASC 201 is a prerequisite for the research courses BASC 396 and BASC 449.听

BASC 201 - Fall 2025

BASC 201 will be taught in Fall 2025 by Bachelor of Arts and Science degree director Prof. Diane Dechief. BASC 201 provides opportunities to learn ways of comparing and integrating disciplinary knowledge and research to help prepare you to conduct integrative research later in your degrees.

Major assignments include 1) reading and then analyzing how research from two different fields respond to the same research question 2) in pairs, interviewing an interdisciplinary researcher about the kinds of research they do and why they have chosen to integrate disciplinary approaches, 3) in small groups, collaborating to create an interdisciplinary research proposal that responds to a complex problem that you care about.

Throughout the course, we will undertake creative in-class activities. There will be no final exam, but we will collaboratively write quiz questions for two low-stakes quizzes. Each lecture will include time to work with other students and to ask questions of your instructor and teaching assistants.

Undergraduate Research Courses (BASC 396 and BASC 449):

There are two independent integrative research courses available in the B.A. & Sc.听Students are advised to start the application process well before the start of the term and to plan for an alternative course in case no suitable project is available. Interested students should contact marina.saunders [at] mcgill.ca (Marina Saunders) 补苍诲听diane.dechief [at] mcgill.ca (Dr. Diane Dechief).

听- is a 3 credit course available Summer, Fall and Winter. Students are expected to work on a BASC 396 project at least 9 hours per week.

听- is a 6 credit course and can be completed as a spanned project across two terms (most common is Fall-Winter), or as 6 credit one term project completed in a single semester (Fall, Winter, or Summer). For a spanned project, students are expected to work at least 9 hours per week over both semesters. For a single semester project, students are expected to work at least 18 hours per week.

Project Eligibility

• These projects should integrate both an Arts discipline and a Science discipline.听
• Each project must contain a significant research component that requires substantial independent work by the student.
• BASC 396/BASC 449 projects require the approval of the project supervisor(s) and the B.A. & Sc. director

Student Eligibility听

• Restriction: only open听to students in the B.A. & Sc.
• Prerequisite: BASC 201
• cGPA of 3.00
• For BASC 396: Students cannot be supervised by the same instructor for two 396 courses.
• For BASC 449: at least two courses at the 300-level in each of the two major areas

Method of Evaluation

• Each research project will have a grading scheme with at least 50% of the grade for the final report.
• Students may not take these courses under the satisfactory/unsatisfactory option.

Not an integrative project?

If your proposed project is not interdisciplinary (combining听both听an Arts discipline and a Science discipline), please consider a research course offered either by the Faculty of Science or the Faculty of Arts.听

Beyond BASC 396 and BASC 449 courses, there are other ways听to听do research for credit towards your degree. You can browse听黑料社's eCalendar听to find research courses in your program,听but the best way to find out about听the latest opportunities听on offer is to听speak with your advisors.

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