Faculty of Arts

You’ll learn by doing, honing in-demand skills and gaining practical knowledge through engaging experiential and work-integrated learning opportunities. Our experiential learning opportunities will give you the option to engage in co-operative education, field schools, and real-world projects such as Surrey CityLab. Learn more about experiential learning opportunities in the Faculty of Arts.

Apply the academic knowledge and analytical skills you learned in the classroom to a workplace environment through the ARTS 4800 practicum course. A practicum enables you to explore potential career paths, make useful contacts, add real-world experience to your resume and build confidence beyond your coursework.

Applied research is integral to KPU’s polytechnic culture. It's key to productive community engagement and social innovation. It allows you to apply practical knowledge and skills in real-world contexts and establish mutually beneficial collaborative partnerships with local communities, industry, and government. Visit Our Research to learn more about the types of research you can be apart of as an arts student.

Through studying specialized ARTS courses, you'll gain knowledge that spans multiple areas of study: ARTS 1100 lets you explore a different topic each semester from a multidiscipline perspective, while ARTS 3000 is an intensive interdisciplinary field school in the Amazon rainforest. To find out how these exciting courses fit within your degree, make an appointment to see an Arts Degree Advisor on Advisor Connect or visit ARTS Courses for more information.

Studying the arts allows you to define your own education. Take business streams for example, a  multidisciplinary group of courses centred around a theme, like pop culture, diversity or sustainability. Originally created for Bachelor of Business Administration students, arts students have the opportunity to take these streams for recognition from the Faculty of Arts to go alongside your credential. Visit Business Streams for more information or make an appointment to see an Arts Degree Advisor.

While KPU doesn't have its own teacher education programs, we do help our students successfully prepare to enter elementary or secondary education programs at Simon Fraser University (SFU), the University of British Columbia (UBC), the University of Victoria (UVIC), Vancouver Island University (VIU), the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), or other lower mainland institutions.

Visit Becoming a Teacher to learn about what you need to do to become an elementary, middle or high school teacher in B.C. or make an appointment to speak with an Arts Degree Advisor.

Student Affairs offers many resources to help support your health and wellness, so you can thrive at KPU.

We are here to help you succeed at KPU. Now more than ever, we want you to be able to access the resources you need. Check out the support services linked below for important information about everything from financial assistance and helping you transition to post-secondary to counselling and ways to stay healthy.

• Accessibility Services
• Career Development Centre
• Counselling Services
• Indigenous Services for Students
• Learning Centres
• Multi-Faith Centre
• Orientation and Transitions
• Sport and Recreation
• Student Awards & Financial Services

KPU offers Canada's first Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) programs, meaning you can earn one of the credentials below without spending money on expensive textbooks:

• The Bachelor of Arts Degree in General Studies, a four-year university degree based on the completion of 120 credits of coursework (approximately 40 courses)
• The Associate of Arts Degree in General Studies, a credential based on the completion of 60 credits of coursework (approximately 20 courses)
• The Associate of Arts Degree in Sociology, a credential that allows students to enter the Bachelor of Arts Major or Bachelor of Arts Minor in Sociology degree program with relative ease
• The Diploma in General Studies, an exit credential designed as a more flexible alternative to the Associate or Bachelor degrees
• The Certificate in Arts, a flexible yet foundational program based on the completion of 30 credits of coursework (approximately 10 courses)

These programs use open educational resources and/or library materials, eliminating the need for costly textbooks.

As a KPU student, you're eligible for employment both on and off campus. Visit Career Services for job postings and more:

• Monthly resume/cover letter and interview workshops
• One-on-one appointments to review resumes and cover letters
• Individual work search assistance upon request
• Information on international internships and job opportunities
• Mock interviews to help you prepare for the competitive job market
• Events such as a career day, a speaker series and other various career education activities

We strive to support all students that learn in different ways. Through the Including All Citizens project, our faculty and students have researched and tried different teaching strategies and techniques to support a wide range of learners and making our courses more accessible to all students. Learn more about the first students to graduate from this fully inclusive program.