Indigenous Studies & Canadian Studies

The French & Canadian Studies degree invites you to challenge and question what it means to be Canadian. Learn alongside leading scholars, including a Governor General’s Literary Award winner, to deepen your understanding of Canada’s diverse cultures, histories, and languages while benefiting from a multicultural, bilingual education. Offering courses in both French and English, this program allows you to explore literature, politics, culture, and identity in Canada and develop advanced bilingual skills that set you apart in today’s global world.   

Trent’s groundbreaking Indigenous Environmental Studies/Science (IESS) degree program, offered jointly with the School of the Environment, is the first program of its kind in North America. This degree focuses on the interaction and collaboration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Euro-centric Knowledge Systems and offers two study pathways.

Expand what you know about Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world, in this leading degree program – the first of its kind in Canada.

Trent’s Indigenous Studies B.A. incorporates both Indigenous Traditional Knowledge and Euro-centric Knowledge Systems to immerse students in a multicultural and multidisciplinary exploration of historical and contemporary challenges shaping relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. 

Beyond learning a language, French Studies at Trent will guide you in developing a deep understanding of the culture, literature, and experiences of francophones in Canada and around the world.

As the first university in the country to establish a Canadian Studies program, Trent is renowned for national and international expertise and leadership in this important field of study.

In this diverse, interdisciplinary program, students develop insight into the life and history of Canada and the role it plays in today’s world.

Indigenous Knowledge and perspectives are at the core of this unique B.Ed. program – the first of its kind in North America, Trent’s Indigenous B.Ed. provides a platform for self-identified First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and Indigenous students to become exceptional future educators.

Graduate with a unique set of expertise through Trent’s joint major degree pathway.

Joint major students at Trent describe the experience as the best of both worlds as you are able to take courses across the arts, sciences, and our professional programs. 

Want to see more representation in our governments? Pair a Political Studies degree with Gender & Social Justice. 

Want to immerse yourself in today’s technology? Couple Media Studies with Computer Systems.

Trent’s exceptional Indigenous diploma programs provide a clear path for self-identifying First Nations, Métis or Inuit students who wish to make the transition into university level studies.

Trent’s exceptional Indigenous diploma programs provide a clear path for self-identifying First Nations, Métis or Inuit students who wish to make the transition into university level studies. In a supportive and inclusive environment, students in the Indigenous Environmental Studies diploma bring their diverse cultures, values, histories and languages to the classroom. Students who complete an Indigenous Diploma Program may choose to continue their education and pursue a Bachelor’s degree, transferring their diploma credits.

The Trent School of the Environment offers a unique online diploma for students who wish to undertake a single academic year of study (September to April) focused upon the landscape, peoples, and contemporary issues of concern in the Circumpolar world.

Students study the Circumpolar region from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. Introductory courses begin with the examination of the geography, history, and biophysical and physical systems of the Sub-Arctic and Arctic regions.