The Downtown Campus of McGill University is an oasis in downtown Montreal. At the centre of the Downtown Campus is the McCall MacBain Arts Building, the oldest building on campus and the University’s flagship. For years, its front steps have been a favourite spot to meet and to take a respite from the rigours of coursework. With classrooms, administrative offices, and Moyse Hall—an elegant and superbly equipped theatre—the McCall MacBain Arts Building is truly at the heart of Faculty of Arts and the University. In addition, Faculty of Arts departments and programs are housed in numerous buildings across campus, including principally the Leacock Building, Ferrier Building, Peterson Hall, Morrice Hall, Wilson Hall, the Birks Building, and 680 Sherbrooke St. West. The Office of the Dean of Arts is located in Dawson Hall.

The Faculty of Arts has grown steadily since it was established in 1843 and remains by far the largest faculty at McGill. The Faculty is home to 15 departments, 4 schools, 4 institutes, and 12 research centres. It has more than 350 full-time academic staff teach approximately 8,000 undergraduates and over 1,100 graduate students. Yet, despite the numbers, the majority of classes in Arts are smaller than those offered by any other large research university in Canada. The humanities, social science, and language disciplines that constitute the Faculty share a common endeavour: to understand the human condition in order to improve it.

The Faculty maintains bilateral exchange programs with many universities around the world and encourages students to spend a term or two studying abroadthrough an approved program. Internships have also now become an integral part of an undergraduate degree. The Faculty of Arts Internship Office (AIO) assists students who wish to pursue short-term internship opportunities before completing their studies. The Faculty of Arts stands alone nationally in the scope and extent of services its established infrastructure and comprehensive support system makes available to students before, during, and upon their return from their internship. Each year over 200 students intern with organizations around the globe.

McGill is known throughout the world as one of Canada’s premier institutions of learning and as one of the leading research universities in the world. Professors at McGill are leaders in their fields and leaders in education and have been the recipients of numerous awards for both research and teaching. The Faculty of Arts prides itself on being immediately responsive to developments and changes within and outside academia and develop its curricula in response to these new realities.