In September 2005, the Faculties of Arts and of Science, McGill's two largest faculties, introduced the Bachelor of Arts and Science degree (B.A. & Sc.).
The programs in the B.A. & Sc. are rooted in both Arts and Science and carry roughly equal course weight in these faculties. The B.A. & Sc. is an interdisciplinary degree intended for students who want to pursue simultaneously a program offered by the Faculty of Arts and one offered by the Faculty of Science, or a program offered jointly by both faculties. In the case of some disciplines, such as Sustainability or Cognitive Science, this duality is inherent to the discipline. In other cases, the student may choose to join equal measures of an arts discipline and science discipline into a coherent interdisciplinary package. Examples might be Anthropology and Physical Geography, or Philosophy and Mathematics. The central objective of the B.A. & Sc. is to provide students with a broad education that includes study of disciplines in both faculties. This degree gives students a unique opportunity to achieve a diverse knowledge base, to gain competence in different methods of scholarship, to hone intellectual flexibility, and to integrate material across disciplines.
By choosing their programs appropriately, students who obtain a B.A. & Sc. are well prepared to pursue employment or postgraduate studies, in a wide variety of fields. The varied intellectual skills they have developed render them extremely attractive candidates for potential employers, for professional programs in fields such as business, law, and medicine, and for graduate programs in traditional and interdisciplinary departments.
This is the right degree for students who are firmly committed to such a disciplinary duality. By the same token, it is the wrong choice for students who are undecided between arts or science disciplines. Because the B.A. & Sc. is intended for students with well-defined interdisciplinary interests, it is not meant as a "compromise" between a B.A. and a B.Sc. degree. If students are more interested in arts, but would like to study some science, you they can do so within the B.A. degree. Similarly, if students are more interested in science, but would like to study some arts, they can do so within the B.A. & Sc. degree.
