General Arts and Science - Liberal Studies
Program: GASL
Credential: Ontario College Diploma
Delivery: Full-time + Part-time
Length: 4 semesters
Duration: 2 years
Effective: Fall 2025, Winter 2026
Location: Barrie
Description
The General Arts and Science - Liberal Studies program fosters critical thinking and analytical skills through various subjects within the humanities and social sciences. The program will encourage you to expand your worldview by exploring contemporary issues through a range of subjects and by applying a variety of diverse learning methods. General Arts and Science - Liberal Studies is designed to open doors and build pathways for your future studies, whether at college or university, with our connections to excellent credit transfer opportunities. Upon completion of this two-year diploma program, you will be eligible for university articulation agreements. Alternatively, if your chosen path is to explore workplace opportunities, the skills you've developed will be transferable to many entry-level positions. With a liberal studies education, you'll experience personal growth and development and gain confidence in your academic abilities and essential employability skills, as you prepare to thrive in your chosen path.
Career Opportunities
While most students choose General Arts and Science - Liberal Studies as a pathway to further studies, some graduates are sought after for employment in occupations requiring liberal studies and critical thinking with organizations that prefer to administer their own training program. Program courses provide students optimum transfer credits to other college and university programs. The diploma from this program is recognized by several Ontario, national and international universities.
Program Learning Outcomes
The graduate has reliably demonstrated the ability to:
- use interdisciplinary frameworks and concepts to solve problems and explore the relationship between the self and society;
- communicate complex ideas with supporting research to engage in a field of knowledge in an educational and/or employment setting;
- analyze global issues and their impact on societies to navigate diverse environments with cultural competence and empathy;
- analyze the structures, systems, and institutions that shape society to inform our roles and responsibilities as citizens within these frameworks;
- assess the validity of material and arguments presented in a variety of Liberal Studies disciplines to improve academic research skills;
- integrate strategies for working across and within diverse communities to build inclusion, collaboration, and innovation;
- assess the impacts of personal decisions and actions to contribute to community well-being;
- explore colonial paradigms and systems of oppression to challenge established viewpoints and engage in community healing and reconciliation.
Program Progression
The following reflects the planned progression for full-time offerings of the program.
Fall Intake
- Sem 1: Fall 2025
- Sem 2: Winter 2026
- Sem 3: Fall 2026
- Sem 4: Winter 2027
Winter Intake
- Sem 1: Winter 2026
- Sem 2: Summer 2026
- Sem 3: Fall 2026
- Sem 4: Winter 2027
Articulation
A number of articulation agreements have been negotiated with universities and other institutions across Canada, North America and internationally. These agreements are assessed, revised and updated on a regular basis. Please contact the program co-ordinator for specific details if you are interested in pursuing such an option. Additional information can be found on our website at https://www.georgiancollege.ca/admissions/credit-transfer/
Admission Requirements
- Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent, or mature student status
- Grade 12 English (C or U)
Mature students, non-secondary school applicants (19 years or older), and home school applicants may also be considered for admission. Eligibility may be met by applicants who have taken equivalent courses, upgrading, completed their GED, and equivalency testing. For complete details refer to: www.georgiancollege.ca/admissions/academic-regulations/
Applicants who have taken courses from a recognized and accredited post-secondary institution and/or have relevant life/learning experience may also be considered for admission; refer to the Credit for Prior Learning website for details:
www.georgiancollege.ca/admissions/credit-transfer/
Graduation Requirements
16 Program Courses
2 Communications Courses
2 Program Option or General Education Courses
4 General Education Courses
Program Tracking
The following reflects the planned course sequence for full-time offerings of the Fall intake of the program. Where more than one intake is offered contact the program co-ordinator for the program tracking.
| Semester 1 | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Program Courses | ||
| HUMN 1006 | Exploring Literature | 42 |
| HUMN 1017 | Critical Thinking Foundations | 42 |
| PSYL 1022 | Psychology 1 | 42 |
| SOCL 1003 | Sociology 1 | 42 |
| Communications Course | ||
| Select 1 course from the communications list during registration. | 42 | |
| Program Option or General Education Course | ||
| Select 1 course from the general education list during registration or contact the program co-ordinator about option courses. | 42 | |
| Hours | 252 | |
| Semester 2 | ||
| Program Courses | ||
| HUMN 1015 | Interpreting Literature | 42 |
| HUMN 1018 | Interdisciplinary Thinking | 42 |
| PSYL 1023 | Psychology 2 | 42 |
| SOCL 1004 | Sociology 2 | 42 |
| Communications Course | ||
| Select 1 course from the communications list during registration. | 42 | |
| Program Option or General Education Course | ||
| Select 1 course from the general education list during registration or contact the program co-ordinator about option courses. | 42 | |
| Hours | 252 | |
| Semester 3 | ||
| Program Courses | ||
| POLS 1000 | Politics in Canada | 42 |
| PSYL 2003 | Developmental Psychology | 42 |
| SCIE 2000 | Science Concepts | 42 |
| SOCL 2000 | Race and Ethnicity | 42 |
| General Education Course | ||
| Select 2 courses from the general education list during registration. | 84 | |
| Hours | 252 | |
| Semester 4 | ||
| Program Courses | ||
| HUMN 2000 | Canadian Literature | 42 |
| HUMN 2007 | Sociocultural Anthropology | 42 |
| POLS 1001 | Global Politics | 42 |
| REAS 2000 | Senior Research Seminar | 42 |
| General Education Course | ||
| Select 2 courses from the general education list during registration. | 84 | |
| Hours | 252 | |
| Total Hours | 1008 | |
Students may be able to select their Communications, General Education, and Program Option courses in a different sequence than shown above. Contact the program co-ordinator for further details.
Graduation Window
Students unable to adhere to the program duration of two years (as stated above) may take a maximum of four years to complete their credential. After this time, students must be re-admitted into the program, and follow the curriculum in place at the time of re-admission.
Disclaimer: The information in this document is correct at the time of publication. Academic content of programs and courses is revised on an ongoing basis to ensure relevance to changing educational objectives and employment market needs.
Program outlines may be subject to change in response to emerging situations, in order to facilitate student achievement of the learning outcomes required for graduation. Components such as courses, progression, coop work terms, placements, internships and other requirements may be delivered differently than published.