The overwhelming majority of our students find that the Brantford alternative suits them well. A student who decides otherwise is free to transfer to one of the programs offered at the Waterloo campus of Wilfrid Laurier after they have completed their first year of study. All credits earned at Laurier Brantford are transferable.

The Core Curriculum

Brantford programming is built around a core curriculum in Contemporary Studies. All full-time students on the campus are enrolled in the program, which can be combined with other majors, minors and options (see our programs page for a complete listing).

The core program in Contemporary Studies consists of a set of interdisciplinary courses designed to introduce students to the skills and issues relevant to the contemporary world.

Because all full-time students take Contemporary Studies courses, they share a common educational experience; have ample opportunity to interact with all the students in their year; and meet and learn from all core faculty on the campus.

The result is a supportive atmosphere which creates a strong sense of community and encourages informal interaction between students, faculty and staff.

At the heart of the Contemporary Studies program is a set of Contemporary Studies courses which have been designed for the Brantford campus. They are unique insofar as they incorporate an interdisciplinary look at contemporary issues which is intended as a way to develop skills relevant to the contemporary world.

Interdisciplinary Studies

One can better understand the interdisciplinary nature of the Contemporary Studies courses by comparing them to most university courses, which are taught from the point of view of a particular discipline -- French, Anthropology, Philosophy, Chemistry, Biology, History, Archaeology, and so on.

It goes without saying that there is a great deal to be learned from disciplinary courses. It is for this reason that many of them are available at Laurier Brantford.

But issues and problems in the world can rarely be assigned to a specific discipline. The question of whether there is a greenhouse effect, how we should think about it and other environmental issues, and what business, government and the individual should do about it, has sociological, scientific, legal, economic, philosophical, psychological, geographical and a multitude of other dimensions.

The same can be said of most of the complex social and personal issues in the world today.

This is why Contemporary Studies courses look at contemporary issues from a perspective that attempts to recognize and integrate a variety of disciplines and points of view.

The topics which are addressed from this perspective include social, environmental, historical, and scientific issues, and questions of politics, business, sex, race and ethnicity. More deeply, the Contemporary Studies courses explore fundamental questions of meaning and understanding.

Skills Development

Contemporary Studies courses deal with these topics in a way that emphasizes skills development. Because the most important thing you can learn from a university education is not a set of facts about the world.

Today's computer or accounting system is out of date tomorrow and everything from law to accounting to government undergoes a constant evolution. All the more so given that we live in a world which is characterized by the constant restructuring of the workplace and an increasing globalization of business, government and culture.

In the midst of all this change, the most important thing you can gain from a university education is the skills which will allow you to thrive and prosper as the world around you changes.

The skills in question are the skills that are needed for success in any endeavour. They include:

	the ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing;
	the ability to locate, understand, and assess information;
	informational literacy, which must include the ability to use the web and multi-media resources;
	the ability to think critically and solve problems;
	the ability to learn and re-engineer oneself in dealing with new situations;
	and the ability to undertake and complete projects and tasks.

All post-secondary education will help you acquire these basic skills. But our Contemporary Studies program has been especially designed with them in mind. We aim to further these skills in the way that specialized disciplines aim to further an understanding of their specific discipline.