Overview | Arts and Humanities

Dean's Welcome

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities rocks! (Just ask the Rock the VIU team.) We have ten departments offering twenty-five programs – including eight Majors, ten Minors, five Diplomas, and two professional degrees. Our Faculty members are committed to providing stimulating classroom experiences – designed to unlock creative potential – for diverse groups of students.

Like us on Facebook, and discover the various activities of our active Faculty. You will also find there a rich repository of material – based on real data – that demonstrates the true value of an education in Arts and Humanities. You might start with this revealing article: Why Study the Liberal Arts?

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities is committed to engaging students and enhancing their educational experiences and to maintaining an open-door policy to promote faculty-student interaction – students are encouraged to drop by and visit their professors (even if just to say hello), to spend time in our student lounge (J.L.L. Student Lounge, Building 345, Room 135), and to seek advice and guidance from our excellent support staff. And be sure to tell your family and friends about VIU’s Love of Learning program, which allows people from the community who are not VIU students to enrol in courses (not for credit) that have available spaces – for only $99!

The Arts cultivate intellectual creativity, autonomy, and a passion for life-long learning. Marie Battiste uses the Cree term mawitowinsiwin (“education for life”) to describe the transformative power of education, its ability to create “a level of harmony between individuals and their world” – I truly hope that your experience in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities is transformative in every way.

Ross