BMS students are encouraged to explore options for adding a minor to their degrees. Below are several minor degrees that The University of British Columbia Vancouver offers that are especially relevant to those in the BMS program, sorted by relevancy to each focus area. BMS students aren’t limited to these options—any Minor in the Faculty of Arts can be completed as part of a BMS degree.
Most minors can be declared once you reach Year 3 standing, although some allow students to declare as early as Year 2. Most are ‘self-declared’, meaning no application is required, but some require applications and may be competitive and/or require certain prerequisites be complete before enrolling. Discuss your course planning with BMS Advising to ensure you account for lower-level requirements and prerequisites.
Up to 6 credits of upper-level coursework may apply both to your BMS requirements (including the Focus Area and in/out requirements) and to your minor.
Visual Focus Area minors
Art History
Art history is an expansive and diverse academic discipline that encompasses critical and historical analyses of objects, spaces, visual traditions, artistic practices, and ideas, as well as their reception and interpretation across different geographic and cultural contexts, in the past and in the present. Undergraduate students in art history learn how to look critically, carry out research, integrate different types of knowledge, and produce original arguments and present them in an effective manner.
Given that there is only 1 upper year ARTH course in the BMS curriculum, this minor is a great opportunity for students interested in engaging with art history beyond what the BMS curriculum offers. No application is required for this minor.
Cinema Studies
If you have a keen interest and critical mind for the screen arts, and you want to join a thriving community of students and scholars, Cinema Studies could be the program for you. Study a full range of topics that cover most of the world’s cinema movements and periods.
This minor provides a wider access to different kinds of CINE courses for production and critique purposes. Talk to BMS advising about how to enrol, and to the Theatre–Film undergraduate advisor for inquiries about using cinema-related credits from other subjects towards the minor.
Visual Art
The minor in visual art encourages you to explore and develop your technical skills, as well as your perceptions of contemporary and historical visual culture. Great opportunity for students interested in adding more visual pieces to their repertoire and engaging more deeply with visual work beyond what the BMS curriculum offers. Discuss applications and course planning with BMS advising.
Narrative Focus Area minors
Creative Writing
Pursue the Creative Writing minor as a complement to your major and receive a formal qualification in Creative Writing on your transcript. Learn by producing your own original writing, while experienced faculty — all practicing writers themselves – guide you in learning technique and craft.
Great for students interested in producing more original narrative works in their undergraduate degrees. Students can also enhance BMS courses that focus on similar themes and tailor writing towards personal interests. No application is required; in addition to CRWR 312, a maximum of one Narrative course (CRWR 302, 308, or 310) may also apply to the minor.
English Language or English Literature
The Department of English Language & Literatures offers two minors representing the subfields of its name; build communication skills and a broad world-view with the minor in English literature, or build communication, linguistic, and critical thinking skills with a minor in English language. (Language graduates are especially skilled in the critical analysis of media and communication.) No application is required for either major; note that the BMS course ENGL 332 only applies to the Literature minor.
German Studies
German Studies minors provide students with a greater chance to engage with German school of thought beyond media theory from the Frankfurt school; the Minor in German Studies option involves study of the German language itself, while the anglophone option provides a pathway to learn about German culture, media, and literature without learning the language in depth. Discuss the right pathway and how to enrol with BMS Advising.
Journalism and Social Change
The Minor in Journalism and Social Change is a skill-based program that provides students with foundational knowledge in journalism, literacy skills, community engagement, and the tools to understand and respond to social change. Students will be able to complement their major field of study with practical skills, critical thinking and analytical news literacy, with a focus on the role of journalism and social change.
The Journalism & Social Change program is a great opportunity for students interested in the broadcast media industry, and is not commonly offered at the undergraduate level. A focus on social change makes the minor relevant to the themes of the BMS curriculum and offers a unique opportunity to engage with relevant themes in journalism. Students are also provided with a chance to work on original projects and community partners to develop their ideas. No application is required.
Theatre Studies
The Theatre Studies program promotes a strong focus on the theory and practice of dramatic compositions. Courses emphasize the relationship between performance, literary-text and historical contexts. No application is required.
Writing and Communication
Complement your major field of study by strengthening your writing and communication skills and by expanding your knowledge of writing and communication practices used in your own academic discipline and beyond. A Minor in Writing and Communication will give you an accreditation valued by employers; opportunities to practice and enhance the impact of your writing and communication in a variety of contexts, genres, and modes; and the chance to engage in transformative conversations about the role of writing and communication in negotiating identity, community, culture, knowledge, and power. No application is required.
Data Focus Area minors
Computer Science
Learn how to use and improve computers while you explore topics such as databases and operating systems, software engineering, security, web development, and numerical methodology. Computer Science gives you a thorough grounding in computer software design, and a broad choice of other studies in computing—not to mention, reserved seats in high-demand CPSC courses. Admission is by competitive application; discuss prerequisites, course planning, and how to apply with BMS Advising.
Data Science
In this minor, students gain an understanding of key data science concepts such as how to program using data, use statistics on data, and how to use machine learning and statistical models. The Minor in Data Science is an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental undergraduate program administered through the Faculty of Science. This program is open to any UBC-Vancouver undergraduate student.
This minor goes beyond the scope of the BMS Data Stream and take courses in DSCI, INFO, CPSC that are otherwise restricted and not reserved by BMS. Students also develop practical skills, excellent for individuals interested in working in marketing and media analytics industries.
Informatics
Informatics, or information science, is a field of study focused on the use of information, data and knowledge in society and across academic disciplines. It considers how information is produced, stored, organized, classified, disseminated and preserved. It also analyzes how technical and social information systems function and the role that information systems play in the lives of individuals, communities, and our global ecosystem. The minor provides access to further INFO courses, developing key skills in the School of Informatics.