General Education and Liberal Studies Electives

The Electives Office Virtual Service Desk is now OPEN!  Speak with one of our team members during virtual office hours:

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Monday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

(subject to change without notice)

Alternatively, contact us via email:

The English and Communications Office Virtual Service Desk is now OPEN! Speak with one of our team members during virtual office hours:

Join the queue

Monday to Friday: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. (subject to change without notice)

Alternatively, contact us at: comm@georgebrown.ca

General Education and Liberal Studies Electives

A. Key Information (please read)

What are Elective Courses?

General Education and Liberal Studies courses:

  • Are a vital component of post-secondary certificate, diploma and degree programs.
  • Broaden your knowledge and experience through the study of arts and humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
  • Enhance your critical thinking and analytic reasoning skills.
  • Develop communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills that are essential in your personal and social lives and highly valued in all career fields.

General Education and Liberal Studies courses are grouped into three broad categories:

Categories

Course codes for Diploma & Certificate programs

Course codes for Degree programs

Arts and Humanities

GHUM / *ISHU

LHUM / *ILHU

Science and Technology

GSCI / ISSC

LSCI / ILSC

Social Science

GSSC / ISSS

LSSC / ILSS

*IS = Indigenous Studies. For example, ISHU1035 is an indigenous studies humanities course.

General Education and Liberal Studies courses are NOT your program-related electives. Your program-specific electives/options will have different course codes.

How many electives do I need to take? What are the requirements?

Please log into Degree Works to see how many general education or liberal studies courses you need to take, and in which semesters.

Students are required to take general education or liberal studies courses from at least two of the three categories in order to satisfy the breadth requirement which is part of the GBC policy.

B. What Courses are Offered?

Full-Time Day Courses

ELECTIVE DELIVERY MODES FOR Spring/Summer 2024

Asynchronous learning does not occur in the same place or at the same time. Teachers and students do not need to be available at any particular time or day. Resources will be available on Brightspace, usually with instructions to complete weekly modules.

Synchronous online learning occurs at the same time. The teacher and students will meet online, on Zoom, and will interact with each other in real time. Students should plan to be available at the scheduled class times. Although classes are scheduled for three hours, the Zoom sessions will likely take up only some of that time. Students will also need to do work independently.

Hybrid learning combines asynchronous sessions and synchronous sessions. Teachers will provide more instructions for each course.

On campus

Spring/Summer 2024 Elective Course Offerings

Spring/Summer 2024 Elective Offerings Course Descriptions

Equivalent Evening/Online Continuing Education Courses

The Continuing Education courses listed below are accepted as credit towards the General Education Elective requirements of most diploma and certificate programs.

Other courses in the Continuing Education catalogue (even those listed under Liberal Arts and Sciences) do NOT qualify for a General Education elective credit.

General Education Electives Offered Through Continuing Education Spring/Summer 2024

​​​​​Students may register for approved ConEd courses directly on ConEd’s website or by sending an inquiry to the Continuing Education Registration department.

C. How to Register for an Elective

How to Register for an Elective Course

  • As planned for your program: Each program selects and schedules specific semesters for students to take elective courses. See your program’s web page for which semesters electives are scheduled.
  • In any semester: You need to finish all your electives before you can graduate. Please look at the table below to sign up.

**Note: Taking a course out of your program pathway/schedule may result in changes in your tuition. Please contact the registration office if you have questions regarding your student account.

General Education and Liberal Study Elective Course Registration When Scheduled for the Term

Courses will be listed in the block below your mandatory program courses on your STU-VIEW Registration Page once registration opens for your program.

Check your Registration Start Date/Time on STU-VIEW

General Education and Liberal Study Elective Course Registration Outside of Program Pathway

  1. First, register for your program courses (on STU-VIEW directly, or with your program coordinator, or with the registration office.)
  2. Then, review your timetable and know your availability for elective courses. Fill in the applicable Elective Request Form below and indicate your availability to take the elective:
    FORM FOR STUDENTS IN DIPLOMA & CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS FORM
    FORM FOR STUDENTS IN DEGREE PROGRAMS
  3. Filling in the request form DOES NOT automatically register you in a course. Our staff will add applicable elective courses to your STU-VIEW registration page, and you will receive a confirmation email.
  4. On the registration date assigned in the email, you will be able to select the elective courses on your STU-VIEW page under SPECIAL AUTHORIZED COURSES.
  5. Course enrolment is based on availability. If courses you are interested in are not available at the time, you can keep checking until the registration deadline.
  6. These forms are scheduled to close on Thursday, May 2, 2024. This date may change subject to course availability. Once the forms have closed, please contact LASelectives@georgebrown.ca to request to register for an elective course.

Continuing Education Equivalent Elective Registration – Diploma and Certificate Programs only

Another option for taking General Elective courses is through the Continuing Education department. These courses do not contribute to your course load and do not qualify for OSAP, but they do count as credit towards General Elective requirements in a full-time program. Click here to view General Elective courses that are offered through the Continuing Education department. If a course is open and available, you can register for the course now. Please note that you will have to pay for the course at the time of registering. Please note the Program Exclusions column to ensure that you do not register for a course that will not be accepted as an elective for your program. Also be sure to check Degree Works to make sure you are selecting a course that contributes to the college’s breadth requirement, which requires that you take general education courses from at least 2 of the 3 categories.

How to register:

  1. ConEd courses do not contribute to your course load. Please contact the registration office to check your status.
  2. Review elective requirements in section A.
  3. Select only courses in this document that will meet your program elective requirements.
    GENERAL EDUCATION ELECTIVES OFFERED THROUGH CONED Spring/Summer 2024
  4. Register for approved ConEd courses directly on ConEd’s website or by sending an inquiry to the Continuing Education Registration department.
D. How to Apply for Transfer Credit/Course Exemptions
E. How to Access Courses Online

How to Access Courses Online

If you are registered in an online elective, you will access your course through Brightspace, George Brown College’s learning management tool.

Logging on to Brightspace

To log on to Brightspace for the first time, go to the George Brown College homepage and click the “Current Students” link. On the dropdown menu, select “Websites, Apps & Tech Support.” Next select “D2L - Brightspace

Follow the instructions on the “Brightspace Login Help” page to learn how to log on for the first time and to learn about resetting your password.

Direct Link to Brightspace

If you’ve logged in before and are familiar with Brightspace, you can go to the direct link learn.georgebrown.ca to log in.

Online Student Help Resources

If you’ve never used Brightspace before or taken an online course, please take some time to review the various help links and video tutorials.

Brightspace Student Help

If you have any problems logging on after following the instructions on the links above, please contact GBC helpdesk: helpdesk@georgebrown.ca, phone: 416-415-5000, ext. 4357.

Be sure to include your full name, student number, course name, course code, CRN with a description of your problem.

Week 1: Getting Started!

Online course(s) are available the first week of classes. Once your online course appears, please log in and review the complete contents of any Getting Started or Welcome Start Here folders. Be sure to make note of required assignments, discussions, tests, any other activities and their due dates.

Courses will include an Announcements link on the left menu. Be sure to review the announcements posted there. Announcements may also be sent out in email. That means you need to access your GBC email regularly.

Most courses will be organized with Weekly Learning Modules. Read and review the contents of the Week 1 module and complete any activities required during the first week of class. If you have any questions about your online course, contact your professor using the email/message system inside Brightspace or post a question on one of the discussion forums provided inside your course.

F. Contact Us

The Electives and Communication Virtual Service Desk is now OPEN! Join the queue and speak with one of our team members during office hours:

Monday to Friday: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
​​​​​
Connect to the Virtual Service Desk

Contact Us

Our staff are online during regular business hours, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.

Please use only one of the following methods to contact us and please include your student ID.

English & Communication/Electives Office Inquiry Form

(Note: If you are requesting additional courses, please ensure that you have selected all your program courses FIRST to avoid time conflicts on your timetable. If your timetable is not available on your STU-VIEW account, please let us know your availability during the week.)