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Cultural Studies (BA)
Experience and Career Guide

Make the most out of your university career by taking advantage of all that Laurier has to offer you and learning about the many ways you can extend your classroom experience into the real world. There are so many opportunities to learn, lead, and embrace new opportunities all while having an exceptional student experience.

In this Guide

Learn the many ways you can extend your classroom experience to the real world.

Year-to-Year Academic Experience Co-Curricular Opportunities Knowledge and Skills Career Options and Graduate Outcomes

Your Year-to-Year Experience

Enhance your academic experience by learning about the opportunities available in your program.

Explore Co-Curricular Experiences

Participate in co-curricular experiences to complement your Laurier
academic journey and gain meaningful learning opportunities.

As a Cultural Studies student, you can: 

Outside of your program, there are many co-curricular opportunities for you to participate in. 

Design Your Degree

These are a few popular academic opportunities which allow you to dive deeper into your major area of study or broaden your knowledge. See undergraduate options, minors and courses for more information.
  • Applied Social Research Option
  • Education Minor
  • Human Relationships Minor
  • Intercultural Understanding Option
  • Management Option
  • Public Policy Minor

Complete your degree in combination with any Faculty of Arts program such as Communication Studies, English, History, Film Studies, Women & Gender Studies or Global Studies.

Develop Your Knowledge and Skills

As a Laurier student, you will develop the following competencies through your curricular and co-curricular experiences.

Competency Framework

Competencies are categories of transferrable skills that appear on your online Experience Record to help you reflect on what you've learned from your experiences. The competencies include: 

  • Adaptability and Resiliency
  • Collaboration and Teamwork
  • Communication
  • Creativity and Innovation
  • Critical Thinking
  • Digital Literacy
  • Diversity and Intercultural Understanding
  • Functional Knowledge
  • Leadership
  • Problem Solving
  • Professional Attributes
  • Self-Awareness

Functional Knowledge

You will develop functional knowledge in your program including:

  • Familiarity with interdisciplinary approaches to understanding how culture is formed, practiced, and constituted.
  • Engagement with cultural studies as a disciplinary debate, particularly in terms of how culture is understood in the context of identity formations and systems of power generated around concepts of race, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, and forces of globalization.
  • Development of a critical awareness of the institutional and social structures that circumscribe forms of cultural production.
  • Understand all forms of cultural production, including popular culture, as sites of ideological production which can be 'unpacked' utilizing a variety of tools.
  • The ability to perform a close reading of any cultural ‘text’ (including visual culture, sound and music, forms of popular culture, etc.) in order to examine the underpinning of ideological structures.
  • Learn new ways of ‘reading’ the culture all around you, exploring popular music, visual culture, the culture of work and play, youth subculture and popular culture’s role in social change.

Discover Career Options

All your experiences at Laurier can help you prepare for your future. Attend Career Centre events and workshops or book a career consulting appointment to explore career and further education options.
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Pursuing Further Education
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Employed
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Other

137 Communication and Cultural Studies respondents from the 2021 Laurier Graduate Survey conducted by the Career Centre. Graduates were surveyed within 12 months of graduation.

Alumni Careers and Pathways

Sample Further Education Programs Within the First Year After Graduation

  • Master’s Degree – Digital Media, Education, Peace & Conflict Studies
  • College Program – Business, Corporate Communications, Public Relations

Sample Jobs Within the First Year After Graduation

  • advertising and marketing coordinator
  • bilingual mortgage fulfillment officer
  • marketing and social media specialist
  • production assistant
  • recruiter
  • station manager

Careers Of Alumni Two to Five Years After Graduation

  • artifact conservator
  • community support worker
  • events and media coordinator
  • government services coordinator
  • human rights specialist
  • librarian
  • program support officer
  • writer/editor

Career Options and Resources

Need some guidance on what you can do with your degree? Discover some career options and find resources to help guide you. 

Career and Industry Options

  • business/corporate development
  • communications/public relations
  • cultural heritage/tourism
  • cultural research analysis
  • digital media/social media
  • education/teaching
  • finance/insurance
  • human resources
  • immigration
  • international relations
  • journalism/media
  • law/legal field
  • library/archives/museum
  • negotiation and dispute resolution
  • non-profit/advocacy
  • refugee settlement and support
  • social policy
  • urban planning/development

Career Resources

Your Experiences Tell Your Story

Share your story through your Laurier Experience Record. An interactive, shareable and official record of your hands-on experiences and learning opportunities at Laurier – the first of its kind in Canada!



Share Your Feedback

We'd love to hear from you. Complete the Laurier Experience Guide Feedback Survey to share your thoughts.