Courses for the Minor in Diversity and the Contemporary World: 2026-2027

Prerequisite: Membership in the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, 30 credits, and permission of the College. The student works under the supervision of a Concordia faculty member on an in-depth research project approved by the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability as relevant to either Sustainability Studies or Diversity Studies. Note that the onus is on the student to find a supervisor willing to supervise their work.

This course is designed to introduce students to the major themes, issues, and debates in Montreal’s Black history from its origins until today. Students gain an understanding of how Black communities lived, worked, socialized, and defined themselves in Montreal.

Note: Students who have received credit for BLST 211, or for this topic under a LOYC 298 number, may not take this course for credit.

This course is an anthropological approach to variations in cultural experience as they relate to communication. Students explore modes of expression and communication, including literature and film, with a view to examining questions of interpretation, aesthetics, and ethical judgment. Personal expression and communication are also discussed. This course is intended to develop an awareness of the role of imagination and creativity in expression and interpretation, and sensitivity to the role of cultural and other differences in processes of communication.

Note: Students who have received credit for LOYC 410 may not take this course for credit.

This course explores the conceptual elements that underlie the religious experience. These elements include the notion of the sacred, beliefs, cosmologies and myths, the origins and understanding of evil, ethics and salvation.
Note: Students who have received credit for RELI 211 or 312 may not take this course for credit.
This course is cross-listed with RELI 312.

This course explores the conceptual elements that underlie the religious experience. These elements include the notion of the sacred, beliefs, cosmologies and myths, the origins and understanding of evil, ethics and salvation.
Note: Students who have received credit for RELI 211 or 312 may not take this course for credit.
This course is cross-listed with RELI 312.

Prerequisite: Membership in the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, 30 credits, and permission of the College. The student works under the supervision of a Concordia faculty member on an in-depth research project approved by the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability as relevant to either Sustainability Studies or Diversity Studies. Note that the onus is on the student to find a supervisor willing to supervise their work.

This course is designed to introduce students to the major themes, issues, and debates in Montreal’s Black history from its origins until today. Students gain an understanding of how Black communities lived, worked, socialized, and defined themselves in Montreal.

Note: Students who have received credit for BLST 211, or for this topic under a LOYC 298 number, may not take this course for credit.

This course introduces students to the study and practice of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) as it has emerged in North America over the past ten years. Covering best practices in EDI, the course will engage with both the pitfalls and promises of efforts to make workplaces more equitable. Topics to be covered include: the origins of EDI, current debates, and case studies of institutional transformation. Students will also have the opportunity to apply their learning to specific work-place scenarios.

The current state of biodiversity around the world and the forces that affect this diversity are the main focus of this course. It addresses the origins of this diversity, the advantages of variability in the environment for human life, and the contemporary challenges to this diversity. This course is intended to emphasize holistic thinking and system analysis.

This course explores the conceptual elements that underlie the religious experience. These elements include the notion of the sacred, beliefs, cosmologies and myths, the origins and understanding of evil, ethics and salvation.
Note: Students who have received credit for RELI 211 or 312 may not take this course for credit.
This course is cross-listed with RELI 312.

Prerequisite: 12 credits of LOYC courses; or permission of the College. This course focuses on the conceptualization of cross-disciplinary inquiry and the problems of interdisciplinary communication. The role of discipline-based and cross-disciplinary research is studied. A brief intellectual history of discipline-formation and emerging interdisciplinary fields is discussed. One contemporary global issue will usually be discussed in detail in this context.

There are two options for this course: the internship option and the research project option. For the first, students complete 120 hours of an approved internship and some related work in class. For the second, students complete a major research paper.

Prerequisite: Membership in the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, 30 credits, and permission of the College. The student works under the supervision of a Concordia faculty member on an in-depth research project approved by the Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability as relevant to either Sustainability Studies or Diversity Studies. Note that the onus is on the student to find a supervisor willing to supervise their work.

This course considers ethical issues arising in the context of personal and interpersonal relations, families and friendships, and health and medical care. These issues are discussed in relation to traditional and contemporary moral perspectives, both religious and non-religious. Topics covered may vary from year to year, but may include discussions of conscience and career, privacy, sexual relations, harassment, substance abuse, abortion, euthanasia, and gay and lesbian relations.

NOTE: Students who have received credit for RELI 310 or for this topic under a RELI 398 number may not take this course for credit.

This course explores how religion may be seen to engender or exacerbate violence, as well as the ways that religion may critique, prevent or even offer alternatives to violence. Sacred writings, theologies, rituals and communal actions of particular communities are studied, as well as notions of the self, the group, others, outsiders and enemies. In particular, the life-work and writings of such key figures as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are studied in order to provide some religious perspectives on the relationship between non-violence and the resistance to injustice.
NOTE: Students who have received credit for this topic under a RELI 398 number or a LOYC 398 number or under RELI 355 may not take this course for credit.