Honours Arts and Business

The Honours Arts and Business program enables you to combine an honours degree in arts with a solid foundation in the theory and practice of business.

In addition to fulfilling all the major requirements for the arts degree, you'll also learn:

Business, marketing, and entrepreneurial principles
Significance of economic, social, political, and historic developments
Business communication and leadership skills
Strategic decision-making and project management
Professional and business ethics
Canadian and international perspectives

Honours Arts and Business is unique to the University of Waterloo and available as a regular or cooperative program. In this program, you'll participate in Capsim’s Capstone business simulation designed to provide students with the experience of running their own business. The simulation, delivered in ARBUS 400, enables students to apply concepts such as strategic thinking, marketing strategies and business ethics learned in other Honours Arts and Business courses.

Required courses

In addition to the requirements for your honours major (which you'll select at the end of first year), you’ll take 14 required Honours Arts and Business courses:

Course code	Course name	Notes
ARBUS 101	Introduction to Business in North America	Cross-listed with AFM 131
ECON 101	Introduction to Microeconomics
ARBUS 102	Accounting Information for Managers	Cross-listed with AFM 123
ARBUS 202	Professional and Business Ethics	Cross-listed with PHIL 215
ARTS 280	Statistics for Arts Students (or another approved Arts statistics course)
COMMST 204	Leadership, Teams, and Communication	As of Sept 1, 2023, SPCOM courses are renamed to COMMST
ARBUS 200	Entrepreneurship Principles and Practices
ENGL 210F	Genres of Business Communication
ARBUS 300	Practical Business Skills
ARBUS 301	International Business	Cross-listed with AFM 333
ARBUS 302	Principles of Marketing and Consumer Economics	Cross-listed with MGMT 244
ARBUS 303	Marketing Strategy	Cross-listed with MGMT 345
ARBUS 400	Strategy and Program Integration

And one of:

Course code	Course name
HIST 113	Canadian Business History: Innovators and Entrepreneurs
PSCI 231	Government and Business

Co-op course sequencing chart

For students who are following an Arts and Business Co-op calendar year beginning Fall 2018 or later, this is your recommended course sequence. While this sequence is recommended, there is flexibility in when you take these courses. Please contact your Arts and Business advisor if you have specific course sequencing questions.

In addition to the courses below, all ARBUS students will also have courses required for their major. Please contact your major advisor if you have questions about the sequence of the courses required for your major.

What is my calendar year? The year your started in Arts and Business (example: Fall 2022 start = 2022-2023 calendar year).

Year	Term	Academic Level	Course(s)
1	Fall	1A	ARBUS 101 ECON 101
	Winter	1B	ARBUS 102 ARBUS 202
	Spring	OFF	OFF
2	Fall	2A	ARTS 280 (or required stats for major - see Notes) COMMST 204
	Winter	WT1	WORK TERM 1
	Spring	2B	ARBUS 200 (see Notes) ENGL 210F One of HIST 113 or PSCI 231 (see Notes)
3	Fall	WT2	WORK TERM 2
	Winter	3A	ARBUS 302
	Spring	WT3	WORK TERM 3
4	Fall	3B	ARBUS 301 ARBUS 303
	Winter	WT4	WORK TERM 4
	Spring	WT5	WORK TERM 5
5	Fall	4A	ARBUS 300 (see Notes)
5	Winter	4B	ARBUS 400 (see Notes)

Regular course sequencing chart

For students who are following an Arts and Business Regular calendar year beginning Fall 2018 or later, this is your recommended course sequence. While this sequence is recommended, there is flexibility in when you take these courses. Please contact your Arts and Business advisor if you have specific course sequencing questions.

In addition to the courses below, all ARBUS students will also have courses required for their major. Please contact your major advisor if you have questions about the sequence of the courses required for your major.

What is my calendar year? The year your started in Arts and Business (example: Fall 2022 start = 2022-2023 calendar year).

Year	Term	Academic Level	Course(s)
1	Fall	1A	ARBUS 101 ECON 101
	Winter	1B	ARBUS 102 ARBUS 202
	Spring	OFF	OFF (see Notes)
2	Fall	2A	ARTS 280 (or required stats for major - see Notes) COMMST 204
	Winter	2B	ARBUS 200 (see Notes) ENGL 210F One of HIST 113 or PSCI 231 (see Notes)
	Spring	OFF	OFF (see Notes)
3	Fall	3A	ARBUS 301
	Winter	3B	ARBUS 302
	Spring	OFF	OFF (see Notes)
4	Fall	4A	ARBUS 300 (see Notes) ARBUS 303
	Winter	4B	ARBUS 400 (see Notes)
	Spring

Notes:

Core sequence and flexibility: ARBUS 200, ARBUS 300, and ARBUS 400 must be taken in sequence and cannot be taken in the same term. You should plan accordingly to take these classes in the correct order. ARBUS 300 may be taken in 3A, 3B, or 4A.

Required stats course: Students in some majors will NOT take ARTS 280, and will instead take the statistics course required for your major: Economics (ECON 221), Legal Studies (option to take LS 280 in place of ARTS 280), Political Science (take PSCI 314 or ARTS 280), Psychology (PSYCH 292), Sexuality, Marriage and Family Studies (SMF 220), Social Development Studies (SDS 250R), and Sociology (SOC 280).

Required ARBUS elective: One of HIST 113 or PSCI 231 is required. It is recommended that it be completed by the end of 3B. The actual term you take this course will depend on course offerings.

Spring terms: Students in Arts and Business Regular can also take Spring term courses if desired. The Spring term does not need to be an "off" term.

As of Sept. 1, 2023, SPCOM course codes are renamed to COMMST.

Add to your learning experience

Minors are a way to add to your learning experience. You can earn a minor within and outside the Faculty of Arts. You can also pursue interdisciplinary-based minors such as Human Resources Management, International Studies, and Cognitive Science. Minors through the Faculty of Arts are 8 courses.

Looking for a lighter offering of business courses? Students in the Honours Arts program (but not Arts & Business) are eligible for the Management Studies minor.