Is AHSC for You?

All of our programs deal with people, and our graduates find employment in every facet of society. The 3 different program streams include: Human Relations, Leisure Science, and Therapeutic Recreation.

In each of our programs, group work is considered an essential component of the learning process. Most of our graduates find employment in group intervention settings, either using leisure as an intervention tool or facilitating group behavior and group process.

Leadership is considered a core element of our department. Each student has leadership courses as a required element of his/her curriculum. Faculty members within the Applied Human Sciences (AHSC) Department are on the cutting edge of leadership research and theory.

Diversity is a key element in the student body at Concordia, and diversity is central to AHSC's mission. Our graduates find employment working with many people and groups from diverse backgrounds. One of our courses, Respecting Diversity in Human Relations (AHSC 311), examines the significance of identity related differences, and students learn about the nature and effects of negative stereotyping and biases in individuals, institutions, and culture.

One course, Leisure and the Environment (AHSC 333), is chiefly concerned with how society's leisure and recreation can contribute to the destruction of the natural environment, but more importantly, how we can use our leisure to contribute to saving the environment as well.

The Leisure Sciences Program is chiefly concerned with the phenomenon of free time, specifically dealing with the social and cultural integration of individuals at leisure. The underlying philosophy of the program is based on the role that recreation and leisure play in a society that holds the work ethic at a high level of prominence.

The course, Basic Counseling Skills and Concepts (AHSC 351), introduces students to counseling theories and develops an understanding for theoretical and value frameworks of the helping relationship.

All of our programs deal with intervention of some kind, either with individuals, communities, or organizations. Two courses, AHSC 270 and 370, deal with Human Systems Intervention and strategies.

Community problems and issues are discussed in many classes. Specifically, Community Development (AHSC 443 and AHSC 445), explores approaches to analyzing and defining community problems and issues.

Many of our courses deal with Program Planning, and planning itself is a required element of the curriculum. In two courses, Community Recreation Planning (AHSC 371) and Therapeutic Recreation Programming (AHSC 381), students put planning theory into preactie by organizing, running and evaluating special events for members of the community.

The Therapeutic Recreation Program uses recreation as an intervention for persons with potentially limiting conditions. Therapeutic Recreation professionals help address the leisure needs of individuals with limiting conditions, with the ultimate goal being healthy and independent leisure functioning.