General overview of universally useful concepts in insurance, pensions and financial management. Typical life, health and property & casualty insurance products; underwriting; pricing; reserving; regulation; social insurance; retirement plans and annuities; financial planning: mortgages, loans, wealth management.

Cherie Ng

Introduction to Insurance

Measurement of interest, present value. Equations of value. Annuities. Loans and amortization schedules. Bonds and other securities. Cash flows: yield rates, duration, convexity, immunization. Yield curves: spot rates, forward rates. Interest rate swaps. Covers part of the syllabus for Exam FM of the Society of Actuaries and Exam 2 of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

Himchan Jeong

Interest Theory and Applications

First term of work experience in a co-operative education program for actuarial students. Students should contact an advisor as early in their career as possible for counseling. Units from this course do not count towards the units required for an SFU degree. Grading is on a pass/withdraw basis. A course fee is required.

Natalie Erickson

Job Practicum I

Second term of work experience in a co-operative education program available to actuarial students. Units from this course do not count towards the units required for an SFU degree. Grading is on a pass/withdraw basis. A course fee is required.

Job Practicum II

Option pricing models and their application to insurance and financial risks. Introduction to finance and derivatives. Option strategies and risk management. Binomial models. Black-Scholes-Merton model. Market-making, hedging, and option Greeks. Introduction to exotic options. Mean-variance portfolio theory and asset pricing models. Covers part of the syllabus for Exam 3F of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

Barbara Sanders

Financial Economics for Actuaries

Guided experiences in written and oral communication of actuarial ideas and results to both expert and lay audiences.

Actuarial Communication

Advanced survival models. Multiple state models. Advanced premium calculations and reserves. Profit testing. Pension plans and retirement benefits. Computer applications for pricing, reserving and risk measurement of life insurance portfolios. Covers part of the syllabus for Exam LTAM of the Society of Actuaries.

Chi-Liang Tsai

Long-Term Actuarial Mathematics II

Risk measures. Extreme value theory: models and applications. Aggregate models for claims. Regression-based approaches to claims modeling: generalized linear models, linear mixed models.

Advanced Models for Short-Term Insurance

Third term of work experience in a co-operative education program available to actuarial students. Units from this course do not count towards the units required for an SFU degree. Grading is on a pass/withdraw basis. A course fee is required.

Job Practicum III

Fourth term of work experience in a co-operative education program available to actuarial students. Units from this course do not count towards the units required for an SFU degree. Grading is on a pass/withdraw basis. A course fee is required.

Job Practicum IV

Optional fifth term of work experience in a co-operative education program available to actuarial students. Units from this course do not count towards the units required for an SFU degree. Grading is on a pass/withdraw basis. A course fee is required. This course may be repeated for additive credit.

Job Practicum V

Independent study and/or research in topics chosen in consultation with the supervising instructor. 

Jean-Francois Begin

Directed Studies in Actuarial Science

Aggregate claims models. Models for incurred but not reported claims. Bonus-malus systems in automobile insurance. Mortality models.

Advanced Actuarial Models

Economic perspectives on risk and insurance. Risk measures. Extreme value theory. Multivariate risk models, copulas and dependence. Risk management in practice.

Actuarial Risk Management

Introduces students to the fundamental principles underlying Contract Law in Canada, and the practical application of such principles in the commercial environment. Students will learn the essential elements of what makes an "enforceable contract" such as offer and acceptance, certainty of terms, form and consideration as well as those things that may well make a contract unenforceable, such as misrepresentation, frustration, duress and privity issues. Warranties, representations, conditions and remedies for breach of contract will also be covered, as will contractual interpretation.

Krishneel Maharaj

Contracts

Provides an overview of the law of succession and familiarizes students with the principles necessary to competently advise clients about the transfer of property on death and to draft a will that meets the client's objectives. Powers of Attorney and Representation Agreements as planning tools will be examined.

Margaret Hall

Lilian Cazacu

Personal Planning

Designed to give students a detailed understanding of key topics in applied legal studies, with a particular emphasis upon areas of low and practice that are of special interest to Notaries Public. Topics may change from year to year and may vary by in instructor but it is anticipated that topics will include, the law of agency; current issues in tax law; the law affecting business/not for profit incorporation, and business associations.

Graeme Bowbrick

Selected Topics in Applied Legal Studies

First order non-linear partial differential equations (PDEs) and the method of characteristics. Hamilton-Jacobi equation and hyperbolic conservation laws; weak solutions. Second-order linear PDEs (Laplace, heat and wave equations); Green's functions. Sobolev spaces. Second-order elliptic PDEs; Lax-Milgram theorem.

Nilima Nigam

Partial Differential Equations

Topics vary depending on faculty availability and student interest. Recent offerings include: geophysical fluid dynamics, adaptive numerical methods for differential equations, learning theory, and stability, pattern formation and chaos.

Steven Ruuth

Selected Topics in Applied Mathematics

An open oral candidacy exam given by the supervisory committee. The exam consists of a proposed thesis topic defence by the student and supervisory committee questions about related proposed research topics. The exam follows submission of a written PhD research proposal. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Students who fail will either successfully complete a second exam within six months or withdraw from the program.

Ladislav Stacho

PhD Oral Candidacy Exam

A broad survey of human cultural development from the late Palaeolithic/PalaeoIndian periods (ca 40,000 BP) to the rise of civilization and empires, in both the Old and New Worlds. 

Cara Tremain

Dongya Yang

Ancient Peoples and Places

A survey of methods used by archaeologists to discover and interpret the past. Examples will be drawn from selected sites and cultures around the world. 

Laurie Darcus

Reconstructing the Human Past

A non-technical survey of the primate background of humans, fossil primates, and fossil humans, and the associated evidence of cultural development. An introduction to physical anthropology. 

Dennis Sandgathe

Human Origins

Charts the emergence and changes in the expression of human religious behavior. It covers the earliest rituals of the Palaeolithic, the importance of fertility cults, ancestor cults, alliance rituals, shamans, witchcraft, and monotheism.

David Maxwell

Shamans, Sacrifice and Psychedelics

A survey of prehistoric cultures of North and South America. The peopling of the New World, the rise of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Mexico and Peru, and the cultural adaptations by prehistoric populations to other parts of the New World.

Rudy Reimer

Archaeology of the New World

Introduces scientific techniques used for archaeological investigations.

Francesco Berna

Archaeological Science

Examines cultural heritage management as the universal process by which people use places, objects and traditions from the past to educate, entertain, profit, promote change, maintain status quo, create identities, and build communities and nations. The course presents archaeology as one aspect of cultural heritage management and as an activity governed by national laws and international conventions for protecting and making appropriate use of heritage. Using case studies from Canada and abroad, the course explores stewardship as a fundamental professional ethic in archaeology and other fields engaged in studying, applying, and safeguarding personal, familial, communal, national, and transnational heritage.

John Welch

Cultural Heritage Management

A selection of major art traditions from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Mesoamerica and South America is explored. Issues of intellectual property rights, copyright and the use of ancient art in contemporary contexts are also addressed. 

Ancient Visual Art

Introduces the art and archaeology of ancient Rome from 8th c. BCE to 4th c. CE through an overview of the material remains in their original historical, political and cultural contexts. Addresses several issues: stylistic changes and innovations, art as a vehicle of propaganda and art as projection of Roman imperial power.

Aurora Camano

Roman Art and Archaeology

An introduction to the study of animal remains from archaeological sites. Coverage of the major concepts and methods used in the study of animal remains and detailed practical coverage of the vertebrate skeleton.

Zooarchaeology

The interpretation of archaeological evidence to look at the ways that people in the past perceived, constructed, and used their natural surroundings and their built environments.

Ross Jamieson

Landscape Archaeology

Examines methods, theories, and concepts for understanding how past cultures interacted with their bio-physical surroundings. Integrates diverse kinds of data and knowledge to understand these relationships. Topics to be addressed include local and traditional ecological knowledge, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, human-environment interaction, human-induced environmental changes, paleodiet, and domestication.




Bob Muir

Archaeological Perspectives on Human Ecology

A detailed and lab-intensive study of the human skeletal remains and dental variation. Designed for students to learn how to identify all the bones in the human skeleton, both whole and fragmentary. Focuses on archaeological and forensic field and lab applications for the study of the human skeleton.

Hua Zhang

Human Osteology

Theory, method, and operation of the application of statistical techniques to the description, classification, analysis, and interpretation of archaeological data.

Quantitative Methods in Archaeology

An in-depth study of how to manufacture and analyze stone tools. Includes rock and mineral identification, stone working by students, fracture mechanics, and relevance to theoretical problems.

Lithic Technology

Surveys the origins, implementations, and need for archaeological heritage legislation on an international and national scale. Topical issues associated with contract archaeology, public archaeology, native heritage, and avocational societies are incorporated. 

Archaeological Resource Management

Focuses on the role of the forensic anthropologist in medico-legal death investigations, such as the recovery, identification and determination of cause of death of human remains found in a variety of settings. The lab component provides an overview of anthropological methods of examination of human skeletal remains, such as the estimation of sex and age, and trauma analysis.

Angela Bessa

Angela Silva Bessa

Forensic Anthropology

The cultural, evolutionary, physical, and distributional principles which underlie the prediction and reconstruction of the past.

Archaeological Theory

Directed readings for upper level students who desire to study selected topics in depth. 

Directed Readings

A course in which students can undertake specific laboratory, library or field based research supervised by a faculty member. Variable units: 3, 4, 5 or 6.  

Angela D'andrea

Directed Laboratory/Library/Field Research

Directed readings in a selected field of study under the direction of a faculty member. Papers will be required. 

Honours Reading

An honours thesis of some ten to fifteen thousand words will be written under the direction of a faculty member. 

Honours Thesis

Contextualizes the business of HRM by targeting five clusters of essential concepts and tools in business management: accounting and finance; marketing, sales, and contracting; human resources, labour, economics, corporate governance, and risk management; and business models, innovation, and globalization.

HRM Business Management

Examines the hallmarks of excellent research in HRM archaeology through studies of successful and less successful research designs and methods. The course provides essential guidance for student thesis preparation.

HRM Archaeological Research Design and Methods

Directed study in heritage resource management under the supervision of a faculty member.

Directed Study in Heritage Resource Management

Discussion of recent developments in archaeology and archaeological science, with invited speaker presentations. Required course for graduate students in archaeology. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

Graduate Seminar II

A preliminary written prospectus followed by the public presentation of a prospectus at a colloquium. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

PhD Prospectus & Colloquium

An examination consisting of three written field statements and an oral defence. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

PhD Comprehensive Examination

Seminar focusing on the development of thesis research design and data analysis.

Mark Collard

Research Design

Directed readings under the supervision of a faculty member in an area of interest related to the student’s program.

Intensive readings under the supervision of a faculty member in an area of interest related to the student's program.

This course will be offered from time to time to meet special needs of students and make use of specialization of visiting faculty members.

Special Topics

Directed laboratory, library or field research under the supervision of a faculty member in an area of interest related to the student's program.

Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

MA Thesis

PhD Thesis

Introduction to the molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms of living organisms (microorganisms, plants, animals). Lecture and lab topics include cell structure and function, flow of genetic information, enzyme function, metabolism, whole organism form and function (circulation, gas exchange, nutrition, osmoregularion). BISC 101 and 102 can be taken in either order.

Zamir Punja

Peter Hollmann

Onkar Bains

General Biology

Introduction to evolution and ecology, focusing on the processes that shape the diversity of life on earth. Lecture and lab topics include: natural selection and other mechanisms of evolutionary change, phylogeny, genetics, speciation, behaviour, species interactions, population ecology, and ecosystems. BISC 101 and 102 may be taken in either order.

John Reynolds

Erin Barley

Tammy McMullan

Liz Steves

Elizabeth Steves

Tammy Mcmullan

Ivona Mladenovic

Emphasizes the biology relevant to everyday life and the methods by which biologists address scientific questions. Topics include: evolution; human inheritance, reproduction, and development; nutrition, activity, wellness and cancer; agriculture and genetic engineering; and biodiversity and human affairs. Students with a minimum grade of C in Biology 12 (or equivalent), who are considering a BISC major, are encouraged to proceed directly to BISC 101 and 102.

Biology in Everyday Life

Principles and concepts of transmission of genetic information. Topics include: molecular basis of inheritance, interpretation of pedigrees, chromosomal mapping, linkage, crosses, epigenetics, and the regulation and flow of genetic information from DNA to proteins. Focus on problem-solving.

Genetics

Introduces the different approaches used to study the natural world and explores ecological concepts and theory relating to animal behaviour, population dynamics, the distribution of species, structure of communities and the function of ecosystems.

David Green

Ecology

An integrated exploration of animal and plant physiology, using principles from biology, physics, and chemistry to describe the underlying mechanisms and adaptations that support life. Systems include transport, metabolism, electrical and chemical signalling, sensing and responding.

Gordon Rintoul

Jim Mattsson

Principles of Physiology

Directed study that provides exposure to laboratory or field methods in a research lab with the Department of Biological Sciences. A student may enrol in this course only with prior written agreement of a faculty member to act as a research supervisor.

Gerhard Gries

Kathleen Fitzpatrick

Introduction to Undergraduate Research in Biological Sciences

The phenomenon of organic evolution, and the major processes leading to changes in allele frequencies over time, namely mutation, migration, genetic drift and natural selection. Topics include evolutionary genetics, adaptation, sexual selection, the origin of life, speciation, and the major evolutionary trends over geological time.

Rolf Mathewes

Evolution

Students analyze different types of genetic data (e.g., genetic crosses, chromosome rearrangements, STR, RFLP) and use lab techniques (e.g., PCR, restriction digest, and gel electrophoresis) to solve case studies and genetics problems.

Genetic Analysis

An introduction to invertebrate phyla, with a focus on marine taxa. Labs include examination of live animals, dissections, and preserved specimens.

Mike Hart

Invertebrate Biology

An examination of the primary threats to biodiversity, how biological processes contribute to the persistence of populations and structure of communities, and species and landscape approaches to conservation in the real world.  

Nick Dulvy

Conservation Biology

An introduction to the environmental and biological fate of chemicals, their mechanisms of action, testing, evaluation, and risk assessment. Students are introduced to different classes of environmental contaminants, and examine how they affect various organisms (including humans) at the molecular, biochemical, organ system, and behavioural levels of biological organization.

Chris Kennedy

Environmental Toxicology: A Mechanistic Perspective

Embryonic and post-embryonic development of vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants, with a focus on both classical and modern experimental approaches. Common and distinct features of the genes and signalling pathways that control development will be compared at the organismal, cellular, molecular and genetic levels.

Sherryl Bisgrove

Developmental Biology

A survey and comparison of the major plant groups including their origins, evolution, anatomy, life histories, and impacts on human society. Labs emphasize microscopy and observation of plant specimens.

Miranda Meents

Plant Biology

First term of work experience in the Biological Sciences Co-operative Education Program. Units for this course do not count towards the units required for an SFU degree. 

Natalia Bussard

Practicum I

Second term of work experience in the Biological Sciences Co-operative Education Program. Units for this course do not count towards the units required for an SFU degree. 

Practicum II

Selected topics in Biology, aimed at students who might not have a background in biology. Science students may take this course as an elective, but may not apply this course toward their upper division program requirements.

Eirikur Palsson

Special Topics in Biology for Non-majors

This interdisciplinary course exposes students to the science and art of brewing, including the ingredients and process of brewing. Discussion of malting, barley and hop cultivation, and yeast fermentation, as it relates to the brewing process, as well as business, advertising, marketing of beer will be included. Students may not count this course toward their biological science honours, major, or minor requirements.

Brewing Science

Neuroscience, focusing on physiological, cellular and molecular mechanisms. Topics include: cellular and subcellular organization of the nervous system, electrical properties of neurons, ion channels, synaptic transmission, sensory systems, learning and memory, neurodegenerative diseases.

Neurobiology

An introduction to the marine environment, marine organisms and the ecological and oceanographic processes affecting them.

Tanya Brown

Isabelle Côté

Isabelle Cote

Marine Biology and Oceanography

An evaluation of factors influencing the natural fluctuation and regulation of plant and animal population numbers. 

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