Victoria University in the University of Toronto:
Established: 1836 (Previous names of the University were: the Upper Canada Academy, 1836-41; Victoria College, 1841-1884; Victoria University 1884-1890; Victoria University in the University of Toronto, 1890 to the present.) Number of Students
About 4,000 Programs
Victoria University in the University of Toronto consists of the post-secondary institutions of Victoria College and Emmanuel College who offer their own respective programs, and who are federated through a common theology department. The overall structure of Victoria University is, in turn, affiliated with the University of Toronto and students of the former may take courses and programs in the latter’s Faculty of Arts and Science. Victoria College offers 6 interdisciplinary program options, 3 majors and 3 minors, in Literary Studies, Renaissance Studies, and Semiotics and Communications Theory. The College also has a “specialist” option in Semiotics and Communications Theory and a program in World Literature; however, both are currently suspended. The College also offers 'Vic One,' a 1st-year program in which students register in 1 of 3 streams, each dedicated to a specific person of significance to Victoria College’s history, within which they take 3 core courses which are taught in seminar groups of 15 pupils or less. Students may choose from the Northrop Frye, Lester Pearson, or Augusta Stowe-Gullen streams. Emmanuel College, on the other hand, offers a full array of primarily graduate-level theological and ecumenical opportunities as either “basic” degrees or “advanced” degrees. Basic degrees are professional degree programs for which one needs to hold at least a baccalaureate to be admitted. Advanced degrees are post-graduate options for which a student needs an advanced degree in theology in order to be admitted, except for the master’s degree, for which a bachelor’s degree is sufficient. The College also offers a wide-range of continuing education courses and programs that are aimed at enhancing the student's knowledge of specific issues from a Christian faith perspective. Moreover, as a member of the Toronto School of Theology, Emmanuel College provides its students with the opportunity to take courses at any of the other 6 members of the former. Interesting Facts
The University of Victoria in the University of Toronto is made up of two colleges: Victoria College and Emmanuel College. Founded by the Wesleyan Methodists of Canada, Victoria College was and still is a Christian-based place of higher learning for theological studies. Following the 1890 Proclamation of the University Act, Victoria College federated with the University of Toronto. Emmanuel College, originally Union College, on the other hand, was formed in the wake of the founding of the United Church of Canada in 1925, and the College federated with the theology department at Victoria College in 1928. Following a 1978 Memorandum of Agreement between the University of Toronto and its member colleges, Emmanuel College no longer grants degrees in isolation but rather cooperatively and conjointly with the University of Toronto. |
