Université Sainte-Anne is a

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-Romance, a descendant of the Latin spoken in ...

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Pointe-de-l'Église, Nova Scotia Church Point ( French: ''Pointe-de-l'Église'') is an unincorporated community located on Saint Mary's Bay in the District of Clare, Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Local facilities Church Point is home to Université Sainte-Anne (abou ...

, Canada. It and the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

are the only French-language universities in the

Maritime Provinces The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

History

Université Saint-Anne was founded on September 1, 1890 by Gustave Blanche, a Eudist Father, to facilitate the higher education of

Acadians The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French colonial empire, French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern Americ ...

in Nova Scotia. The University was named after

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

, the mother of the Virgin Mary. In 2003, the provincial government merged the university with Collège de l'Acadie, a French-language

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

with campuses throughout Nova Scotia. Its enrolment for the 2005-2006 academic year was around 650-700 students, while in 2018, it had 390 full-time undergraduate students, 120 part-time undergrads, and 30 graduate students. From 3 March 2022 to 20 April 2022, the 39-member faculty union went on strike. At 49 days, it was one of the longest university strikes in Canadian history. Beginning in September 2023, a student-led anti-rape culture campaign, SA Change Now, posted more than 60 anonymous accounts of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape at the university. They included the accounts of victims of a serial perpetrator who, in 2018-19, while working as a student security officer, sexually assaulted students. The campaign called for better lighting on the main (Church Point) campus, an on-site counsellor, a psychologist, a sexual-assault complaint officer, and an overhaul of the university's sexual-assault hearing process. The university released its sexual violence policy, the revision of which had already been in the works, and hired a part-time counsellor. The campaign also requested that the Rector acknowledge and apologize for the rape culture on campus; no acknowledgement or apology was given. The administration never responded to the campaign or mentioned its name in any official communication, despite the campaign's petition of support for its requests getting more than 800 signatures. In November 2023, the faculty union voted to recognize that there was a rape culture on campus. In 2024, a student sued the institution "for failing to protect her from physical and emotional harm following a series of alleged sexual assaults on campus".

Academics

Université Sainte-Anne offers many university-level programs as well as college-level diploma programs. It has two faculties and one school: the Faculté des Arts et Sciences, Faculté des Programmes Professionnels and the French Immersion School. In the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, one may pursue studies in several fields: French language, literature and linguistics, history, Canadian studies, Acadian studies, commerce, English language and literature, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, General Sciences, Pre-Veterinary Studies, and Health Sciences. In the Faculty of Professional Programmes, students may pursue studies in Administrative sciences or in education. The most popular majors are: French, commerce, business administration and education. In addition to the Pointe-de-l'Église main campus, students may take courses through the university at other locations: Tusket, Halifax, Petit-de-Grat and Saint-Joseph-du-Moine. Its Halifax campus offers a 1-year Bachelor of Education program and a Master of Education program.

Degree programs

At the Université Sainte-Anne, students may pursue the following degrees and diplomas: ;Master's Programs * Master of Education, teaching French as a first-language (M.Éd.) * Master of Education, teaching French as a second-language (M.Éd.) * Master of Education, teaching French as a first-language in a minority environment (M.Éd.) ;Baccalaureate Programs * General studies (B.A.) * Science (three-year program) (B.Sc.) * English studies (B.A.) * Canadian studies (B.A.) * Acadian studies (B.A.) * French studies (regular degree or Honours program) (B.A., B.A. Hon.) * History (B.A.) * Commerce (B.A.) * International Commerce (B.A.A.) * Social Work (B.A.) * Business Administration (regular degree or co-op program), (B.A.A.) * English and French studies with concentration in translation (B.A.) * Health studies: public health (B.tech.) * Education (two-year program) or Arts/Education combined degree (B.A., B.Éd.) ;Diploma Programs * Business Administration, Administrative assistant diploma * Business Information Technology or Computer Technology * Entrepreneurship and Small Business * Federal Government Office Clerk * Early Childhood Education or Special Education: Teaching Assistant * Health Sciences or Pre-veterinary Sciences (two-year programs) * Human Services, Human Services Counselling or Continuing Health Care Services * French (Diplôme de français fonctionnel) * French as a second language (beginner, intermediate and advanced) * English as a second language

Immersion

Sainte-Anne is known for its French Immersion programs. Programs take place year round including winter, spring and summer intersessions. The program is very strict about using immersion to learn the French language. If a student is caught speaking in any language other than French three times, the student is asked to leave the program, without a refund. Cultural activities and workshops are designed to allow for French to become second nature, even at a beginner level.

Notable alumni

* Louis LaPierre (B.A. 1964; honorary Ph.D. 2001), former professor of ecology and professor emeritus at the

, who resigned as professor emeritus at the Université de Moncton and also resigned from the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

after it was discovered that he had falsified his academic credentials.Alward government downplays impact of LaPierre resignation
cbc.ca, Sep 19, 2013

References

External links

Université Sainte-Anne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sainte-Anne, Universite Universities in Nova Scotia Catholic universities and colleges in Canada Education in Digby County, Nova Scotia Acadian culture in Nova Scotia French-language universities and colleges in Canada outside Quebec Buildings and structures in Digby County, Nova Scotia Universities and colleges established in 1890 Catholic Church in Nova Scotia 1890 establishments in Nova Scotia