In a world where our generation is so obsessed with having the newest piece of technology and keeping up with the latest must-haves, it comes as no surprise that the academic world has started to acquire a taste for what's most trendy. To keep up with what's popular, universities across the country have introduced more contemporary bachelor degree programs designed to attract new high school grads because of its relevancy to today's world.

We're focusing on three trendy programs from three different schools in Canada that will surely add to your university ÔÇÿwants' list.

Media studies

We all consume different forms of media each day, so much so that sometimes we're unaware that it's there. Whether it's through a billboard hovering next to a busy highway or the TV in your parents' kitchen, we are constantly fed ideas from the media. Since it's so ingrained in our minds today, why not learn more about it?

The University of Toronto's Scarborough campus offers a degree in media studies to help students better understand and critically analyze the happenings in the media. Michael Petit, director of media studies and the joint program in new media, says students study everything from its history to its place in the contemporary world. Media studies really began with Plato, back in his cave where he theorized that we dilute ourselves by looking at images on a wall that seduce us into thinking that's real, he says. We look at the study of media from Plato's time forward, so we look at a lot of different theories.

Studying the history, theories, and cultural aspects of media in a global context is what is primarily covered in the four years of the program, says Petit. We do a lot of topic courses like media and globalization, media and the world of work, food and media, digital culture and gaming, media ethics, and so on.

So if this tickles your interest and you dream of pursuing a career in the field, the University of Toronto also offers a joint program in new media, which Petit describes as a professionalization towards a specific career in the media. This can mean anything from web design to communications to working on mobile applications. The joint program requires a practical year at Centennial College in Toronto, where students take courses in coding, as well as acquire other digital skills.

The aim of a degree in media studies is to not only prepare you for a career in the contemporary market, but to also help you succeed in it. The reason why I think it's so exciting and important is because we live in such a media-saturated world, he says, and we really need to develop the critical skills to analyze it for ourselves because otherwise we're just cultural dupes of the media too easily.

Video game programming

Calling all gamers! If you spend a lot of your free time playing video games on your PS3 at ungodly hours of the night, then studying video game programming at the University of PEI might just be your match. With courses in video game design, advanced graphics, and physics in gaming, a degree in video game programming offers the opportunity to do more than just play.

The video game industry is very popular. Everybody loves video games, says Dr. David LeBlanc, associate professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology at the University of PEI. A lot of students have their own ideas about video games that they'd like to see built. The desire to build new video games is something that Dr. LeBlanc may have warned students against a few years ago. Your chances of going to work for a company and them going ÔÇÿOh, what a great idea! We'll build it' were very slim, he explains. [But] now with a lot of game development going over to mobile apps for smartphones, anyone can develop a game and put it up in one of the stores.

According to Dr. LeBlanc, landing a job in the video game industry after graduation will be a bit of a challenge. Video game companies won't just hire anyone...they want very high-skilled people; they want our best students and our program's designed to ensure that only our best students get into it. While the industry is expanding, and the demand from gamers is on the rise, Dr. LeBlanc forecasts that it won't get any easier for video game programming hopefuls.

But don't let that knock your spirit down. With a strong work ethic and exceptional skills in math, problem solving, and logic, your path to a career in the field will be clearer, says Dr. LeBlanc. It's a very competitive and very demanding industry, but you get to work on really cool games and you get to work generally with very interesting and fun people. If you can get into it, it's a good yet high-pressure industry.

In addition to that, video game programming is just a specialization to the actual degree you'll earn in computer science at the University of PEI. There're lots of programs out there that'll just train you for the video game industry, but if you don't make it in the industry, your education is basically useless. So having a program that gives you a wider base, so you can go out and work in other industries, I think, is really important.

Ecotourism and outdoor leadership

If you have an appreciation for nature and oftentimes find yourself outdoors, a degree in ecotourism and outdoor leadership at Mount Royal University might just be the academic adventure you were hoping to find. Students become experts in group leadership in the outdoors, in the planning and execution of multi-day expeditions, risk management, and outdoor program development, says Joe Pavelka, associate professor and coordinator of the bachelor of ecotourism and outdoor leadership.

The program gives you the opportunities to not only devote time to working in provincial parks and kayaking through rivers, but also to develop skills in communications and become entrepreneurially savvy. Students take a variety of courses throughout the four years, he says. They range from activity courses, through to theoretical courses, practical courses, independent study courses'so it's quite varied.

Students who are interested in this program should be self-motivated. We say that about many programs, but ecotourism and outdoor leadership is a broad area and we make sure that our students have a good, strong background in a variety of areas. Despite this, there is always an opportunity for students to specialize in their interests within the program.

We have students who are involved in management with Parks Canada, to NGO's that are both national and international (doing a bunch of community-based tourism projects), through to a number of entrepreneurs.

The chance to work and live abroad has also made the bachelor of ecotourism and outdoor leadership a big attraction for students. About half of our students end up going abroad for work for one reason or another, says Pavelka. Our entrepreneurs have started their own companies in Alberta, BC, Mexico, and different parts of North America. 

If you're the type of student with an adventurous personality and a lover of hands-on work, then this is the gig for you.

Photo: Radoman Durkovic/iStock, Anthony Capano