Trent University
Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.[2]
This article is about the university in Canada. It is not to be confused with Nottingham Trent University in the UK.
As a collegiate university, Trent is made up of five colleges. Each college has its own residence halls, dining room, and student government. The student government (Cabinet) and its committees cooperate with the College Office and dons in planning and delivering a variety of events for both its non-resident and resident members: visiting scholars, artists, musicians, scientists; College dinners and dances; Fall and Winter College Weekend; and intramural co-educational competitions in a number of sports. Although Trent University is predominantly undergraduate, graduate programs are offered at the master's and doctoral levels.[3]
The Symons campus of Trent, named after founding president Thomas Symons, is located on the banks of the Otonabee River at the northeast corner of the City of Peterborough. The Symons campus plan and its original college buildings, including Champlain College, Lady Eaton College, Bata Library, Chemistry Building, and the Faryon bridge which spans the Otonabee, were designed by Canadian architect Ron Thom.
Almost 10 000 undergraduate students and over 900 graduate students are enrolled at the Peterborough campus while Trent University Durham GTA serves over 3 000 full- and part-time students at the campus on Thornton Road in Oshawa. The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Trent Excalibur.
Current Colleges[edit]
Catharine Parr Traill College[edit]
This college was named after pioneer writer and biologist Catharine Parr Traill. It is the only Trent college situated in downtown Peterborough and is the oldest remaining college. It serves as the base for the undergraduate departments of English, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Canadian Studies and the Trent-Swansea Dual Degree in Law program. Four graduate programs have offices in the college including Public Texts (English); Cultural Studies; History; as well as the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies. Traill College is also the home of Trent University's Continuing Education program.[17]
Traill College consists of Wallis Hall which offers a mix of academic, residential, and recreational spaces, including The Trend restaurant established in 1967. Scott House — the original location of Catharine Parr Traill College — is home to the College Office, College Library, Junior and Senior common rooms, lecture spaces and the Department of Cultural Studies. Other buildings include the Crawford House residence, Stewart House, Kerr House, and Fry Lodge (formerly the Principal's Lodge), which is named after the college's first principal, Marion Fry.
The university previously owned Bradburn and Langton Houses on the adjacent London Street, but both properties were sold to the Peterborough Housing Corporation in 2009.[18] The Langton House property was sold to Hospice Peterborough in 2012, demolished and converted into a residential hospice.[19] In fall 1999, a university task force recommended closing the college as a cost-saving measure, which led to a flurry of protest and a successful campaign to save Traill. In 2008, it was converted to a centre of graduate studies. In 2016, an external presidential review of the college was ordered. It recommended that Traill return to its roots as a more "traditional" college, welcome back undergraduate members, and expand its services and reach into the local community.[20]
Champlain College[edit]
Located on Symons Campus along the Otonabee River, this college was opened in 1966. It is named after the early 17th century explorer Samuel de Champlain, who visited the Otonabee area in 1615. A noted cartographer, diplomat and soldier he also founded Quebec City in 1608 and his sword is featured in the Trent crest. Champlain College originally served as an all-male residence, along with Peter Robinson College. The college is home to the Political Studies department, Trent International, the university bookstore and the Trent University Alumni Association.[21]
Lady Eaton College[edit]
Established in 1968 as an all-women's college, though now co-ed, it is named in honour of local resident Flora McCrea Eaton, Lady Eaton. The college contains the offices for the departments of History, Philosophy, Classics, Women's Studies, and French and Francophone Studies.[22]
Trent University Durham GTA[edit]
Trent's Durham GTA campus in the Regional Municipality of Durham has been offering courses for 50 years, initially in classrooms rented from Eastwood Collegiate and Vocational Institute. Later, Trent took space at Durham College and steadily expanded the range of courses available before acquiring a former elementary school on Thornton Road. Trent renovated the building, added an addition and officially opened its new Oshawa campus on Monday, 18 October 2010[30] and was inaugurated for the 2010–2011 academic year. Over 3 000 students attend Trent University Durham, who can study full- or part-time for degrees in anthropology, business administration, communications and critical thinking, English literature, history, media studies, psychology, social work, sociology, and the teacher education stream.[31] In addition to the above, there are several course offerings (some with the possibility of a minor) at Trent's Durham campus that students can take and later major in at the Peterborough campus, including: biology, computer information systems, cultural studies, economics, environmental & resource studies, geography, modern languages, philosophy, political studies, and women's studies.[32]
Indigenous studies[edit]
For more than 50 years, Trent has incorporated traditional teachings and perspectives into its programming. It was the first university in Canada, and only the second in North America, to establish an academic department dedicated to the study of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous knowledge. Trent's Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies offers undergraduate, master's and Ph.D. programs in Indigenous Studies. Trent University offers a program in Indigenous Environmental Studies in addition to a specialized Diploma in Foundations of Indigenous Learning that provides access for people of Indigenous heritage. The First Peoples House of Learning houses Nozhem, a First Peoples performance space.[36]
Clubs and groups[edit]
Trent has a variety of clubs and groups, including a number of theatre groups, social interest groups, newspapers, religious groups, political chapters and academic societies and Greeks. These groups include The Trent Business Students' Association, the Trent History Undergraduate Society (THUGS), the Peterborough chapter of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group, Anne Shirley Theatre Company, Trent Outdoors, Sustainable Trent, the Centre for Gender and Social Justice (previously known as Trent Women's Centre), The Trent University Lions Club, Trent Cricket Association, Rotaract Peterborough and Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3908. These groups are showcased during Orientation Week (Oweek) for the benefit of new students.[42] The university is also served by the Trent University Emergency First Response Team (TUEFRT), a student run organization whose members provide emergency first aid to all students, visitors and staff on campus.[43]
Though Trent University does not recognize fraternities and sororities on their campus, there are a few that operation off campus. There is one fraternity; Tau Kappa Epsilon and four sororities; Alpha Pi Phi, Delta Phi Nu, Kappa Sigma Psi and Sigma Psi Alpha.
