General Studies 201

Build a foundation for success in your first year. In General Studies 201, a first-year seminar, you will be guided through the process of conducting university-level research by a leading edge researcher in a small class setting.

You won't just skim the surface of a problem; you will plan your own research project, examining an issue of your choice in detail. In addition, you will develop skills in time management and the art of writing academic papers. The faculty recommends that all first-year Communication and Culture students register in General Studies 201.

Discover...

a different kind of learning interactive inquiry in a small class an innovative special topic that you can explore in depth how to navigate knowledge in the university environment

Browse the 2009-2010 course topics listed below for a general idea of study areas. However, keep in mind that the courses offered vary from year to year and the topic itself isn't as important as the process of inquiry that comes with it.

 

FALL 2009:

 

Environment and Sustainability: Campus and Community

 

S01: MWF, 14:00-14:50

Instructor: Dr. Marcia Epstein

 

Participants will explore environmental and sustainability issues on campus, and in the community including the parameters of building and classroom design, air quality, noise, recycling, and system management. Through experiential exercises, interviews and archival research, we will discover what practices work well, what can be improved, and how improvements might happen. Tours of the campus to monitor noise and investigate design will be included.

 

 

Gender, Sexuality, and Television

S02: TR, 9:30-10:45

Instructor: Dr. Dawn Johnston

 

This course will examine some of the cultural milestones on television -- the programs or episodes that acted as turning points in significantly changing the way we think about gender and sexuality through popular culture. We will also look at the transitions -- the phases in our television history where we can see television, as a medium, responding to larger cultural shifts in thinking about gender and sexuality.

 

 

Profiles of Calgary

 

S03: TR, 11:00-12:15

Instructor: Dr. Max Foran

 

With its focus on ranching, oil and gas, social inequities and current problems, this course deals with some of the formative forces and issues that help explain Calgary's contemporary position as one of our nation's leading cities.

 

 

What is Cinema? Thinking through Film and Film Concepts

S04: W, 14:00-16:50

Instructor: Dr. Lee Carruthers

 

This course will offer students the opportunity to think about cinema in new ways, opening up a fascinating field of scholarly study. Over thirteen weeks, we will consider film's basis in photographic technology and the medium's rich and varied history; we will raise questions about film's cultural status as a commodity and as an art form; we will develop a working vocabulary for discussing film and closely analyzing it; and finally, we'll engage a range of significant topics- such as film authorship, film noir, and even experimental cinema- that will transform the sense that we ‘already know' about the movies. Please note that the schedule has been structured to include weekly film screenings: like the readings and assignments, these are an essential (and required) component of the course.

 

 

British Film, British Culture:  National Identity, Society, and Gender in Context

S05: S, 08:00-12:00

Instructor: Glen Wilkinson

 

This course is designed to encourage students to research, discuss, and debate aspects of British cinema and relate film to elements of British culture, such as national identity, society, history, class, and gender.  It will offer students the chance to examine the work of eminent British directors, important genres, the output of famous studios, or celebrated actors, from the founding of film as a medium at the end of the nineteenth century, through the silent period, and into the present.   

 

WINTER 2010:

 

Soundtracks: The Use of Music in Visual Media

 

S01: MW, 14:00-15:15

Instructor: Dr. Richard Sutherland

 

The course will look at the practice and history of the soundtrack, investigating the conjunction of music with visual media such as film and television.  What roles do soundtracks play? How do we listen to music in this context? What is the relation of aural and visual modes of communication? We will also examine the organization and economics of soundtrack and the implications for the media industries.

 

 

Water, Women and Empowerment

 

S02: MWF, 11:00-11:50

Instructor: Dr. Aradhana Parmar

 

This course will introduce students to the world of interdisciplinary studies and critical thinking. Students will learn about the importance and contribution of research to society. It will be done by conceptualizing water as a women's issue and a (re) source of empowerment for women in rural Rajasthan in India.

 

 

Researching Local History: Alberta's Coal Communities

S03: W, 13:00-15:50

Instructor: Dr. Lorry Felske

This course introduces students to scholarly research using archival material. The local coal communities that were so important to the settlement of western Canada will be the focus of student research activity. These include coal towns of Canmore, Drumheller, Lethbridge, and those found in the Coal Branch, the Crow's Nest Pass and Banff National Park. Academic writing, research and discussion skills will be central to the course.