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Courses that changed your Life?

edited February 2010 in General
I've read about threads for gpa boosters, hot professors...but I've never encountered one that discusses courses we have taken in the past that significantly changed our views on life. So I thought it would be interesting to start one! I have been at SFU for 2 years and here is a short list of mine:

Engl 104 (dist.)
Bus 251
Pol 241 (dist.)
Econ 105

hmm...I think that's all. The others are not worth mentioning...Anyways, that's all I have so far in my 2 years at SFU. What's yours?

Comments

  • edited January 2010
    I don't know if this counts, but crim101 really made me want to explore more into the world of criminology... to a point where I'm still debating between whether or not to do a minor in criminology.

    Psyc 300W has really shown me that my critique skills are really not at a level where university students should be, so it has impacted my life as well :confused:
  • IVTIVT
    edited January 2010
    cmpt 300 made me like Linux
  • edited January 2010
    CRIM 101 made me love Criminology, like with ikkaku.
    Nothing other than that so far though. Then again, it's only my second term. >_>


    @Moshi: How did BUS 251, ECON 105 and POL 241 change your life? I'm in POL 241 DE right now myself, and will be doing BUS 251 and ECON 105 in the fall.
  • edited January 2010
    @Ikkaku: Who was your prof for Crim 101?

    @Desolate:

    Bus 251 introduces me to financial accounting and shows me accounting is not just about bean-counting. For that matter, I think 254 is also helpful but I like my bus 251 prof more. I was impressed by the amount of learning we've done by the end of the semester...haha!

    Econ 105 helps me to understand news economics. It also covers a lot of material and is definitely worth taking IMHO.

    Pol 241 has a lot of reading but it's so worth it. It blew my mind and completely changed the way I see politics. I ranked it one of the best pol-ci course I've taken; but that's just me and I've taken 2. LOL!! So yea, I think everyone should take it if they can. It also has few assignments and few required online discussions...which is a plus to me, because I'm lazy and i can't be bothered to log on webct every other day.
  • edited January 2010
    ASC 200 made me more aware of Chinese History and its philosophies. Then my intrerest in religion really started to grow after taking HUM-130.

    Econ103-105 were pretty useful. didn't change my life that much , but it did help a lot
  • edited January 2010
    my prof was the one and only Barry Cartwright... my friends who are taking it now say their tutorial is just a continuation from right after lecture, rather than having a separate tutorial section :confused:
  • edited January 2010
    ikkaku;63204 said:
    my prof was the one and only Barry Cartwright... my friends who are taking it now say their tutorial is just a continuation from right after lecture, rather than having a separate tutorial section :confused:
    I took it with Barry in the Fall. Great prof! And hey, it is true that the tutorials are with the 300+ person lecture, but we get an extra hour of Barry. ;)

    Basically you have to read a short article from a tutorial reader each week. The 20% for attendance/participation is done through the iClicker and is based on your scores on a five question quiz about the reading, participation on other iClicker questions he'll put up for fun, and actually staying the entire time. He makes sure of that by doing another participation thing right near the end. If you did the quiz and answer that, he assumes you've been in the class the entire time and didn't skip out right after the quiz.
  • edited January 2010
    Moshi;63202 said:
    @Ikkaku: Who was your prof for Crim 101?

    @Desolate:

    Bus 251 introduces me to financial accounting and shows me accounting is not just about bean-counting. For that matter, I think 254 is also helpful but I like my bus 251 prof more. I was impressed by the amount of learning we've done by the end of the semester...haha!

    Econ 105 helps me to understand news economics. It also covers a lot of material and is definitely worth taking IMHO.

    Pol 241 has a lot of reading but it's so worth it. It blew my mind and completely changed the way I see politics. I ranked it one of the best pol-ci course I've taken; but that's just me and I've taken 2. LOL!! So yea, I think everyone should take it if they can. It also has few assignments and few required online discussions...which is a plus to me, because I'm lazy and i can't be bothered to log on webct every other day.
    I know, I'm so far behind in POL 241 right now. So much to read, but I plan on catching up this week. Good to hear you enjoyed it.

    And, just curious, who was your prof for ECON 105 and BUS 251? I want to get Eldar Sehic for 105, since my friend has him right now and raves about him constantly. But I'm not too sure who is a good prof for BUS 251.
  • edited January 2010
    cmpt275 tested my patience
  • edited January 2010
    Here is mine for now :
    Bus 251- Taught me accounting principles and skills that will come in handy some day.
    Econ 105- showed me the world around us and how our economic decisions can impact it.
    Crim 101-taking it this semester but really interesting and engaiging course. Barry Cartwright is a fairly good funny prof too so it help keeps things interesting. :)

    All others aside, i hate calculus and physics.
  • edited January 2010
    Desolate;63205 said:

    Basically you have to read a short article from a tutorial reader each week. The 20% for attendance/participation is done through the iClicker and is based on your scores on a five question quiz about the reading, participation on other iClicker questions he'll put up for fun, and actually staying the entire time. He makes sure of that by doing another participation thing right near the end. If you did the quiz and answer that, he assumes you've been in the class the entire time and didn't skip out right after the quiz.
    Jealous. I would have much rather done that than waste time giving/listening to tutorial presentations.
  • edited January 2010
    hmm.. i liked:
    phil 120 (moral philosophy)- it sorta.. tweaked how i think of things nowadays..

    crim 355 (forensic sciences) - omg this class is like my guilty pleasure.. loved going down to the forensic labs and checking things out.. i would've loved to go into the morgue if we were allowed

    crim 451 (adv forensic techniques) - so 355 was my guilty pleasure.. this class is orgasmic.. X) guest speakers for every class on topics like etymology, fire investigations, pathology, mass graves and genocide.. the mass graves/genocide was especially daunting.. but wow this class is mind blowing..
  • edited January 2010
    CMPT 320. Steven Pearce is one of the few good profs at SFU.
  • edited January 2010
    anonymous1;63210 said:
    Jealous. I would have much rather done that than waste time giving/listening to tutorial presentations.
    Yeah I really enjoyed it. Only thing about it that pissed me off is that I forgot my iClicker one day, so I lost 1% of my total mark. I got 89.6% overall in the class. So I was kinda pissed that forgetting my iClicker one day made me get an A- instead of an A.
  • edited January 2010
    CMPT 470 - most useful class i've taken at SFU so far. (thats if you chose to work hard and challenge yourself, otherwise you don't learn much)

    ECON 103
  • edited January 2010
    GDST 200 + 301 (Helen Leung) - Mostly because Helen was such an amazing prof but gender studies has really changed my outlook on life. It's just an interesting perspective to look out from. Lots of movies in class and such an array of characters in my class. Pretty much convinced me to minor in Gender Studies.

    EXPL 310 (Jen Marchbank) - Awesome class. Analyzed different aspects in life through a gendered lens. Super interesting. And tons of movies, yay!

    SA 150 (Ann Travers) - One of the best profs ever. Such a great class to take during my first semester. Really encouraged me to view things with an open mind. Super useful and I've definitely taken her advice throughout my years at SFU.

    CRIM 230 (Tamara O'Doherty) - Another great prof, unfortunately sessional. Made me love criminal and she really helped mentor me and give insight to UBC law school.
  • edited January 2010
    @Desolate: my econ 105 prof was Peter Kennedy, but I think he's retired now. As for Bus 251, I recommend Anne MacDonald, she's very approachable and exams are quite fair. Few accounting teachers can make the subject interesting and she's one of them!
  • edited January 2010
    psyc357 - adult development and aging psychology (something along those lines)

    I think this is truly one of the more influential classes for me, even thought it's only week 4. This class discusses various disorders that plague older people (diabetes, alzheimer, strokes, etc.) and it really expands into the fact that we take for granted our youth when we are healthy and think we are invincible.

    The prof even mentioned that she remembered a case where a 29 year old man was diagnosed with alzheimers, which was shocking as everybody associates alzheimers disease with seniors.
  • edited February 2010
    bump!

    It's really interesting to hear how everyone has different favourites, given we're not in the same faculties...

    Do you feel that it's the individual professor (and his or her ability to teach) that actually makes the courses life-changing rather than what the course itself had taught you that was life-changing...?

    I always find myself struggling with intellectual and emotional trauma when the prof is really bad even though the course is supposed to be interesting...
  • edited February 2010
    discrete math!
  • edited February 2010
    fuck discrete math

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