ohh im talking about anthro 1a03..
even on ratemyproffessrs.com it says this:
any opinions?
im sO confused now i duno if i shud drop it and take sumthin else
argh
While she is a very nice woman, her TAs are pretty harsh and their instructions are not clear. Her exams are hard and very specific (even when you have read the material). She gives big assingments worth a very small percentage, which doesn't make much sense. I wouldn't take this class again.4/16/07Anthr1a031121WORST CLASS I HAVE EVER TAKEN. Tests were hard, lectures were dry. 3 ridiculous assignments worth 5% each and a major essay on top of that. TA's don't know what they're doing. Merely read off the power point and showed movies that were not engaging at all.2/13/07Anthr1a033313 Very boring and makes the midterms way harder than other anthro profs (who give out multiple choice midterms while she has essays) Very unfair for people who are unlucky to get her as a prof.

You can't really use TAs as a reason why not to take a class, especially since most TAs are only at Mac to do their MA and then leave. It is possible that there were bad TAs in the past, but that doesn't mean anything about the present. You will never get someone working on their PhD TA-ing a first year class.

Is Arratia the only prof teaching 1A03? Could you switch into another section if you're so worried? Have you seen the course outline yet? etc etc.

Again, in regards to English 1B03, is there lot of memorizing involved in the exams/tests? Or is it more logic and application?

Most english and CSCT courses have more application based exams -- where you will incorporate what you learned in the course in the essay questions you are asked. You will be asked some definitions, however; but it's not the same sort of questions one would have with a math or science-type class.

i.e. -- more open to interpretation and an exact answer for each and every question.

Hi I'm a prospective Life Science student. I would like to know some easy elective english course that would improve my communications skills ? (writing essays, verbal,etc.) but i dont want a course that would have LOADS of essay assignments in my already hard courses. Is there such a course? I have already been told by a Mac student that CMST 1A03 would be that kind of course. Can anyone please tell me any input of this course? or any other course like that? And one more thing, can someone also make an honest of the Theatre and Film Course? Is it easy.? lol

Thanks a bunches!

What do you mean by loads of essays? In most first year classes you'll usually only write a total of two, and rarely three.

Originally Posted by lorend

What do you mean by loads of essays? In most first year classes you'll usually only write a total of two, and rarely three.

well I thought English courses would have lots of reading and writing essays. But then again, that's what I thought. I don't have a clue on how many major essays you write in a typical English course, but I'm looking for an elective course that would improve my essay-writing skills but not so much on the reading Shakespeare or any other lieterary work and writing a critique about it.

English 1AA3 Longer Genres has some Shakespeare and texts from other plays. English 1A03 is shorter texts (poems, short stories). English 1C06 is the History of English, and English/CSCT 1B03 & 1BB3 were mentioned previously in this thread.

Any course in the Social Sciences or Humanities will have some sort of essay writing component (some one major essay, others two or three smaller essays).

I'd recommend taking CSCT 1BB3 (CULTURAL STUDIES AND CONSUMER CULTURE). Interesting content (not Shakespeare) and has a couple essays. The T.A. I had in that class was an english major and had many tutorial sessions on how to write a good paper, gave us loads of pointers and helped out a lot!

CMST 1A03 is a great course that is enjoyable. Will teach you a lot about big communication theorists, help teach you how to read through big articles that are long and sometimes boring/confusing. Also only a couple essays to write. It's also taught by a superb prof (Dr. Sevigny)

Theatre and Film courses. Took them both. Enjoyed both of them. Enjoyed 1B03 much more than 1A03. 1A is about theatrical productions that are on stage (you learn about lighting, etc.) It isn't as practical as I thought... requires more reading of actual theatre plays and discussing their concepts, etc. Good foundational course if you're into theatre. No film in it (except you watch a few theatrical shows in video format). Interesting none-the-less. 1B was focused on the film aspect. You do screenings each week of films, however they aren't your typical Hollywood blockbusters, they are more avant-guard, experimental films. Some are really fun and cool to watch, others are confusing. But the course is focused on film production techniques/terms/concepts. I enjoyed it a lot, and it was fun to go watch films each week with friends (get some candy and relax). Be sure to take good notes during the films though, cause you'll need to remember details on the tests and in your paper.

I was wondering if Mac offered Ethics course, and how hard they might be? or does it all fall under philosphy and is that course hard? is it even offered in first year?

it depends on the year as to what courses are available.

i took an ethics philosophy course in my first year. and lots of other courses end up dealing with ethics, though not explicitly.

and sometimes fourth year seminar classes end up centering around ethics as well (I took Ethical Issues in Anthropology in first term, for example)

Originally Posted by yevenbother

I was wondering if Mac offered Ethics course, and how hard they might be? or does it all fall under philosphy and is that course hard? is it even offered in first year?

Courses with 'ethics' in the title:

• ETHICS, PHILOS 3G03
• INTRODUCTION TO BIOETHICS, HTH SCI 3L03
• ADVANCED BIOETHICS, PHILOS 3C03
• BIOETHICS, SAFETY AND REGULATIONS, BIOTECH 4BS3
• BUSINESS ETHICS, COMMERCE 2SB3
• BUSINESS ETHICS, PHILOS 2N03
• ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS, ENGINEER 4HJ1
• ETHICS AND IT LAW , COMPTECH 3ET3
• ETHICS FOR MEDICAL RADIATION SCIENCES, MEDRADSC 3Y03
• ETHICS IN KINESIOLOGY: RESEARCH AND PRACTICE, KINESIOL 3I03
• TECHNOLOGY AND ETHICS, GEN TECH 2TE3

I'm in Engineering and will need to pick a Complementary Elective Course (something other than Engineering)

I need to pick a course from the following list, does anyone know which courses would be the easiest? (would prefer if there weren't any essays and tutorials)

http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/electives/electlv1elec.htm

Hopefully you guys can help.

Thanks.

easy all depends on your individual abilities...what sorts of classes do you like to take

I've only taken a few of those courses, but here's an overview of the ones I did take:

Psych 1A03 & 1AA3 (pretty much the equivalent of 1XX3 and 1X03)
- 2 hours of tutorial/week, although you are responsible for watching 2 online lectures/week (usually 15-30 minutes) on your own time.
- in Psych 1A03, we had a big group project essay, and in 1AA3, we had four smaller one page group project papers. I can't say that this will be the same next year - first year Psych had a complete overhaul this year, and they might still be making changes.

Gerontology 1A03
- only 2 lectures/week, and no tutorials. You also need to complete either 10hrs of volunteer work with seniors over the course of the term, or attend an extra tutorial for 10 weeks.
- only one 5 page paper, a multiple choice midterm, and a multiple choice exam
*This was my elective, definitely the easiest course I took all year. It is the study of aging though, so that needs to interest you at least a little bit*

From courses that friends took this year, Comp Lit and English courses have a ton of reading and papers (but you probably could have figured that out haha), and Philosophy was quite difficult. Good luck choosing!