[Chad]

Inquiry is a general description because the course is basically very flexible and is different depending on what prof you get (there are a lot of 'core' sections for this because the class size is kept very small, thus more profs are needed to fufill demand). The overall sense I got from the course is that you are basically in a small group of students and work together on a project (that the prof assigns) as well as critically discuss various topics (prof will outline them at the first class). The class is meant to help you learn how to ask better questions, better formulate questions, work together as a team, do research and gather information then piece it together or make sense of it, etc.

Professor I had: James Alsop (aka. 'Jim'), a great guy, made the class really fun

The official course description:

This introduction to the systematic investigation of an issue develops skills that will serve students well in their university careers. Students learn how to formulate questions, gather and interpret evidence and reach well-considered conclusions, using, as content, a topic central to research in the Faculty of Humanities.

When I took it there was no exam, and most classes were spent discussing things - reading a story for example and then as a group picking it apart and asking questions, we also ended up doing a large research project as a group and had to assign each other rolls and tasks (the prof stood back and let us sort things out ourselves). I heard that other profs teaching the course had their students read interesting novels to discuss, etc.

• good learning experience
• learn valuable research skills
• improve how you ask questions and get better responses from people
• the class is fun because its a small group of people that you come to know really well
• meet new friends!

Thanks alot Chad.
From the description on the McMaster website I really had no idea what this was. The description was very vague. Thanks for clearing this up I want to take this class now!

I took Humanities Inquiry last year and overall I enjoyed it. The big pros are that there is no textbook to buy, no tests, no mid-term and no exam.

The Prof I had was Donaldson and throughout the term we did assignments that would help us with the essay we would have to write for the course, and basically the only major work you do in the course. For example we did an annotated bibliography assignment that would help us get started on our research for the essay and we did an MLA formatting assignment so we could learn how to do proper MLA formatting which would be needed for the essay. In turtorials we did things like peer editing our essays and group discussions so we could find out what strategies for approaching the essay worked best and what didn't work out well.

I found the lectures to be a bit boring because you weren't learning about a new subject or anything, all the lectures revolved around how to do your research and essay but overall it was a good course. It's a different structure than basically all of your other Humanities courses so it's fun to try a different format.

The class sizes as mentioned are also small so you have a chance to get to know your classmates and your professor and discuss more, whereas you wouldn't have that opportunity in a big lecture of 300 students. It's more like 40 students.

Basically what happens is there is one large topic that the class decides on and under that topic you decide on a question you want to answer and write your essay on. Our topic last year was Heroes and so everyone in the class did their essay on heroes but there were tons of different topics that we explored. I ended up writing my essay on Righteous Gentiles because those are people I personally view as heroes and I wanted to explore their actions and their lives. Others came up with questions about literary hereos, historial heroes and even just questions about heroism itself.

It's more of a fun course, it's not like super easy and there is still work involved but it's not a massive, heavy load of work and you get to work specifically on something you're interested in, something you choose to learn about.

Can engineers take this?

No, this is only for Humanities students that are registered in Humanities I

thanks chad

is inquiry a year long course or only a semester?

The break down of inquiry was pretty .. interesting..
You had to write an essay about Humanities and the environment.. which really sucked, and was extremely boring.. and then, the prof wouldn't do much.. he dragged the class on and on and on.. and there were two lectures [which was attendence for bonus marks].. and the tutorials were pretty much useless.. because the ta didnt know what to do...

overall,
i really didn't like this course...
i hope they change it for the people in term 2..

I took this class in Winter 2008 with Dr. Donaldson.

Our Inquiry topic was Humanities and The Environment.

I really enjoyed the theory behind the class: constructing your own project based on research tying the two areas together.

Format consisted of two lectures and one tutorial per work. While my T.A. was often helpful I found the tutorials fairly useless and lacking structure.

Lectures were hit or miss and acted as tutorials themselves, showing us how to complete our assignments and allowing us to critique each other dring the process.

The only reason I think I loved this class was because I was really satisfied with my topic choice which made the process interesting for me.

Marking rotated between the T.A. and the Prof.

Breakdown:
Proposal - 10%
Outline - 5%
Annotated Bibliography -10%
Essay - 35%
Poster - 20%
Commentary Assignment - 5%
Tutorial - 15%
Group Project (Terrible idea) - 10%

Dr. Donaldson was easily my worst professor this year. While he was enthusiastic for the projects, he was often disorganized, unclear about his directions, didn't respond to e-mails (i'd say 3/10) and he was personally rude to me in a time of family emergency stating that "that wasn't a valid emergency".

Overall I don't regret taking the class. I've heard they did Humanities and the Elections this term.

There are no books and no exam for this class.

I'm slightly confused. So this course is only for humanities students and no one else?

how come here:http://www.humanities.mcmast er.ca/level_one/humanities.html

it says : The following Humanities courses do not lead to a program, but may be taken as electives by students in any Level I program (subject to course prerequisites). Language courses can be used towards completion of a Minor in the particular language.


Have they changed who can take it now or am I reading this wrong?

Originally Posted by Sultan

I'm slightly confused. So this course is only for humanities students and no one else?

how come here:http://www.humanities.mcmast er.ca/level_one/humanities.html

it says : The following Humanities courses do not lead to a program, but may be taken as electives by students in any Level I program (subject to course prerequisites). Language courses can be used towards completion of a Minor in the particular language.


Have they changed who can take it now or am I reading this wrong?

Well, in the course calendar it says:

Prerequisite(s): Registration in Humanities I or Music I
http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...nt/pg1803.html

I'm assuming when it says that the course "may be taken by students in any Level I program" it means that you can contact the professor to get a waiver.

this course still doesn't require a textbook, correct?

i took this class last year and you only had to buy a book that was like $10

pretty chills and laid back and a lot of fun!