What do TMU students love about their favourite course?
I’ve been thinking about how much I love asking students about what they love at TMU. With the winter semester underway, I figured that it would be nice to ask students what courses they’ve enjoyed! As I walked around campus, I chatted with a few students to find out what their favourite courses at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) are. From electives, to liberals and required courses, students reflected on their learning journeys and shared their favourite pick from their time here!
Nesrin loved learning about Black history
Nesrin is a fifth-year Public Health student and HIS 760: The African Diaspora was her favourite course at TMU. She said, “We learned a lot about colonialism and the slave trade. The history of how Africa came to be and how people around the world came to call different places home, even though they hailed from Africa.”
From the Caribbean to the US and Europe, she said that HIS760 is an insightful class that breaks down misconceptions about Black people. She gives thanks to her amazing professor, Dr. Patrice Allen. “It was her first time teaching the class, and she valued our thoughts and opinions. It was a small class, and she really uplifted us, and encouraged us to think outside the box.”
Nesrin loves how she got the chance to speak up in class and present every day—even though it seemed a little nerve wracking at first.
“One day, [our prof] let us reenact the Haitian Revolution. It was interesting to see how the class contributed, whether through oral presentations or by performing a play."
- Nesrin
Vinci loved watching films about politics
Vinci is in his second-year of Computer Engineering at TMU. In POL 128: Politics and Film, he said that he watches movies during the duration of the lecture and writes about them afterwards. He said, “You study politics, especially in movies set in different time periods. For example, I actually learned a lot from movies about World War II.”
“When engineering courses are too much, this course allows me to breathe and is more relaxing for me.”
- Vinci
Fatima loved researching language and culture
As a fourth-year Language and Intercultural Relations student, Fatima’s capstone class allowed her to research whatever she’s interested in. Her LIR 800: Topics in Intercultural Relations class “felt like a good culmination of everything we’ve been learning so far and putting it into research.”
Fatima said this course “gives you a good eye-opener about how to engage with the world.” She continued to say, “In our program, we learn how to talk to people from different ethnicities and backgrounds without insulting them, even if you haven’t been to their countries.”
Her research project was about learning a second language and achieving perfect pronunciation without going to that country. To learn this new language, she focused on children’s media and how it makes the language easier to practice.
Zahra loved being in a chill classroom
As a third-year Psychology student, Zahra loves how her professor, Dr. Karl Szpunar, really made her class enjoyable. In PSY 654: Cognitive Psychology, she said that they did in-class activities and watched videos about different types of psychology—one of her favourite ways to learn.
“It was also held in the movie theatre [at Yonge and Dundas]. Having it there could make you feel lazy and it’s probably easier to fall asleep, but my professor made it super interactive.”
“I actually liked going to class and never skipped. If you didn’t understand something, [Karl] would work around it and get students’ input to make it easier for us.”
- Zahra
Zahra's professor made the class understand things in a simple way, where they didn’t need prior background knowledge on the topic.
Kassie loved learning how cameras work
Not only did Kassie make a bunch of friends in RTA 803: Production - Advanced Single Camera, but she got to work hands-on with a Sony camera. As a fourth-year Media Production student, Kassie is trying to get into anything related to television. She said, “This course was closely related to everything I want to do in my future, since we were able to go out and visit production companies.” During a trip to a television set, the class got to tour an equipment house and learn about what each tool does.
“More so, it’s about getting exposure and learning about their professional cameras. You get to learn how the cameras function and how to use them.”
- Kassie
Emily loved her professor and learned something new
Emily is a fourth-year Journalism student who took JRN 510: Reporting Religion. She said, “It was the first time I received formal education on the different religions around the world and how one should go about reporting on it.”
Since it was a class with only six students, Emily loved how intimate it was, especially when connecting with her professor, Joyce Smith. Emily said that “Joyce is so sweet”, and she also admires her past knowledge in religious studies and how she openly brings that experience into the classroom. She thanked her professor for making this class simple to get through and loved writing three article assignments on religious topics she found a new interest in.
Emily said that they learned about controversies and crimes within religious groups. She was interested in learning how to cover these topics responsibly to ensure she doesn’t attract negative attention to these groups as a journalist.
Anikat loved connecting environmental knowledge to his future
When Anikat took ELE 637: Energy Conversion, he felt like it was something he could see himself doing in the future. He said he learned about, “power generation and how energy comes from power plants to our homes—learning in depth how it works was really interesting.”
As a third-year Electrical Engineering student, he said that “I’ve always found myself interested in working in power plants or hydro in the future.”
“With this knowledge, I can use it for my future [career] or in an interview. It’s good as a background to say, “Hey, I’ve learned this and I’m interested in learning more!"
- Anikat
There are so many courses for you at TMU that you have yet to discover! To see what courses are waiting for you, visit our programs page and get a feel of what you’re interested in learning about at TMU.
Bye for now,
Hadiqah
