The beginning of the summer season means that many Carleton students have begun selecting their courses for the upcoming academic year. Despite not offering themed courses on Harry Potter, James Bond or video games like some other Canadian universities, Carleton still has a unique blend of courses on offer.
The Charlatan has uncovered some of the intriguing courses being taught in 2016-17:
MUSI 2603: Survey of Computer Music Applications
Paul Jasen, a music and communications professor, teaches this full-year course, where he said students will learn how to make beats, remixes, design sound and create original compositions.
According to Jasen, students will get three hours per week to work in the studio, using digital audio work stations with software more advanced than GarageBand, including professional studio programs such as Ableton Live and Reason.
Jasen said the course, with a cap of 25 students, gives priority to students in the School for Studies in Arts and Culture (SSAC), but he keeps a waiting list in the summer and emails students in August about available spots.
“It’s not exclusively open to music students and it’s nice to have a mixture both of levels of ability and perspectives in the room,” he said.
Chris Featherston is a fifth-year engineering student who said he took the course last year to further his musical skills.
“I have always loved playing instruments and the idea of learning to use a computer not only as an instrument, but also as a tool to mix, master and produce music, was a class I couldn’t pass up,” he said.
Featherston said he had little experience with digital music entering the course.
“This was not a problem at all, as the course is taught as an introduction and operates as though everyone is learning the skills for the first time,” he said.
HIST 3515: Madness in Modern Times
This half-credit online course is offered in the winter semester and is taught by James Miller, a professor in the history department.
According to Miller, the course looks into the changing definitions, treatments, and attitudes toward mental illness, as well as the experiences of individuals with mental illness throughout history.
He added the course explores questions like: “What is madness? Who gets to decide? How do we treat people considered insane or mentally unwell, whether medically or as a society?”
“These are contentious and complex questions in our own time,” he said, “and it is important and fascinating to explore how long people have been asking them and the answers that different people in different times and places came up with.”
Miller said students in law or psychology or those with a general interest in mental health might enjoy this course.
“One great thing about the last time I taught this was the students who brought expertise from other disciplines to the subject and also perhaps learned about looking at the subject from a specifically historical point of view,” he said.
“Beyond that, I think this is a subject which many students care about, regardless of their academic interests,” Miller said. “It’s not a bad idea to develop an historical perspective on a topic you consider important.”
ENGL 2201: The Pleasures of Reading
According to the course description, this online English class does not require students to write a formal essay.
Andrew Wallace, the course instructor, said students will be tested on four novels and will have the opportunity to complete other optional assignments.
He said he designed the course for students to learn that reading literature can be a pleasurable experience.
“This is something that many students seem instinctively to doubt,” he said. “The course is designed in such a way as to provide students with enough critical and interpretive support to enable them to read the course’s four novels with both excitement and critical intelligence.”
According to Wallace, this half-credit course will require students to read four of his favourite books: Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Virginia Woolf’s The Waves, and Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano.
He added he encourages both book lovers and those who want to learn about literature to consider taking his course.
“I would say that this course is a perfect option for anyone who loves to read but has been intimidated by, or disinterested in, so-called ‘masterpieces’ or ‘classics,’ ” Wallace said. “The course’s four novels can change your entire attitude towards literature.”
