January 9th 2013 - Over the Edge

FOUNDATIONS PILOT PROGRAM TAKES FLIGHT

LEILA MAHEIDDINIBONAB

STUDENT LIFE EDITOR
There’s a new feature on the docket of

courses for new students this year, the
Foundations Year Curriculum Program.
Foundations is a group of classes being
piloted at UNBC during the 2012-2013
semesters. It is based on themes of
“intersections and conversations” and is
offered jointly by six departments in the
College of Art, Social, and Health Sciences.
Ideal for first year students coming from
high school, Foundations is meant to
improve their reading, writing, and general
university skills to ease the transition
into university. “It’s an interdisciplinary
program. We wanted students to not only
be exposed to a wide range of things, but
to know the disciplines are interconnected,
where you can take a single issue and view
it from a variety of different perspectives
and that they all have a legitimate
perspective,” says Corbin Greening, a TA
for FNDS 104.

“Tt centers on ideas of cohort building, to
actually allow them to get to know one

another and have a safe space for learning.
It is amazing since none of them knew
each other before taking classes. It allows
them to work through the hardships of their
first year, understanding what’s required
and managing the work,” said Angele
Smith, program professor and committee
member.

So what should students expect in
foundations year? Two themed courses, this
semester they are Waves of Globalization
and What is Security, as well as a skills
based course meant to improve students
writing, reading, and research skills.
“When students are learning: What do
we do at university? What is scholarship?
How do we read scholarship? They’re
actually reading the scholarship from the
two theme based courses,” says Tracy
Summerville, program committee member
and professor.

Talking with some of the students in
December at an end of semester exhibition
of coursework projects in the Gathering
Place, it was clear that they had gained

much from the experience. Group projects
for their classes, People, Place and Culture,
and Ways of Knowing were on display. In
pieces named “Remixes,” students take
readings such as 1984 and The Republic
and reinterpret them through different
mediums.

“I would have probably failed first year
without it. I’ve realized I would not have
known about the [library] dataset, how to
read an academic article, or how to talk
with a prof,” said student Casey Lisk, who
painted the face of Big Brother from 1984
on grand scale for her Remix, about the
program. Along with the three foundations
courses Casey also took two additional
courses and found the contrast between
programs confusing. “It actually helped
me remember, because I was constantly
linking other courses together because
foundations courses are linked, such as
Women’s Studies. We were talking about
suppression, and I kept linking that to
simple things from Foundations like How
do you know your place? What is your

place? What is your homeland?”

This semester the students of Foundation
Year will be talking courses by Paul
Bowles, Heather Smith, as well as Dr.
Summerville who will continue her skills-
based classes from first semester. With 19
students signed up this year (all of whom
have given glowing reviews about the
project), it looks as if the Foundations Year
Curriculum may be around for years to
come. There’s even talk about a possible
Foundation-type program within the
Sciences, says Keith Egger: “We’re looking
at their experience, and their integration of
disciplines and we’re thinking if we could
apply this in the science system, or apply
some of the concepts. We are interested in
the whole issue of integrated knowledge
across disciplines so students get a better
idea of how things fit together and how
scientists think about science... I think
it’s important for students to learn how to
understand content instead of just absorb it,
how to critically evaluate it.”