United Nations and Diplomacy Seminar
What Are Student Directed Seminars?
Student Directed Seminars is a student-driven program that puts you in charge of your education. An expansion of the directed studies option offered by most departments, this program allows senior undergraduate students to initiate and coordinate small, collaborative, group learning experiences. The UBC program began in 1999, and is modeled on a student-directed seminar program at the University of California at Berkeley.
A student (or group of students), in the third year of undergraduate study or higher, proposes a course not currently offered at UBC. If a professor agrees to sponsor the proposal, the student proceeds to develop a course outline under the guidance of this faculty sponsor. A Student Directed Seminars Advisory Committee considers course outlines for final approval. If approved, the student-initiated course is advertised to the general student body, as an upper level 3 credit course. All upper-level students are eligible to participate, but applicants are subject to a selection process. The minimum enrollment of each class is eight, the maximum fifteen.
For more information click here.
Hi Harmony,
There shouldn’t be any problem in taking an SDS as well as applying for Arts Co-op. Check out all the Arts co-op requirements at:
http://co-op.arts.ubc.ca/students/undergraduate-students/applying-to-undergraduate-co-op/eligibility-and-application-process/
Feel free to email me at sds.coordinator@ubc.ca if you need any further help.
Good luck with your application, and enjoy your SDS!
Hi,
I’m a 3rd year student and am currently enrolled in ASTU400-U course as a student. Can I still apply for Arts Co-op? This is really important!!!
Thanks,
Harmony
Hi Farah,
This looks like a very interesting and important topic. Unfortunately, the Student Directed Seminar program is geared to undergraduate students and to providing them with the opportunity to facilitate a small seminar with the support of a faculty sponsor. To my knowledge, there is no similar program for graduate students. You may want to talk to the Faculty of Graduate Studies to see if they have any suggestions to help you find opportunities to expolore this academic interest. Good luck with this.
Margot Bell
Associate Director, Student Development (one of the managers of the Student Directed Seminar program)
Hi, I’m a third year PhD candidate in the dept of Medical Genetics and I’d like to set-up a course that looks at the scientific and socio-cultural output of Islamic civilizations historically. I have a number of faculty in mind who can contribute to this course and also many students who would be interested. Can you please let me know not being an undergraduate would disallow me to submit an application for the above described seminar? Many thanks!
Farah
Hi Adytia,
I’m not entirely sure what you mean by ‘regional experience’. If you’re asking if two student with different viewpoints on a subject can present a seminar together, the answer would be yes. The idea of the seminars is to foster learning and understanding. If you are asking about two students with different subject area specialization, the answer is again, yes – we encourage interdisciplinarity in the seminars.
If this has not answered your question, please feel free to contact our program coordinator at sds.coordinator@ubc.ca. I hope this has answered your question.
Margot Bell
Associate Director, Student Development
Can two people with different regional experience’s on a particular subject coordinate a course together?
Hi Sue!
I passed your inquiry along to Margot Bell, and here is her response:
–
Hi Sue,
Thanks for your interest in this great program. As I receive information about the courses from the Student Coordinators, I add the information to the LEAP website. Typically, the way you apply is directly through the Coordinators as many of the seminars ask students to submit a statement of interest to help with selecting engaged and motivated students for the seminars. Depending on the seminar topic, Coordinators recruit for students in very different ways…..some target students who have certain prerequisite courses, others are trying to get a very interdisciplinary representation and therefore market very broadly across campus, others make announcements via departmental administrators.
What you have done is what I’d suggest – e-mail the Coordinators. They are your best resource for information about their seminars. Good luck!
Margot Bell
Associate Director, Student Development
–
So it sounds like you’re on the right track. This time of year is really busy for both students and faculty/staff, so I would say just give it some time, or try to get in touch with the coordinators again.
Hope this helps!
~ Humaira
Hi there,
I am wondering if there are any more informations available for SDS for January 2009 and how I can apply for them. I was hoping to get some course information, course time, and how I can apply for them. I have contacted some of the coordinators but have not heard from majority of them…
Hello,
Are proposals accepted for Summer Session student directed seminars?
Thanks,
Susan
Hi Christa,
Thanks for your question! If you were hoping to coordinate a seminar, that deadline has unfortunately passed. If were looking just to register, SDS’s are typically offered only in Term 2 and not Term 1. However, a complete list of courses will be posted by mid-August so you can always check back then, just in case.
~Dara
Hi,
I was looking at courses for next term and realised the courses that fit my interest conflicted with my schedule, and those that didn’t, I wasn’t interested in. Is it too late to apply for SDM for term 1 of 08/09?
Hi Brian,
We likely won’t have a complete list of courses being offered this term until sometime in September. The courses are offered in the January – April semester so what you might want to do is leave some space in your timetable to include a seminar once they are open for registration.
Hope that helps – do post another comment if you need additional information.
Cheers,
Tlell
when will the SDS’s for 08/09 be posted?
Hey Kathryn,
You don’t have to attend an information session.. but they’re really helpful!!
-Kevin
Hi,
I’m interested in coordinating an SDS from Jan-Apr 2009 — Is it mandatory that I attend one of the information sessions?
Thanks
Kathryn Blair
Hi Felicia,
Coordinators are responsible for selecting and registering students for their seminar. A complete list of the courses offered each year is usually posted on the site in the Fall on this page: http://leap.ubc.ca/get_ahead/student_directed_seminars/courses/. The best way to participate in a seminar is to contact the seminar coordinator directly.
Hope that helps!
Tlell
I would like to know when we can apply to participate in one of the classes not as a facilitator but as a student.
how do you get graded for SDS courses?
Hi Shawn – thanks for the note.
SDS course proposals have just been reviewed for the upcoming year and many of the courses are undergoing final revisions. Once the courses have been given final approval we will post the course details on the website. They will likely be published sometime in late August or early September. So, do check back for more information later this summer. Courses will run in the January to April term.
Hope that answers your question. Do let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.
Is there a list of Student Directed Seminars available for 2007/2008?
I have found it really difficult to find it, if it does exist.
Hi Ashley,
I would recommend having a look at the following page: http://leap.ubc.ca/get_ahead/student_directed_seminars/courses/. Here you will find a complete listing of the courses that have run in the past. Do let me know if you have any additional questions.
Cheers,
Tlell
Hi Jay – great question! The best answer is…it depends! It will depend on the department that grants the course number and it will depend on the input from your faculty sponsor. That said, we have had lots of interdisciplinary topics in the past and really welcome proposals that integrate some of the more traditional disciplines. Please feel free to send me an email if you have more specific questions about your specific topic – happy to help! Look forward to seeing you proposal.
Cheers,
Tlell
What kind of SDS have been offered in the past?
Are seminars limited to any particular faculty or school? Does the topic have to exist explicitly under the rubric of any particular department (i.e. psychology, linguistics, etc.)? What if my idea proves to be interdisciplinary, incorporating, for instance, literature, philosophy and cultural studies, how will it be classified? Do I have to incorporate such classification in my proposal?
Hi Malina,
Great question! As a student you are eligible to participate in one seminar and coordinate one seminar. So, unfortunately you couldn’t apply to enroll in one again. BUT…how about coordinating one? Any ideas you are passionate about exploring. Applications are due in early May. Let me know if you have any questions.
Tlell
I have taken a student directed seminar in the past. Can I apply to be in one again or can you only take it once in your degree??