Tag Archives: lectures

positive spaces, stimulating discussions.

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So, this week started off great — still on a high after the sudden resolution I had last week, things got better when I heard that I got A’s on my midterms and assignments that I got back. And after a few days of hard work, I took a day off on Wednesday. Spent it in my socks, pajama pants, watching some TV (plus, I got free muffins at Muffin Madness later that day). But something happened on Thursday that caused me to stop and think, and I hope this post will help all of us to reflect.

Thursday night was the night of the University of Toronto Students’ Union’s (UTSU) Annual General Meeting. Adam Vaughan came to address the crowd before motions would be presented. I don’t want to get into the details of what happened that night, nor do I want to discuss student politics. Frankly, I’m tired of student politics. Nor do I want to assign blame to anybody. But I do want us to have a discussion. Still, grab your socks, grab your hot chocolate and sit comfortably. This is a discussion we should all have, and we should do it with the least amount of animosity in our hearts and the most amount of comfort.

That night, in addition to the votes and the speeches (which is not what was troubling), students were heckled, interrupted and jeered. Wherever you fall on the political spectrum at U of T, we should all agree that such behaviour is not conducive of a productive debate and that it stands in the way of creating an inclusive, respectful environment. When you heckle someone, you are preventing them from telling their story, their experience. And seeing someone be heckled creates a culture of intimidation, in which people suppress their voices and unique stories for fear that they will go through the same. At U of T, we should strive to be as open an inclusive as we can. Everyone, as I mentioned last week, has something to contribute to our discussions and we should help to create an atmosphere that nurtures positive, constructive discussion, not stifle it. Before we heckle someone, we should stop and ask ourselves: am I really contributing something worthwhile to the discussion? How will I look to my peers? Am I setting a good example?

This is certainly not limited to student governance at U of T. It applies to all aspects of life at U of T. A few weeks ago, when I was going to write a midterm for one of my classes, things didn’t go as planned. The test was delayed 40 minutes (but this was a two-hour test for a three hour exam, so nobody lost time), and people were annoyed. That being said, our professor was new and the midterm was being written in two locations at once. When the midterm was about to start, a TA said “sorry, guys these things happen, unfortunately” and people started to heckle her a little bit. Even in stressful situations such as this one, we should not let our tongues get the best of us.

In a campus where mental health is an issue, students face enough pressures from school, commuting and generally just living life. We shouldn’t make things harder on each other. You may not see your words as having an effect: but words can be like daggers, and they can hurt people’s feelings. From here on out, let us all make an attempt to make sure that in the interactions we have on campus that we are projecting positive energies, that we can disagree without being disagreeable. Make tea, not trouble. :)

Last week of class U of T, have a good one! :)

sitting in the front.

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First of all, I’d like to say happy Tuesday to those students who are on break (myself included). Hopefully, this weekend was productive and relaxing for all of us.

My first year was spent sitting in the balconies of Convocation Hall trying to hear the professor over the hum of a thousand Macbook screens tuned to Facebook.  Coming into a class of a thousand people, it’s intimidating to go and take a seat in the front row - the people who sat there seemed like flesh-eating competitive life science students from afar. Plus, sitting in front of the professor was a terrifying prospect. What if they saw me eating a burger, reading Archie comics, or playing Minesweeper? So, up in the balconies I stayed for most of first year - as do most students.  But then second year came around and I felt it was time for a change. Why not sit up in the front for once, give it a shot? I’ll admit getting to the front was difficult the first lecture. It was a mad dash.

But you know - everybody is serious on the first day of school: books out, thinking glasses on, handy dandy notebooks available. Then, after a few days, about 1/3 of the course returns to sleeping in, playing video games and watching Gossip Girl.  After a few weeks, I can tell you that I have seen the light. Sitting in the front of the class (keener row as some may call it) is an amazing experience.  You walk out of that lecture hall, feeling like you’ve learned something, feeling like you get the material, like you’re going to ace the exam. Mostly, you walk out feeling like this:

At U of T, where large classes are common place for some first year courses — it can be sometimes frustrating and difficult to get the most optimal learning experience in a class of 1,200, especially if you’re up in one of the balconies. There is one thing you as a student that can do to remedy this a little – move to the front. If not the front row, then as close to the front as possible - it’s one way you can stimulate a small class size experience in a large class.  What I found after spending a few weeks sitting in the front is that not only did I get more out of the course, because I understood the material better, I enjoyed the lecture more and that made it a lot easier to get through.   As I have said in the past, students, myself included should get involved with their education and pursue their interests both inside and outside the classroom.  Sitting in the front of the lecture to get more of that good knowledge is part of that.

So go ahead, sit in the front.  The people don’t bite.

 

learn to be a boss at U of T – kickstart

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Kickstart

Let me take you back to a year ago.  I’d just graduated high school and was eagerly awaiting starting university. I was quite giddy in fact, when I received my admission; it was like I had just received the golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.  In late August, however, due to an incident that involved a litter of kittens, some chocolate syrup and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards (I cannot verify the truth of this statement), I was unable to respond to the frosh application my frosh overlords at University College sent me.  My reaction?

I was still going to U of T this September, and it was still going to be awesome. And then I made the mistake of googling “first year U of T life science”.  I heard stories of horror from “seasoned veterans” who had battled the university and came out with scarred GPAs and scarred social lives. In retrospect, these battle stories were more than likely gross exaggerations. But I didn’t know that at the time. :( Was I going to spend my four years locked in the 11th floor of Robarts, with only a tub of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and episodes of Scrubs to console me?

Then, that fateful day I got an e-mail from the student life department. It may/may not have read like this:

 Hey, we just met you! And this is crazy! But here’s an event, so attend it maybe?

- Student Life @ UofT

Turned out this event was called Kickstart and it was an alternative to the college/faculty orientations. It was about a week long and had different sessions, with the aim of giving you an introduction to life at U of T as well as making your transition into university life smoother. So, I thought, why not, and I registered for two events.

The fateful day arrived and I poked my head in of the room’s at Hart House. I saw a few other students and oh, cookies! Things were getting off to a good start already.  It is a little bit awkward at first, but the icebreakers they have planned usually overcome the initial bout of awkwardness. After stuffing my face with cookies, meeting other students and learning the basic essentials of the university, it was off to my next session.

This session was about taking notes, in a life science class (there are options for other fields as well).  An academic counsellor gave us helpful tips and there was even a mock lecture, given by, you’re not going to believe this, a … real, live professor. I’m not sure how they managed to do that.  This session was definitely helpful considering you’re thrown into lecture halls the next week.

Although there are many other sessions available (and I encourage you to sign up for as many as you can); I was only able to sign up for a few.  I coupled them with finding my classes and attending the UTSU Clubs Day event.  Registration is now open for this year’s session of Kickstart, and it’s available to you whether you are doing your college’s frosh or not. If you like cookies and want to learn how to be a boss student at U of T, I’d sign up, bro.

It’s been quite hot lately. Stay cool U of T, and may the odds be ever in your favour.

- Abdullah

—–

Any questions, comments, concerns about Kickstart? Feel free to leave a comment below. I love comments.

 

Give me a W!

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The women's intercollegiate hockey team, 1926.

The women's intercollegiate hockey team, 1926.

And then an o-m-a-n. That’s right, woman! March 8th is International Women’s Day. And there has never been a better time to celebrate our presence on campus.

The long history of female progression within the university hierarchy is a great story. Here’s some women’s U of T trivia to put in your back pocket and pull out when you want to impress others with your handle on the history of women at U of T.

In 1875, Grace Annie Lockhart became the first woman in the British Empire to earn a Bachelor’s Degree at Mount Allison College in Sackville, New Brunswick. Trailblazers like Lockhart became inspirations for other Canadian women who wanted a higher education. Here at the University of Toronto, the late 1800s saw notable female figures carving new paths for women on campus.

Clara Benson, whose name was given to the first female athletic centre on campus, was one of the female students from the late 19th century who pushed the boundaries and accomplished great things. During her undergraduate years, Benson championed co-ed sports on campus and was a member of the first co-ed team (golf). And here’s a fun piece of trivia: in the late 1800s there was a 13-hole golf course that ran throughout the university grounds from Bloor to College.

The University of Toronto was the first school to produce a female graduate in Law. In 1897, Clara Brett Martin graduated and became the first female barrister in the British Empire. It is impossible to imagine how difficult it must have been for Martin to succeed as such a minority. Her words encapsulate this much more eloquently than mine ever could:

“If it were not that I set out to open the way to the bar for others of my sex, I would have given up the effort long ago. You would not believe how many obstacles I have had to overcome single-handed.” -Clara Brett Martin 1899 (1874 – 1923)

(quoted from http://www.law.utoronto.ca/students_content.asp?itemPath=2/18/8/0/0&contentId=1274)

As women, we owe these pioneers our greatest gratitude. International Women’s Day is a forum to impart this history and knowledge to current students. This is an important piece of history that all female students should be aware of. It was not that long ago, only just over a century, that women were the unwelcome minority on campus. An examination of the progress women have made within the university can serve as inspiration for groups that are still being marginalized.

The Status of Women Office is organizing many of the events on campus for International Women’s Day. There are events occurring on campus and throughout the city, from theatre to lectures, there is an event for every woman and man (who of course are welcome to attend).

On Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Hart House Circle, you can participate in a Chalk Chase! Presented by Hart House and the Faculty of Physical Education and Health, this is one of the first sports played by women on campus. From the description, I would describe this is an elaborate game of tag, with hints of hide and go seek.  It sounds like it will be a blast! The Department of Physical Education has a list of “active” events for Women’s Day.

Happy International Women’s Day!

-Lori

Harry Potter and U of T?!

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Any Harry Potter fans out there? If you are, then I am sure you know what happened this weekend. Yesssssss, Deathly Hallows (part 1) was released in theatres!

I grew up with Harry Potter. I remember devouring the first three books when I was in Grade 6 and then eagerly awaiting subsequent new releases as I graduated from each grade.

Even though U of T is huge, one of the things that secretly comforted me when I first started here was that our college system was much like HP’s house system, and even more so that I was at Trin! We wear robes, yo.

But the books are completed and the films are approaching its end. The one thing that has been with me throughout the highs and lows of highschool and university applications and tests and pretty much the one thing that remained constant with me year after year is slowly fading into the recesses of my memory.

What delights me though, is how I’m coming to discover that this childhood friend of mine really hasn’t gone away. It started when I noticed that a photo of a student on the U of T homepage has a Gryffindor scarf wrapped around her neck. Then, when I did my Colleges series last year, Janine Hubbard, Recruitment and Outreach co-ordinator at Vic told us a fun fact:

Students often comment on how much our dining hall looks like the one in Harry Potter. Well, after a colleague did some research, he found out that our hall design was based on one at Oxford (Christ Church College’s dining hall), and it was used in the Harry Potter films, so we essentially have the same design!

HP has leapt off the pages of its canon and has taken a life of its own, going so far as to challenge and engage our student and academic life. Don’t believe me? For starters, Professor Alison Keith, chair of classics, credits the increase of interest in Latin courses at U of T to the Harry Potter series!

Two things that make me smile every time I hear about it are U of T’s Harry Potter lectures and our Quidditch team. What? You didn’t know we had these? Now you do, dear readers, now you do.

Shamefully enough, I couldn’t make either. I know, I know. I’m sorry. To make up for it, I wrote my final paper on a literary analysis of the rhetorical strategies in Harry Potter for my INI209 class. Concurrently, I wrote a 20-page essay on the Jungian perspective of Lady Gaga. I may have slept very few hours in those last couple of weeks of the semester, but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy rereading HP looking for evidence while blasting Lady Gaga in my room.

Anyways, I digress. Every now and then, we have lectures on the science of Harry Potter. I really wanted to make “The Quantum Physics of Harry Potter”. The department even brought in a magician! Who said academia is all serious business? Luckily, you can experience the book and science nerdiness in all its glory here.

Apart from physics, Professor George Eleftheriades from the Department of Engineering (ECE) was researching the possibility of making invisibility cloaks, and finally… WE HAVE A QUIDDITCH TEAM.

I have Facebook friends on the Quidditch team and I saw pictures, but I can’t for the life of me find them. I did email the team and they said to keep checking back on their Facebook page for upcoming games next semester.

Muggle Quidditch is as ridiculous as it sounds. It’s a mish-mash of soccer and lacrosse and tag, except, you have a broom stuck between your legs. I’m going to be mature and adult and not make any of the litany of wildly inappropriate jokes that come to mind. Check out the photos from The Varsity. Despite sticking a broom between your legs and perhaps giggling self-consciously, the game is actually quite intense; just look at the photos from when McGill came over to teach us how to play. U of T went to the Quidditch World Cup a few weeks ago and played their first game against the NY Badassilisks (what a kickass name). We didn’t win, but I found a video of the action on Youtube:

Take a break from writing/studying and reminisce with me. What memories do you have of Harry Potter? Have you seen DH1 yet?

- Cynthia

A Lecture about Lectures

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Last week I went to a lecture and walked out of it feeling completely inspired and enlightened. It wasn’t for school though – it was a lecture I went to for fun. What’s that you say? For fun? That’s impossible! I know lectures aren’t usually synonymous with the word fun. In fact, before I came to university (or even started school for that matter), lectures were what you got after getting in trouble.

Now lectures have a different meaning. Lectures are an everyday part of the average life of a university student. We spend hours and hours listening to our professors delivering their weekly lectures in the hopes of soaking in and retaining the information in time for exams. Many times I know I have been guilty of dozing off or being distracted in my thoughts during class. It is pretty normal; although it happens way too often for my liking.

If you think about it, we pay hundreds of dollars per class and thousands in total to hear what our professors have to say. Often times, depending on the class, it seems like a recycled lecture that doesn’t change much from year to year. But different departments in the school host lecture series in areas where new development and innovation take place. Hart House is the place to go for several speaker events as well. Most of the time these lectures are completely free and open to everyone. If not, tickets go on sale for some lectures and are still very well attended and well worth it.

Going to lectures outside of the curriculum is a lot like reading for fun. You go in with an open mind and you learn so much without the obligation of seeping every little detail of information into your brain. The lecture I went to was the Massey Lecture by Douglas Coupland held in convocation hall. Douglas Coupland is a Canadian author and artist who chose to write a five-part novel for his lecture commenting on society growing up in a world with technology. If you aren’t familiar with Massey Lectures, they are usually held by prominent figures who can speak about anything and everything. Last year, it was led by famous Canadian author Margaret Atwood, who surprised everyone when she chose to speak about the economy. I’m not usually one to go to lectures for fun, but I went to this one because I am a huge Coupland fan and the premise of Massey Lectures was something that stood out to me.

Speaker series and conferences are available all throughout the year and are offered by several different student groups. I even remember being in high school and attending a conference at U of T where one of the English profs analyzed the elements of rap songs with us. With the vast amount of ongoing events, there is bound to be a lecture about something somewhere that will interest you. It’s a great way to get inspired and get out of the humdrum of what you’re learning. It could be what gets you to discover a different field of study or even what makes you realize the real world relevance of what you’re currently studying.

U of T offers several opportunities to listen in on the interesting things people have to say. But if you are looking to get inspired right now, a great place to go is TED talks where there are many videos uploaded from lectures given all over the world, by several prominent leaders. Listening to the stories and ideas of other people is motivating, inspirational and the breath of fresh air from the routine of everyday school lectures that we could all use from time to time.

-Danielle

Social Impact 101

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One of the things that I resolved to try this school year was to attend lectures and seminars offered at U of T that weren’t necessarily related to my subject of study. Luckily, this resolution was much easier to keep than my New Year’s resolution (exercising is hard to do in the morning when my body refuses to wake up unless I’m going to be late for school!).

A friend of mind told me about Social Impact 101, a lecture series hosted by the Peace and Conflicts Society (PACS). This series is designed to help you improve your leadership skills for social impact. After a brief 10-week stay in Kenya two summers ago with Students for International Development, I learned, truly, how privileged we are to be able to go to school in Canada. This experience added a new dimension to my career goal – yes, I still want to be in business, but I want to work for (or own) a company that will also give back to the community. When I heard about the series, I didn’t have to think twice to register.

Every week from 5-6 (the day changes), PACS brings NGO executives, private consultants and management professors to speak about their expertise on leadership in the social and humanitarian sectors. For the past two weeks, I had the chance to hear from Cheryl May, Social Innovation Lead at MaRS, and John Monahan, Executive Director at the Mosaic Institute. I had a blast! Both speakers had their own styles of course, but they both engaged me during their presentations. I found what they had to say to be useful and practical, and the case study exercise that I participated in after the speaker finished supplemented the presentation by applying the things we learned to a real-life problem. There’s even a prize the following week for the group that comes up with the best solution!

If you go to six of the eight lectures, you’ll receive a certificate at the end! This coming Thursday is the third, so you still have time to get the certificate if you’re interested. To learn more about this speaker series, I spoke with Michael Beeler, Co-President of Peace and Conflict Societies.

1) Can you give me a brief intro to the PACS Society and your role in it?
The Peace and Conflict Society is one of the smallest course unions at U of T, but in recent years has been one of the most active in organizing large events for students across the University of Toronto. Since 2006, PACS has organized four major conferences with a cumulative total of over 1000 delegates, over $200,000 fundraised, 200 guest speakers – including keynotes such as Gareth Evans from the International Crisis Group and Louise Frechette, former deputy UN Secretary General to Kofi Annan. The society has punched above its weight for years because the program attracts incredible students who are admitted through an interview process that takes into account not only academics but leadership experience and potential. I’m currently serving as the Co-President of the Society along with Jeremy Vernon.

2) Why were you interested in doing a speaker series?
We wanted to host Social Impact 101 because many of us want to take what we learn in the classroom and apply it to make change in the real world; but few of us feel that our courses imbue practical knowledge about how to affect social change. Based on the incredible turnout so far, it seems many students across the University also want practical knowledge about how to innovate, lead and make a difference in society, and not just how to write lit reviews and lab reports – although those are also important skills.

3) Who is this series for? What do you hope the audience will gain from attending the series?
The series is open to everyone and anyone. Students, profs, friends, family, strangers – whoever in the public is interested in attending. Most participants are students who want to be involved with or create their own non-profit organizations, but I have also met some graduates and a high school student at the event.

4) The 8-part lecture is free – which is great – but how did you find such awesome speakers and keep the lecture accessible to everyone?
We received $1000 from the Dean’s Student Initiative Fund, $500 from the Hart House Good Ideas Fund, and $600 from the New College Student Council. This allowed us to attract speakers with an honorarium, provide pizza, certificates, prizes for case competitions, and the like. However, our first two speakers indicated that they will be donating their honorariums to charity. Most speakers come from within the Peace and Conflict Society’s existing social network; we also received help from Students for International Development in getting speakers from the NGO community. In all cases, we’ve relied on local speakers to keep costs and our carbon footprint low, but since there are so many incredible people in the GTA we haven’t had to compromise on quality.

5) Given its success so far, what are your plans for the speaker series in the future?
Our hope is that by documenting the strong turnout and popularity of the event we will be able to convince the University to renew our funding so we can offer the course next year, with a number of improvements: a better-organized case contest component and perhaps a grand prize for teams that develop social innovation proposals over the course of the series.

As the poster above says, this Thursday we have Andrea Cassatella from U of T to talk about Ethical Decision-Making in Humanitarian Situations. I’m looking forward to going again, as well as enjoying the free pizza! Be sure to go early if you’re interested, because there were more than 90 people attending the first day alone! Email si101[@]peaceandconflict.ca to sign up for the course. Hope to see you there!

- Cynthia

Eight ways to guarantee an exam mark between C+ and F

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They are here.

Can you hear them? I can hear them. I can even smell them! Their papery little bodies quivering with laughter as they loom ghoulishly in the shadows, waiting to tear into me with their sharp claws.

All right, so we all know I have serious problems that involve associating exams with monsters. But as I put aside my … personal issues, I wish to address an important area of concern.

Students always ask, “How can I get an A on my exam?” And in the multitude of online sources available, I find that students who are aiming for a mark between C+ and F face significant prejudice. Therefore, I’d like to offer some assistance. Here are

Eight ways to guarantee an exam mark between C+ and F

8. Past exams: Place yourself on the extreme end of the spectrum and decide that looking for past exams is either a complete and utter waste of time, or the only useful study method.

7. Professor’s hints: Decide that the hints the professor gives in class about the format of the exam are totally lame and unnecessary. Do not to write them down, or ask anything about the upcoming exam, particularly when the professor mentions that she or he will be taking questions about the exam in the last class (this upcoming week!). Who cares what the format is? You still have to write it!

6. Filtering: Convince yourself that you know exactly what is important and what’s not important to study for the exam, and filter out the wastage — all those lecture notes and textbook chapters that the professor just “felt like” assigning. Consider that, in fact, you know best, and the professor is really being quite silly when she says “study everything.”

5. Scheduling: You are way too cool for a schedule, and you know it. The rest of the world may need to plan, but you certainly don’t! What sense would there be in actually sitting down and planning out your study schedule for the exam break (Dec. 5 onwards)? Be confident that you’ll just know, with perfect precision, how much time to study for each exam. Don’t jinx it and actually make a plan.

4. Lectures vs. textbook: Stick with your view that the textbook is merely a detailed version of the lectures and has absolutely nothing new to offer. Why read it when you could skim through the lecture notes instead? Be efficient: ignore the possibility that not only is the textbook an enhancement of the lectures (or vice versa), but it’s also crucial to your learning. Remember that there isn’t any special way to read the textbook to gain maximum benefit from it. Futhermore, don’t even consider looking for additional resources and testing material, such as the CDs that come with texbooks, or online sources such as sample tests and reviews (for example, the study guide for this commonly used psychology textbook). You know what everyone else knows — extra practice and studying are a total waste.

3. Party it up: There always seems to be confusion about this, so I’d like to set the record straight: The best time to party is always during exam study periods. Fewer crowds, shorter lineups at clubs, more cops per partying youth available to give you a ride when you get too drunk — all these benefits come only during exam time. Enjoy! And don’t limit yourself to parties. You know those winter boots you wanted that just went on sale? Or those hockey tickets you have for the night before your exam? This is the time to kick back, my friends. Meet up with other pals, go on dates, check out newly released movies. This silliness about students “buckling down”? Don’t be a sheep. Don’t be a follower. Be a leader. Don’t study.

2. Discourage Others: I hate to tell you, but your friends are totally lost — they think studying is worthwhile! Ridiculous, I know! Good friends don’t let other friends study during exams. If you’re a really good friend, you should ask, in a disapproving voice, “You’re studying now when you should be out partying?” I know there is only so much you can do to help them, but I encourage you to try.

1. Study the night before: Better yet, don’t study at all! Believe that everything you heard in class was ingrained in you via the magical osmosis that occurred while you sat there half-asleep. You know how it is — you’ll sit there with the exam in front you and, magically, you’ll recall the professor’s exact words from day one. Why study and cramp your style?

The above tips should have you covered. It’s highly recommended — most successful C+ to F students will agree — that you employ more than one of the preceding suggestions to ensure a satisfactory result.

So shoot for an F! If you fall short, you’ll get a C-. **  Not the end of the world.

Good luck on exams, lovely UpbeaT readers!  :)

- Fariya

** Disclaimer: Results not guaranteed. All transactions final. UpbeaT bears no obligation or responsibility to justify or reverse your mark.

Peering through the sea of heads

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Since I have the pleasure of being short, in several large third-year classes, and possibly just unlucky, I often don’t have much of a view in classrooms. Staring at the back of someone’s head can be dull! And I’ve noticed lately that my learning experience has been suffering, especially since my classes are no longer in auditorium-style lecture halls, and now mostly in regular classrooms (without steeped seating).

Maybe in the future, we’ll have little computer screens on the back of every student’s head to display the professor’s PowerPoint notes for the person in the row behind, but until then, we’ll have to find other ways of getting the most out of class.

Many of my professors have remarked that the enrolment caps on classes have increased. One of my professors mentioned that usually the class size is 15. This year, its 55! Another one of my classes usually peaks at around 40 students (especially after 10 drop the class because of the incredibly scary 20-page research paper), but this year, it’s 88 students. Sometimes we “borrow” chairs from other classrooms to accommodate all the bums.

Even if you have wonderful professors (as I do), the classroom experience is crucial to your understanding of the material. I’ve been struggling to figure out a way to keep afloat in the sea of heads. If you’ve had similar classroom experiences, please do share your ideas, so we can help others improve their class time.

Meanwhile, here are some tips I’ve come up with to help you get the most out of class:

1. Get to class early

The first week of classes, I arrived five minutes before the hour (e.g., 4:55 for a 5:00 class), thus being 15 minutes early (since class starts 10 minutes after the hour). I was appalled to discover there were only six seats left. Because most upper-year students choose their courses — as opposed to taking mandatory  prerequisites — most plan to have a break in between classes, resulting in the majority being able to get to class early.

Now, I leave for my next class 30 minutes before the hour (4:30 for 5:00) so that by the time I arrive 10 or 15 minutes later, I can choose a seat anywhere I want.

2. Download lecture notes in advance (if they’re available!)

It seems like an obvious one, but you don’t realize how handy the notes are until you can’t see the screen. Downloading the lectures notes in advance and taking them to class gives you a chance to keep up with the professor, not only hearing but also seeing what she or he is saying (very helpful for visual learners!).

(And what do you do if your prof doesn’t use PowerPoint or offer notes in advance? Please share your tips!)

3. Record the lecture (but get permission first!)

I used to be firmly against recording lectures, because I thought it allowed students to be complacent and think “I don’t have to take notes; I can listen to the recording when I get home.” Third year has thoroughly changed my mind, however, because even if you type as fast as you can, you can’t take down everything the professor says, and you’ll beat yourself up when you’re looking at an assignment on a topic you know the prof talked about in class, but weren’t fast enough to catch.

Most professors don’t mind if you record their lectures (but you should check with them in advance). You can either bring a recorder to class, or use your computer.

4. Sit in a strategic spot

It’s simple, but people forget — sitting in the first row, not sitting behind someone tall, not sitting on the far sides of the classrooms where the viewing angle is very difficult… These are all keys to ensuring an accessible learning experience. Where you sit can also affect how well your recorder picks up the professor’s voice.

5. Share notes

If you find it difficult to pick up everything the professor is saying, consider trading notes with a friend every week: email each other your notes after class so that you stay up to date. More than likely, between the two of you, you’ll catch everything the professor says.

Working as a group — to share ideas, notes and discussion — allows you to act collaboratively to enhance your experience in the classroom. You’ll be combining the minds of many people for a more holistic view of the material.

These are just five simple tips. Feel free to share your experience of the classroom, and how you manage to stay afloat and see amid the sea of heads!

- Fariya

What I call the Apocalypse U of T calls The Distinguished Lecturer Series: one way to deal with fear.

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There’s something about waking in the still-dark hours of the night that causes me to lapse into a temporary bout of intense anxiety, in which I worry about any of the following things: 1) whether or not I really am standing naked before a wedding reception while waxing poetic about the bride. (Oh, the blighted power of the dreaming mind). 2) If I completely extinguished the embers in the fireplace at my cottage the last morning I was there (several weeks ago), before locking up. 3) The only other sensible thing to worry about while in one’s PJs at 3 am: the Apocalypse.

Hence the U of T Centre for Global Climate Change Science and its Distinguished Lecturer Series.

Chances are, if you are reading this you are going to die. Not immediately, nor horrifically (well, hopefully not), but inevitably. At some indeterminate point in the future. When I wake up in the night I worry about what the future holds for all of us, but (being honest) especially for me. Daily we’re inundated with news of global climate change, of rising sea levels, melting ice caps, ocean acidification, and dead zones in our lakes and bays: it’s hard to not be affected. Things are admittedly looking a little ominous. At 3 am I start to wonder where will we get potable water in 50 years? Who will stop big corporations from draining the Great Lakes when the US reaches a critical water deficit? What will stop fire ants and Lyme disease-ridden ticks from moving into my neighbourhood? What kind of government is going to move in decades down when food and water are scarce? And what will happen to my rights as a voter, as a woman, and as a property-owner?

The good news about climate change is that it doesn’t have to be so scary. I’ve come to realize that the scariest bits of my nightmares are derived mostly from a misunderstanding of exactly what global change is and what its repercussions will likely be. I’m not saying we can lay back and relax with a Mai Tai because in 50 years Toronto will be the new Palm Springs. What I am saying is that a lack of understanding of an issue as complicated as climate change can easily result in an overly-imaginative, apocalyptic view of what to expect from the future. I know from experience that extreme expectations result in stress and fear, so that people would rather not think about climate change at all, dismissing the need to become involved or alter their patterns of consumption, rather than attempt to participate in any constructive way. Apocalyptic views dissipate when the real potential outcomes of climate change are learned, and although these results are often still scary, looking at environmental change through reasonable eyes is of huge value when it comes to treating the phenomenon rationally, and believing that on an individual level, something can be done.

I went to the opening lecture of the Distinguished Lecturers’ Series, where Professor David Schindler of the University of Alberta opened this year’s series with The Boreal Ecoregion: A Global Change Time Bomb?, which outlined the climatic importance of North American and Eurasian boreal regions. Schindler made no assumptions about the audience’s depth of knowledge, outlining general concepts about the climate change before emphasizing how the boreal north will be affected, making the lecture intelligible and accessible to everyone, including the handful of undergrads who’d attended.

Briefly, the boreal forest is particularly vulnerable to environmental threats because only recently has it been recognized for its contribution to stabilizing the world’s climate, and so doesn’t enjoy the protection it deserves. A huge (25-50%) of the world’s carbon, one of the main greenhouse gases responsible for rising global temperatures, is stored in boreal forests and permafrost, but, thanks to human activities, is currently being released into the atmosphere, leading to global temperature increases. Warmer weather leads to more melting of permafrost, and to the release of further greenhouse gases, and then to more melting of the permafrost, etc. A positive feedback cycle. One repercussion of increased temperatures (among a few) is that insect populations normally kept under control by harsh winter conditions will multiply, leaving boreal forests susceptible to forest fires. Fires have increased in frequency by 74% to 118% over recent years, and are responsible for 80% of Canada’s annual carbon emissions.

Fresh water’s also really big, present the form of wetlands, lakes, and rivers. Fresh water sources are replenished by precipitation at a rate of about 1% per annum, an influx that only just replaces the water lost by evaporation. Local industrial employment of water, however, is currently using up water at a rate that has resulted in a drastic decrease of naturally-occurring levels. For example, near the Alberta Tar Sands, annual Athabasca River discharges have decreased by 40% to 60% over recent years, as water used for industrial purposes is too toxic to be returned to the river. Hydroelectric energy, agriculture, and oil mining are as equally culpable in their misuse of water. Cultural eutrophication, wherein the deposition of nitrogen and phosphorous into water sources creates anoxic lake conditions, further reduces water potability and aquatic viability, as can be seen in such hypereutrophized lakes are Lac La Biche and Lake Winnipeg. A lack of potable water has serious implications for any species dependent on these sources, including humans.

A useful aspect of the lecture was Schindler’s provision of a list of actions we can take to protect boreal forests. Policy needs to be implemented to protect the north, as does the establishment of conservation reserves, and controls on greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and  automobile access to the north. Research on northern boreal cycles and species adaptation is important. On an individual level (I perked up here a little), anyone can write to politicians in all levels of government, who’ll take such issues increasingly seriously the more letters they receive.

While climate change isn’t ever going to create a pretty picture, I think that there are constructive ways to approach and deal with something this magnanimous. And this lecture series is a great way to get informed and meet people working in relevant disciplines.

- Mary