The Faculty of Arts and Science offers a wide range of course-based experiential learning opportunities. Prepare yourself for learning and working in a rapidly changing digital world, gain hands-on experience solving real-world issues for clients, or develop a venture and take part in the Dean's Changemaker Challenge.
For more information, please see the digital calendar.
A university degree needs to prepare learners to pursue careers that do not yet exist - to solve problems that we cannot yet comprehend. This course will help to you to develop transferable skills that will reach into that unknown future, setting you up for success in university and beyond.
Modules will include the psychology of how we learn and process information, assessing and evaluating the accuracy and trustworthiness of both qualitative and quantitative statements, productivity, and academic integrity. The course will also support your development of interpersonal, teamwork, intercultural competency and conflict resolution skills.
You can enrol in Learning & Working in A Digital World (ASCX 150) through the regular course enrolment process. Please note the below prerequisites and exclusions.
Prerequisite: Registration in an Arts and Science Degree Plan. Equivalency ASCX 101.
The Dean’s Changemaker Challenge is back for students across the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Interested in making changes? Do you have an innovative idea but aren’t sure where to start logistically or financially? Take the Dean’s Changemaker Challenge courses (ASCX 200 and 300) to learn how to launch an entrepreneurial venture and turn your ideas into reality.
At the end of the term, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in a Final Pitch competition, where a panel of alumni judges, including Dean Barbara Crow, awards seed funding to the best venture(s).
These two courses are now part of the Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Creativity (QEIC-ENIN) Certificate and are a new pathway to the QUIP Entrepreneurial Stream. Learn more in our story New Experiential Learning Opportunities for Arts & Science Students.
Dean Barbara Crow challenges you to make changes. The Dean’s Changemaker Challenge is a hands-on learning opportunity for you to collaborate with other undergraduate students from across the faculty and make meaningful changes in ways that matter to you. These two on-campus courses are designed to help you innovate by understanding the process of launching entrepreneurial ventures.
You will learn to:
To support your success in the Challenge, as well as your career development, we have arranged for you to be mentored by Arts and Science alumni who are currently successful entrepreneurs. These experts will support your group as you prepare to showcase your venture and compete for investment at the Dean’s Changemaker Challenge pitch competition and, together, they comprise an invaluable network for your future career.
The skills you’ll learn through the Dean’s Changemaker Challenge will serve you beyond your experience here at Queen’s. You’ll gain in-demand skills including leadership, project management, teamwork and entrepreneurship.
FAS is fostering change. We launched our first ever Strategic Plan in Fall 2019 and the Dean’s Changemaker Challenge is one of the initiatives outlined in our plan. Now it’s your turn to help us implement it, along with other initiatives, to support our strategic priorities of enriching the student experience, transforming our spaces, and supporting our people.
Please email asc.el@queensu.ca for enrolment information about the Dean’s Changemaker Challenge courses (ASCX 200 & 300).
ASCX 200
PREREQUISITE: Level 2 or above and in an Arts and Science Program
EXCLUSION: ENIN 200 (Foundations of Entrepreneurship).
Successful completion of this course will provide subsequent admission to ASCX 300.
ASCX 300
PREREQUISITE: ASCX 200 and registration in an Arts and Science Degree Plan.
EXCLUSION: CHEE302 (Design Sprint)
Note: ASCX 200 and ASCX 300 are only available to FAS students and offered on campus. They also count as core options in the Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Creativity (QEIC-ENIN) Certificate.
The first pitch competition of the 2022-2023 academic year took place in November where OSH Rentals, Sea to Soil, and Wholistic Wealth Education were each awarded $2,500 in seed funding. Read more about the Pitch Competition in our story: Challenging Themselves.
The mission of OSH Rentals and Financial Advice is to create a service that compares student rentals from multiple companies in one program and then organizes rental costs and expenses in a visible financial plan.
Sea to Soil addresses the impact of fish waste on the environment and economy by processing and converting fish silage and waste products into nutrient-rich fertilizer for local farms.
Wholistic Wealth Education's vision is to create an interactive participation-based course for all faculties within the university, with a focus on mental illness prevention.
The final pitch competition of the 2021-2022 academic year took place in April, and FinFem and UnLoved Foods were declared the big winners, each being awarded $7,500 in seed funding. Read more about the Final Pitch Competition in our story: Pitch Perfect - Two Teams Earn Funding in Dean's Changemaker Challenge.
Learn more about LetsBloom and the first-ever Dean's Changemaker Challenge in our story: Dean Crow Challenges Students to Make Changes.
Queen’s University and the Faculty of Arts and Science has partnered with world-renowned Canadian photographer, and Queen’s Honorary Doctorate recipient (2007), Edward Burtynsky to help realize his new public art piece titled Standing Whale.
Standing Whale will be a true-to-size, re-imagining of a blue whale skeleton, standing 5 stories high, and it aims to bring awareness to the impacts that humans, and progress is having on our planet.
As with the winter version of ASCX 400, student teams will act as a consultant and/or project manager, taking on the full scope of a project, from ideation to project design and implementation. You will be supported by experienced, subject matter experts who will act as team mentors while you learn to apply a variety of disciplinary knowledge to your Standing Whale project.
In teams of 3-5, students will work on projects that answer questions such as:
How might Standing Whale...
For 2023, students are to build on a pre-existing project from the year prior or complete a new project only if it hasn't been done before.
The Fall 2023 offering of ASCX 400 will be open to all FAS students as an elective. However, it may also be used by students in English, History, Film, Biology, Environmental Sciences, or Policy Studies degree plans to fulfill an upper-year core course requirement. To find out more about whether you can use the course as a core course, please contact your department.
Applications are not required for Fall 2023. If you are interested in enrolling in Fall 2023, please send your name and student number to asc.el@queensu.ca.
The Faculty of Arts and Science is partnering with The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) for their Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP).
ASCX 400 (Student Space Experiment Project) provides an opportunity for students to work in an interdisciplinary team to design a real microgravity experiment (experiment conducted in a weightless environment) that helps address a global challenge.
Multi-disciplinary teams of engineering, commerce, law, science, social science, and humanities students undertake consulting projects with industrial, government and not-for-profit clients. Projects will encompass topics based on societal and industry interests (such as social innovation, process improvement, business strategy, environment etc.).
The course takes students from ideation and research, through the deep integration of diverse disciplines, to design and communication of a proposed research project. One of the experiments emerging from the course will then be selected by a panel of experts and mentors to fly on a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station on Mission 18 where it will be operated by astronauts.
While the projects will use a standard experimental design framework, having multiple perspectives will help each team to contribute to a deeper understanding of global challenges. The multi-disciplinary teams will consist of students with both science and non-science training and all students, regardless of disciplinary background, will contribute equally to the design of the experiments.
The course is roughly divided into four (4) parts; it has been carefully structured to ensure that students have the tools needed to succeed.
The course concludes with a final Showcase presentation event where student teams will present their proposals.
Students who wish to register to take this course must answer the following questions on the Registration Form. Please note that access to this form will close on Monday, July 31.
Thank you for submitting your interest in registering for this course. All applicants should receive an answer by Wednesday, August 2. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact asc.el@queensu.ca
Looking for a hands-on learning experience in fourth year? Apply to take our Interdisciplinary Client-based Project course where you will take on a real-world problem or project for a community partner and work with students from other faculties and programs. Gain transferable skills that employers are searching for, such as project management, problem-solving, communication, and how to work with clients and stakeholders.
In ASCX 400, you could find yourself working for a company, non-profit organization, social enterprise, health and education providers, or local government. Your team will act as consultant and/or project manager, taking on the full scope of a project, from ideation to project design and implementation. You will be supported by experienced professionals who will act as your team mentors.
Projects will encompass topics based on societal and industry interests (such as social innovation, process improvement, business strategy, environment, etc.). Potential projects range from creating apps and audio tours, fundraising campaigns and feasibility studies to creating business, marketing and communications plans, as well as engineering, computing, and technology projects.
This interfaculty course runs during the winter term and provides an opportunity for you to work with students from other faculties, such as Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS), the School for Rehabilitation Therapy and the Smith School of Business. A full list of projects and descriptions for winter 2024 will be announced during the fall term.
Space in the course is limited, and students are required to submit an application to be considered. Interested students must send in a copy of their most recent resumé, as well as a cover letter indicating why they are interested in taking the course.
Applications for ASCX 400 (winter) should be sent to asc.el@queensu.ca and will be accepted until mid-November (with priority given to those received prior to mid-August). It is strongly recommended that you enrol in alternative courses while waiting for an application decision, should you not be admitted to the course.
