Lead Instructor: Dr Robert Hyland - hylandr@queensu.ca
In Summary:
This introductory course provides first-year students with a selection of key skills and theories from across a number of disciplines (Film and Media, Geography, History, Sociology) that will allow them to engage with their further studies and their role in a globalised environment with confidence, intelligence and ambition.
Course Highlights: 
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Applicable to a wide variety of academic plans, including History, Sociology, Drama, Languages, Literatures and Con-Ed.
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Explore concepts of location, identity and boundaries that are at the heart of all academic inquiry across the Humanities and Social Sciences..
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Develop academic and intercultural skills that will set you on the path to success in your degree and beyond.
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A truly unique learning experience! BADR100 is structured to anticipate a changing employment landscape, that asks for inventiveness, flexibility and adaptability.
Course Information:
The world we exist in is one shaped by particular histories, identities and interests, and structured according to particular systems. As a result, the production of knowledge is not just about considering the world as a detached theoretical object of study. It is about learning to judge it critically in context. BADR100 explores major themes that shape our world and our knowledge of it in broad and interconnected ways. The course examines landscape, identity, cultural texts, historic documents and artefacts and places them into the real-life context within the UK and globally.
Course content that facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration explores some of the most challenging issues facing society in the 21st century. From climate change to large-scale conflicts and migration to democracy and cyber-security, BADR100 highlights the inextricable connections across these topics.
BADR100 crosses disciplines, foregrounding their interconnectedness and offer a truly engaging learning experience. The courses are structured to anticipate a changing employment landscape that ask for inventiveness, flexibility, and adaptability, alongside a solid theoretical foundation in a number of different disciplines.
Interdisciplinary expertise and collaboration are at the centre of BADR100, moving across central themes that shape the future of humanity and remain at the heart of cultural geography, film and media studies, history, drama, language literature and culture, and sociology. This allows for the development of transferable skills, in addition to specialized knowledge. This approach is intended to facilitate cooperation between faculty and students, strengthen the ties between research and lecturing and turn collaborative engagement into the norm.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this term, students will be able to:
- Identify and describe examples of the key course concepts of location, identity, and boundaries on a regional and national scale
- Distinguish between the different ways academic disciplines address research questions
- Discuss and evaluate the purpose of academic primary and secondary sources
- Recognize and define key terms in cultural theory
- Summarize an argument derived from a critical essay or reading.
Experiential and Active Learning Opportunities:
Active learning anchors lectures and seminars in BADR100. Students will have access to exclusive cultural events with experts to bring your learning to life. For instance, you might have an introduction to Academic Entrepreneurship with a Queen's alumnus, or a talk on Queer History followed by a seminar with a dynamic researcher. Take a virtual tour of the Castle gardens and grounds as we incorporate VR technology into BADR100, using Google Cardboard and Google Expeditions. Will you escape our virtual Castle Escape Room?
Prerequisites and Exclusions:
Prerequisite Level 1 or above. Exclusion FILM106; GPHY101. Equivalency BISC100/3.0.
Course applicable to the following Majors/Medials/Minors:
CODR (core) / COFI (core)*BISC 100+FILM 104 / DRAM (core) / FILM (core)* BISC 100+FILM 104 / HIST (core) / LLCU (option) / SOCY (core) / MAPP (core) / Con-Ed Teaching Subject (Dramatic Arts) / Con-Ed Teaching Subject (Geography; History)
