hey aska,
i’m going to be starting at uoft this september. i was wondering if you could tell me… everything? i don’t want to be annoying or needy, but i just don’t know who to ask.
which courses should i take? i got in for humanities. i love reading and writing so i think i want to go into english, but i just have no idea… i don’t know what to do. 🙁
please help me!
sincerely,
fumbling first year
?????????
Fumbling First Year,
Firstly, high five for giving yourself a name. I like names. I cannot emphasize my name-loving enough.
Secondly, congrats on getting in! Four for you!
Thirdly, alas, although askastudent is just sooooo easy to confuse with an all-knowing super amazing badass UofT god, I can’t tell you “everything” per se. I can, however, answer your little question.
So what courses should you take…
You like reading and writing? Cool beans! So do I. If you’re interested in going into an English major/specialist, you’ll have to take one of the full-year first-year English courses: Lit for Our Time or the Literary Tradition.
Now what’s totally awesome about the English Department here is that they usually put up some semblance of the course syllabus by May or June. This means that not only can you know the possible marking scheme for your classes, but you can also get a head start on the readings!
From the titles alone, you can see that these are two pretty different classes, meaning their readings will definitely come from different places/eras.
Personally, I’d take Lit for Our Time. The one I took in first year doesn’t seem to be offered any more and was with the incredible Prof. Jeremy Lopez, but I’m sure either class will be great!
And if you’re interested in writing, maybe take one of the first-year courses from?Writing and Rhetoric.
Aside from those… well, just take whatever interests you!
Take Intro to Anthropology, take World Religions, take Intro to Women and Gender Studies, take East Asian History, take Monuments of Art History, yada yada yada. But definitely take a look at the anti-calendar though for some in-depth looks into courses.
Cheers!
aska