Picking out your university classes can be one of the most stressful things ever. You know what courses you need to take and what elective options you have but deciding on which class is best for you is the hardest thing. If you have some harder classes, you may be tempted to pick at least one bird course that can allow you to relax a bit. With that in mind, here are 10 classes at University of Ottawa (uOttawa) that are easy just for you.
1. BPS 1101 – Drugs
Drug history, discovery and use. Origins of disease, drug function, side effects and safety. Toxicology, pain relief, cold medications, performance-enhancing drugs for sports, antibiotics and cancer chemotherapy.
2. CRM 1300 – Introduction to Criminology
Different conceptions of criminology and notions of crime and deviance. Social problems and social control. Functioning of the criminal justice system. Crime statistics and public opinion.
3. PSY 1101 – Introduction to Psychology: Foundations
Object and method of psychology. Historical perspective. Nervous system, consciousness. Sensory processes, perception, cognition, memory, language, and thought.
4. CLA 2323 – Greek Mythology
Introduction to Greek myths in their religious and historical context; their impact on western art and literature. Reading in translation of ancient sources (Homer, Hesiod, the Greek tragedians, etc).
5. ENG 1112 – Technical Report Writing
Practice in the writing of technical reports. Topics include exposition, argumentation, presentation of technical data, and effective communication. Frequent written exercises and development of composition skills.
6. HSS 1101 – Determinants of Health
Introduction to health sciences including models and concepts of health and wellness, illness and disease. Biological, psychobehavioural, socio-political and environmental determinants of health will be examined.
7. GEO 1111 – Introduction to Earth Systems
Course suited for students in the faculties of Science or Engineering who want to learn more about how the solid earth, oceans, atmosphere, and life have worked in an integrated way over the past 4.6 billion years.
8. ENV 1101 – Global Environmental Challenges
The threat of human induced environmental degradation and the societal responses to these environmental challenges. Case studies from contemporary examples such as climate change, air and water pollution and its impact on human health, from a social science perspective.
9. PHI 1101 – Reasoning and Critical Thinking
Development of fundamental skills in reasoning and critical thinking through the study of argument types, logical structures, criteria used in the evaluation of arguments, and forms of fallacious reasoning.
10. CIN 2190 – History and Esthetics of Cinema
Panorama of the major historical periods of cinema since its early periods in France, Russia and the United States. Study of the cinematographic language. Impact of technologies on esthetics and the construction of meaning.
This list is not very correct. I took BPS1101, the most time consuming lectures I have ever had. It would take me around 4 hours to watch and take notes for an hour and a half lecture (it being online could have contributed to this but still). As well it was my worst class all year, I got high 70s or low 80s in all my other classes but maybe came out with a 60 in this class. It is very interesting and you learn a lot but still very annoying to try so hard in that class and continue to come out with bad grades.
As well for PHI1101, I took that class thinking it would be about theories but it was more like math. The most confusing shit ever. I hated it, the only reason I did well was because I had a friend in the class and we would study together.
I don’t really have much to say on most of these courses since I’ve never taken them but people might want to watch out for things like the assignment/exam formats and professor ratings since those factors can drastically affect difficulty.
As for GEO 1111, it’s definitely not an easy course even if the exams consisted mostly of multiple choice questions. The course reduces to exhaustive memorization so the online/open book format was somewhat helpful to easing this but there was a tight window of time to answer the questions that using those advantages were discouraged. The course itself really isn’t worth taking to expect a high grade unless there’s an open book format and even with that advantage it’s somewhat of a gamble.