It's my first year and I am in social sciences. I am looking at taking anthropology but I am not sure which one(s) to take. I am currently registared to take all three but was wondering if anyone has suggestions.

Also I am taking a geography 1HS3 and I was thinking of taking Womans Studies instead. Also I was interested in psychology and wondered what it is like

Any information or suggestions would be great.

Thanks,
Danielle

I'm not sure about the other courses, but psychology is an amazing course. I would strongly recommend it as an elective for first-year students. It's easy to get a good mark, taught by a great prof, and at the same time quite interesting. The classes are on video and run by TAs because psychology is the most popular course first year, but it does not detract from the effectiveness of the course in any way.

Also, keep in mind that psych counts as a science course at mac.
Good luck,
Paul

Hi Danielle!

I'm actually an Anthro major...so I can totally help you out. I took all three of the classes.

Anthro 1A03 is cultural; in my opinion it was the easiest of the three, but the most interesting. you get to learn about different cultures, and how they function (ie north american versus a small tribe-based culture in new guinea). If the course format hasn't changed, you have marks based on participation and attendance of tutorial, a midterm, an essay, and a final exam. However I'm going into fourth year now, so it is possible it could have changed a bit. Some of my friends took it last year as an elective, and also really enjoyed it.

Anthro 1B03 is archeology. Now, I had a TERRIBLE prof for this course, but she was not re-hired. The textbook I had was very similar (and focused on more or less the same) units/civilizations that I learned about in grade 11 classic civ. There was a little bit more detail. My cousin's cousin took the class several years before I did, and the prof she had still teaches the class, and apparently is supposed to be very good.

Anthro 1Z03 is physical anthro. If you took the into to pysch/sociology/anthro in grade 11 you got a bit of an overview for some of the material. You learn about the early hominids in some detail; the time periods they lived in, what they looked like etc. We had tutorial marks based on participation and attendance, a midterm, two small (4 page) essays, and a final. Because of the content there is a fair amount of memorization involved, so it can be tricky. And, if PADIAK is the prof, EITHER SWITCH TO ANOTHER SECTION OR BE PREPARED FOR A DIFFICULT SEMESTER.

As for Paul's comment regarding Psych; I disagree. I started as a psych major and dropped out because of the way the course was taught. You are taught exclusively by a TA, and you will not see Dr. Day. Your lectures are videos of him teaching the course material from at least a decade ago. You do two group essays, have a midterm, and a final. And Dr. Dick's question format is not straightforward.

Aaand, have you checked out www.macsocsci.com yet? We have a contest for incoming First Year students such as yourself.

thank you so much. this was SO helpful!! ill make sure to watch out for padiak.. thankyou.
and i wasnt sure about psychology.. im still unsure. i would only take it first year since neither math nor biology are my strong points

thankyou both.
-Danielle

No problem.

And should you choose to major in psych, you will need a stats and the socsci/buisness calc. However, the upper-year calc classes are more interesting than the first year ones...so you could take it as a minor and still have fun classes for your upper years.

how do you know/figure out the 'long term' classes you will need? I'm pretty sure I want to major in sociology or social work .. but i dont even have a clue what i need to take ever year?

If you check out the undergrad calendar, it breaks it all down for you.

Next year and for the years following you will have a list of courses you need to take, a list of courses to choose from, then electives.

Hnours Social Work: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...07/sec_732.htm
BA Social Work: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...07/sec_733.htm
Various Sociology Options: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...07/sec_734.htm

Great advice Danielle! I guess it all depends on the type of learning method you prefer. If you really like asking questions and talking directly to the prof, I can see how it can be difficult. I suppose Paul found no problem with the material not being able to speak with the prof.

Thank you so much, that helped so much!
I now have to change my classes I selected a little but it's much better figuring that out now instead of later.

Yes, I found my first year psych class extremely frustrating because my TA was terrible and couldn't answer our questions, and the prof wasn't there to ask either.

And yes, change your classes sooner rather than later! It's easier in case they fill up!

Yes I figured out for my sociology that I need at least 6 units or religious or humanities. So I will be most likely taking that Woman's Studies after all.. it's too bad I didn't ask this question sooner .. SOLAR is closed now until July 30th:(

Which other Humm courses were you thinking of taking? Going to take two Woman Studies courses for the 6 units?

um .. im not even sure yet. I guess I have time to look into it .. probably woman's studies .. and mb an english? ill have to figure it out.

Take cultural studies.

Because it's my major and I like to plug it...and it can be tons of fun!

wat is cultural studies about?