Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 10754
Submitted: June 28, 2023 at 11:46:20 AM
First Name: Jane
Last Name: Cobden
Pronoun: She/Her
Preferred Name: Jane
Student Number: 20271135
Email: 20jbc3@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: FILM
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request to take more than 6.0 units of courses on a letter of permission through another institution
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Below is an updated version of my petition, as I am now interested in taking film courses that relate to my major and can contribute to my plan.
Next spring semester of 2024 in my third year at Queen's I am interested in studying abroad independently at a different university in a different part of the world. Since being at Queen's, my schoolwork has become something that holds the most value, time, and significance in my life. I want to find new ways for me to extend my studies further and studying abroad can allow me to do this because it will let me develop new concepts that can enhance my learning in ways that only completing my degree in Ontario at the same school for all 4 years cannot. This is because my potential peers and academic instructors abroad have diverse perspectives that I may not be exposed to here in Canada as many attitudes, theories, and ideas come from our cultural background and ways of life that are taught and understood through community and tradition.
As a student in the arts faculty taking Film and other social studies relating courses, the syllabuses, course work, and content discussed in the classroom will always naturally change over time and develop further with the world around us as society is constantly evolving. Unlike science or engineering practices, for example, my area of study is not often as reliant on black and white, yes or no, or factual answers. Instead, the courses I am interested in are more dependent on learning different perspectives and encourage students to find their own interpretations of concepts and to develop their understanding of coursework through learning about varying ideas and theories through a wide variety of communications, interactions, and diversity. Specifically, I am interested in taking film courses that relate to my major as well as studying sociology, global development, and philosophy-related courses in elective courses on a semester abroad because I believe these areas of study can specifically best be transcended through participating in an exchange of contrasting perspectives that I as an individual may not have the opportunity to be a part of by not opening my horizons to new parts of the world. Each country and culture have their own styles of teaching and different points of value they hold in course content that will be naturally different than what is offered to me here at Queen's in Canada. T
Film courses will help to deepen my understanding of the subject within new areas within the department that are not available to me in the ways here at Queen's. These courses would expand my knowledge of film and media studies and provide me with a greater and more diverse background context in this area to use when I return for fourth year at Queen's.
In terms of electives, these courses stray from my major of Film but at the same time can be connected back to it and help me complete this major back at Queen's after my semester abroad as they will open my mind to contexts that can be related to what I learn in film. Film studies connect deeply to the discussion of social issues and injustices, both at present and in history, and specifically encourage students to understand how media is presented and understood differently throughout different parts of the world and through different time periods. These courses, both film relating and not, while taking in vastly different geological locations with expand my ideas that I can bring back to my studies in film at Queen's in my fourth year of university as I will be able to relate my new learnings abroad to the relevant areas of film studies I learn, which will enrich my understandings.
This past winter of 2023 I unexpectedly developed an illness that caused me to take a pause on school and focus on my health. Now that I am recovering, I am now more than ever eager to make the most of what my privileges can offer me. This time showed me to appreciate the opportunities around me and to always look for more ways to enhance the gift of life. What happened to me inspired me to expand my academic studies, and as I was out of school, I developed a much deeper appreciation for learning as I was deprived of it. I realized how much I valued the knowledge and understanding I can obtain by participating in my university education. Throughout my traumatic experience, I had time to reflect on my life and my accomplishments and unlocked a much greater love, respect, and interest for what a Bachelor of Arts can offer me. Being forced to miss out on educational opportunities in the spring semester of 2023, made me keen to bounce back to learning and inspired me to make the most out of my education, which is why I want to do so abroad. I feel that studying abroad allows me to get a much deeper sense of how the world works as I will be exposed to a brand-new way of life. Despite my unfortunate challenges, my illness is not my identity and not something that defines me and I am much more than a patient. I am most importantly an individual with ambition, resilience, work ethic, and diligence which is why I believe a semester abroad is an experience I can thrive in.
Below is also an email screenshot from the chair of the undergraduate department of film and media, Professor Emily Pelstring providing support for me to take film courses abroad.
Next spring semester of 2024 in my third year at Queen's I am interested in studying abroad independently at a different university in a different part of the world. Since being at Queen's, my schoolwork has become something that holds the most value, time, and significance in my life. I want to find new ways for me to extend my studies further and studying abroad can allow me to do this because it will let me develop new concepts that can enhance my learning in ways that only completing my degree in Ontario at the same school for all 4 years cannot. This is because my potential peers and academic instructors abroad have diverse perspectives that I may not be exposed to here in Canada as many attitudes, theories, and ideas come from our cultural background and ways of life that are taught and understood through community and tradition.
As a student in the arts faculty taking Film and other social studies relating courses, the syllabuses, course work, and content discussed in the classroom will always naturally change over time and develop further with the world around us as society is constantly evolving. Unlike science or engineering practices, for example, my area of study is not often as reliant on black and white, yes or no, or factual answers. Instead, the courses I am interested in are more dependent on learning different perspectives and encourage students to find their own interpretations of concepts and to develop their understanding of coursework through learning about varying ideas and theories through a wide variety of communications, interactions, and diversity. Specifically, I am interested in taking film courses that relate to my major as well as studying sociology, global development, and philosophy-related courses in elective courses on a semester abroad because I believe these areas of study can specifically best be transcended through participating in an exchange of contrasting perspectives that I as an individual may not have the opportunity to be a part of by not opening my horizons to new parts of the world. Each country and culture have their own styles of teaching and different points of value they hold in course content that will be naturally different than what is offered to me here at Queen's in Canada. T
Film courses will help to deepen my understanding of the subject within new areas within the department that are not available to me in the ways here at Queen's. These courses would expand my knowledge of film and media studies and provide me with a greater and more diverse background context in this area to use when I return for fourth year at Queen's.
In terms of electives, these courses stray from my major of Film but at the same time can be connected back to it and help me complete this major back at Queen's after my semester abroad as they will open my mind to contexts that can be related to what I learn in film. Film studies connect deeply to the discussion of social issues and injustices, both at present and in history, and specifically encourage students to understand how media is presented and understood differently throughout different parts of the world and through different time periods. These courses, both film relating and not, while taking in vastly different geological locations with expand my ideas that I can bring back to my studies in film at Queen's in my fourth year of university as I will be able to relate my new learnings abroad to the relevant areas of film studies I learn, which will enrich my understandings.
This past winter of 2023 I unexpectedly developed an illness that caused me to take a pause on school and focus on my health. Now that I am recovering, I am now more than ever eager to make the most of what my privileges can offer me. This time showed me to appreciate the opportunities around me and to always look for more ways to enhance the gift of life. What happened to me inspired me to expand my academic studies, and as I was out of school, I developed a much deeper appreciation for learning as I was deprived of it. I realized how much I valued the knowledge and understanding I can obtain by participating in my university education. Throughout my traumatic experience, I had time to reflect on my life and my accomplishments and unlocked a much greater love, respect, and interest for what a Bachelor of Arts can offer me. Being forced to miss out on educational opportunities in the spring semester of 2023, made me keen to bounce back to learning and inspired me to make the most out of my education, which is why I want to do so abroad. I feel that studying abroad allows me to get a much deeper sense of how the world works as I will be exposed to a brand-new way of life. Despite my unfortunate challenges, my illness is not my identity and not something that defines me and I am much more than a patient. I am most importantly an individual with ambition, resilience, work ethic, and diligence which is why I believe a semester abroad is an experience I can thrive in.
Below is also an email screenshot from the chair of the undergraduate department of film and media, Professor Emily Pelstring providing support for me to take film courses abroad.
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: Below is an updated version of my academic plan, as I am now interested in taking film courses that relate to my major and can contribute to my plan.
My academic plan for studying abroad includes enrolling in 3-4 courses at the visiting school. In my previous time at Queen's University, I have been a full-time student and have always taken this number of courses in each semester, meaning I have experience with this course load and therefore I have confidence that I can complete the academic demands they will entail, on time. While studying abroad, I am interested in taking courses that are both a part of my plan as a film major at Queen’s and possibly elective courses in combination. Queen’s requires students to have a minimum of a 1.6 GPA to study abroad for a semester, and I currently hold a 2.86 cumulative GPA and 3.2 from my last semester in fall of 2022 meaning I have proven myself to be in good academic standing to complete a semester abroad. I have currently dropped my minor in sociology, which will allow for more elective courses. My plan would be to take 2/3 courses as electives and 2/3 courses in film or film-centric options while abroad.
In terms of elective courses, these include different areas that are not related directly to film but will expand my understanding of the ways in which the world operates both in the past and at present, which will give me as a learner more context to use when understanding my film relating courses back at Queen's. These include sociology, philosophy, global development, politics, geography, and gender studies relating courses. This allows me to get experience in other areas of study and broaden my perspectives as a film student. I will be able to make connections between courses from different faculties and relate them to my major back at Queen's. In my first year at Queen's, I took a variety of first-year courses that did not relate to film studies, including gender studies, psychology, sociology, health, and global development. I thrived in these courses just as I do in my film courses and found it interesting to study a variety of subjects. During this time, I was introduced to new concepts through these courses that I am interested in delving deeper into, which will broaden my perspectives as a student. By taking elective courses that focus in areas of social studies, I will be able to do so.
In terms of film relating courses that relate to fulfilling my requirements, I am hoping to find a course that could replace the 3.0 units that I still need to complete in FILM18 that I have not yet taken at Queen's. As well, I still have 15 units from film / film-centric options at the 200 level and 6 units from film / film-centric options at the 300 level that I need to complete, so I would be interested in taking other film courses at the visiting school that could transfer back to Queen's and count towards completing those areas of my requirements. Similarly to the ways in which elective courses can enhance my learnings while taken abroad, taking film courses connecting to my major abroad will provide me with new understandings of film relating content that is not offered and taught in the same way as Queen's. Many of the courses I have researched that are available at the different schools I am applying to include areas of the subject I am not yet familiar with but have the foundation to learn from my experience in film so far. Taking these courses abroad will give me new ways of thinking about the film subject that I can bring back to Queen's, in similar ways as my electives will, that I can contribute to my film studies but in a more direct and literal way. I will see the results of my film studies abroad being applied to my film studies when I return to Queen's as I will continue to in the department to complete my degree, as I can use my newfound knowledge that I would not have necessarily obtained without studying abroad to make more sense of film content in my fourth year. This will allow me to delve deeper into my film studies and will allow me to make further connections as I will have new film-relating contexts on to base my studies on.
Below is also an email screenshot from the chair of the undergraduate department of film and media, Professor Emily Pelstring providing support for me to take film courses abroad.
My academic plan for studying abroad includes enrolling in 3-4 courses at the visiting school. In my previous time at Queen's University, I have been a full-time student and have always taken this number of courses in each semester, meaning I have experience with this course load and therefore I have confidence that I can complete the academic demands they will entail, on time. While studying abroad, I am interested in taking courses that are both a part of my plan as a film major at Queen’s and possibly elective courses in combination. Queen’s requires students to have a minimum of a 1.6 GPA to study abroad for a semester, and I currently hold a 2.86 cumulative GPA and 3.2 from my last semester in fall of 2022 meaning I have proven myself to be in good academic standing to complete a semester abroad. I have currently dropped my minor in sociology, which will allow for more elective courses. My plan would be to take 2/3 courses as electives and 2/3 courses in film or film-centric options while abroad.
In terms of elective courses, these include different areas that are not related directly to film but will expand my understanding of the ways in which the world operates both in the past and at present, which will give me as a learner more context to use when understanding my film relating courses back at Queen's. These include sociology, philosophy, global development, politics, geography, and gender studies relating courses. This allows me to get experience in other areas of study and broaden my perspectives as a film student. I will be able to make connections between courses from different faculties and relate them to my major back at Queen's. In my first year at Queen's, I took a variety of first-year courses that did not relate to film studies, including gender studies, psychology, sociology, health, and global development. I thrived in these courses just as I do in my film courses and found it interesting to study a variety of subjects. During this time, I was introduced to new concepts through these courses that I am interested in delving deeper into, which will broaden my perspectives as a student. By taking elective courses that focus in areas of social studies, I will be able to do so.
In terms of film relating courses that relate to fulfilling my requirements, I am hoping to find a course that could replace the 3.0 units that I still need to complete in FILM18 that I have not yet taken at Queen's. As well, I still have 15 units from film / film-centric options at the 200 level and 6 units from film / film-centric options at the 300 level that I need to complete, so I would be interested in taking other film courses at the visiting school that could transfer back to Queen's and count towards completing those areas of my requirements. Similarly to the ways in which elective courses can enhance my learnings while taken abroad, taking film courses connecting to my major abroad will provide me with new understandings of film relating content that is not offered and taught in the same way as Queen's. Many of the courses I have researched that are available at the different schools I am applying to include areas of the subject I am not yet familiar with but have the foundation to learn from my experience in film so far. Taking these courses abroad will give me new ways of thinking about the film subject that I can bring back to Queen's, in similar ways as my electives will, that I can contribute to my film studies but in a more direct and literal way. I will see the results of my film studies abroad being applied to my film studies when I return to Queen's as I will continue to in the department to complete my degree, as I can use my newfound knowledge that I would not have necessarily obtained without studying abroad to make more sense of film content in my fourth year. This will allow me to delve deeper into my film studies and will allow me to make further connections as I will have new film-relating contexts on to base my studies on.
Below is also an email screenshot from the chair of the undergraduate department of film and media, Professor Emily Pelstring providing support for me to take film courses abroad.
Documentation
Professional Letter: Screen Shot 2023-06-28 at 11.36.50 AM.png
History
Originally submitted June 28, 2023 at 11:46:20 AM.
| Field | Reference | Old Value | New Value | Note | User | Date/Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| status | N/A | Received | In Review | Spring Forsberg | 2023-06-28 3:47:17 PM | |
| status | N/A | In Review | Withdrawn | Spring Forsberg | 2023-06-29 8:41:33 AM |