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.