Course Recommendations for Freshmen

I have decided to curate a list of some of my classes that I think every freshman should take. My blog, Why You Need a Liberal Arts Education, talks more about the benefits of a liberal arts education if you want to check it out! The list is non-exhaustive and also biased because I have taken these classes and they have greatly influenced my Carleton experience!

CAMS 111: Digital Foundations

I recommend this class to any first-year student interested in making short films. People who have taken it always tell me that it is so much fun. It’s a production class where you learn and implement the steps involved in filmmaking: pre-production, production, and post-production.

Tasks in these processes include screenwriting, storyboards, directing, cinematography, sound recording, and video & audio editing with Adobe Premier Pro CC. Just like other production classes in the Cinema & Media Studies (CAMS) department, it’s a bit time-consuming compared to other classes in other departments. However, I guarantee that you will have so much fun and learn a lot as you make your films. The components of the course were readings, short writing assignments, Cinematechs, in-class exercises, and projects.

Cinematechs is one of the reasons why this class requires extra time. It’s a lab component that takes place outside class time. For me, it was at 5 pm on Tuesday and 7 pm on Wednesday, and a student is allowed to attend only one session.

It is taught by an educational associate for the CAMS department. The session is focused on technical aspects of filmmaking; students will learn how to use cameras, audio equipment, lighting equipment, and Adobe Premier Pro CC. Although students learn everything during the actual class session, Cinematechs dive into details not covered in class.

In-class exercises are like mini versions of the projects. Some are group exercises while others are individual exercises and are usually done within the full class time. The aim of these exercises is for students to get a hands-on application of what they learn. Just like Cinematechs, students practice using cameras, audio equipment, lighting equipment, and Adobe Premier Pro CC.

The projects are the main reason why the class is so time-consuming. The first project was a 1-minute short film and tested my cinematography skills; the second was a 1-minute short film and assessed my audio recording and audio editing skills; the third was a 4-minute short film and tested my skills as a director and editor; and the fourth was a 4-minute short film which assessed my skills as a producer, screenwriter, director, and editor.

The fourth project was successful because I got help from friends and classmates who opted to help out as actors and boom operators. Without them, I would have spent more than a week shooting the film. For all the projects, pre-production and production were typically between Friday to Tuesday and the post-production phase was Tuesday and Thursday.

In short, project week was from Friday to Thursday. There was little room to reshoot an entire project especially if a mistake was made about the film’s concept. However, my prof, Catherine Licata, dedicated a free week during week ten of the term for students to reshoot their projects if they wanted to correct something and get a higher grade.

ENGL 100: Drama, Film, & Society

This is an Argument and Inquiry Seminar (A&I) in the English department. Incoming students are usually matched into one out of their top five A&I choices. I was lucky enough to get matched into this one, which was taught by Pierre Hecker at the time.

The class introduced me to some elements of Cinema & Media Studies (CAMS) and Theatre and also helped me improve my writing skills. It had many components: movie screenings, theatre performances, readings, quizzes, power-point presentations, and papers. I watched some remarkable movies and plays: Do the Right Thing, Get Out, The Comedy of Errors, and Midsummer Night’s Dream. Class discussions on these artworks were always filled with excitement; there were usually intense arguments about them in class because students had different perspectives. Such moments were the best parts of the class.

The tough parts were the long readings assigned and the papers I wrote on film analysis. As a gap year student coming from a STEM background, reading and writing weren’t my strongest skills. It was pretty difficult to finish readings, especially when they were extremely long, before the next class discussions. Moreover, I always spent long hours constructing an argument based on the film I watched. Sometimes, my professor rejected an argument because it was weak. This always meant I had to start the paper fresh. With the academic challenge, resources like the Writing Center, our class writing assistant, and office hours were a blessing.

Although it was difficult at first, I slowly started to like the process. Especially when I wrote my final paper, The Sunshine Girl, a film analysis on Weathering with You by Makoto Shinkai. I was excited about this paper because I freely chose to write about it. I was inspired to take more film analysis from the CAMS department and eventually started thinking to include CAMS as my second major.

MATH 120: Calculus 2

It was taught by Claudio Gómez-Gonzáles in the Mathematics and Statistics department. The course structure consisted of pre-class readings, weekly homework assignments, three exams, and a final project.

Although it was demanding, the content was easy to grasp because I had done something similar in high school. What I found fascinating about this class was its emphasis on the real-life applications of mathematical concepts through pre-class readings, weekly journals, and the final project.

I got to read, discuss, and write about the impact of colonialism on African education systems, the technicalities involved in sewing clothes, and the inaccuracies of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) in interpreting images. I wasn’t only learning how to solve differential equations, I was thinking about the possibilities of applying such knowledge in the world; this is what made the class different from other maths classes I have ever taken. It really opened my eyes to how I can make connections between different disciplines in a liberal arts education system. Read my blog about Why You Need a Liberal Arts Education for a full account of this class!

Takeaways

I chose these courses because they inspired my decision on the future disciplines I wanted to take at Carleton. The classes might be hard or easy; it depends on you. However, I believe they will change your concept of liberal arts to some degree. Even if they don’t, there are other classes that can induce the same effect on you.

The most important lesson is that these classes were outside of my major, yet they influenced a lot of decisions I made about what I wanted to do with my major. As your faithful blogger, I advise that you should try taking classes you are curious about that are outside your expected major. If you don’t know what you want to study, that’s even better. You will explore tons of classes and find your niche!

My point is that your first year is the best time for you to expand your horizons beyond what you’re comfortable with and try to have a rough idea of the knowledge landscape. It will really influence your perspective about what you are certain you want to do. Have a great day!

Bennet is from the town of Bamenda, Cameroon. He is currently undecided but looking forward to a double major in Computer Science and CAMS (Cinema and Media Studies). Aside from blogging, Bennet also works for the Office of International Student Life as a Peer Mentor. On campus, he is part of the African and Caribbean Association (ACA), Men’s Club Soccer, and serves as the Public Relations Officer for Men of Color (MOC). He likes spending his free time reading nonfiction books, working out, watching movies, and hanging out with friends.