Don Wright Faculty of Music

Examine the history of celebrity throughout the ages. Learn about navigating change in the business world from the CEOs who have lived it. Explore chemical engineering principles by experimenting with coffee. Western is offering a host of unique and entertaining courses that go beyond the foundational engineering, history or media theory. “We want to ignite potential in our students by daring to do things differently, and that includes innovative courses and curriculum,” said Western’s registrar Marisa Modeski.

“We are focused on breaking down barriers between disciplines to create a transformative learning experience. Western’s diverse course offerings encourages students to think big, make meaningful connections across fields of study and develop the adaptability they will need to thrive in a complex, rapidly changing world.” – Marisa Modeski, Western registrar

 

Engineering Coffee Engineering

From roasting beans to developing cold brew, Engineering Coffee helps chemical engineering students at Western combine their morning caffeination with academic coursework. “I wanted to incorporate more experiential learning for my chemical engineering students – and make it fun. The students actually get to taste their experiments,” said engineering professor Lauren Tribe, who teaches the course. The hands-on elective even includes a field trip to a local coffee shop. Tribe said she hopes the class illustrates how engineering is embedded in so many elements of everyday life.  

The Story of Play: Why Games Matter Faculty of Information and Media Studies

Combining play and learning is the name of the game for students in The Story of Play: Why Games Matter. The course probes the history of gaming, from ancient board games originating in Mesopotamia to modern, advanced video game consoles. Course instructor and FIMS professor Luke Arnott reflected on how games are inextricable from the technologies that support them. “Think about how different the experience was playing Super Mario Bros. on a Nintendo Entertainment System and CRT TV back in the 1980s versus playing the same game today on a Nintendo Switch 2 while, for example, flying on a plane,” Arnott said. One of the main features of the course is in-class guided gameplay sessions, where students test and analyze a variety of analog and digital games. These include table-top role-playing games, retro arcade games, choose-your-own-adventure books, classic consoles and VR games.  

Culture and Food Brescia School of Food and Nutritional Sciences

Through hands-on experiences cooking (and eating!) in the food lab, students explore the social and cultural factors that influence variations in food preparation and culinary techniques around the world, from Indigenous and Canadian cuisine to South American, Central European, Middle Eastern and more. Brescia School of Food and Nutritional Sciences professor Brenda Hartman said students will come to understand food as an expression of what it means to be human. “As one of our previous students wrote in her thesis, ‘food is not only biological, but social, political, philosophical and ecological.’”  

The History of Celebrity History

We all love to talk about celebrities, but what is it about certain individuals that elevates them to star status? A new course in the department of history taught by Aldona Sendzikas focuses on the idea that our fascination with certain celebrities reveals something about us. “By examining evolving definitions of celebrity over time and comparing case studies of celebrities from various historical periods, students learn about how celebrities reflect the values, aspirations and circumstances of different societies and time periods.” For example, students will explore what motivated Annie Edson Taylor in 1901 to become the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, and how her story compares with those of more recent celebrity daredevils, such as Evel Knievel or Johnny Knoxville.  

Drumming Across Cultures Music

This popular course focuses on the rich cultural history and performance traditions of drum music from Africa, Brazil, Cuba and the Middle East to help students better understand its roots and origins. Students perform within small and large ensembles while learning correct playing procedures for a variety of percussion instruments including hand drums, bells and shakers. The course is open to all Western students with no prior musical training or percussion expertise. Music professor Rob Larose has been running Drumming Across Cultures for eight years and said students can expect to learn about the musical integration and rich heritage of certain cultures, develop proper hand drumming skills and “have a great deal of creative fun!” The course culminates in a final recital where participants share what they’ve learned with an audience of family and friends.  

Navigating Change: Lessons from CEOs on Navigating Strategic Transformation Ivey Business School

Ever wanted to hear great business minds share their secrets to success? Students at Ivey Business School have a chance to hear directly from CEOs and corporate leaders about the strategies they use to ensure transformational success in their fields. Taught by Doug Murphy, HBA’85, Ivey lecturer and former president and CEO of Corus Entertainment, the course combines case-based learning with guest lectures, with each case directly tied to the visiting CEO.

“The vision was that by having the CEO in the room we could bring the case to life. The students are always impressed with the genuine human before them, as opposed to some imagined CEO described in a case.” – Doug Murphy, Ivey Business School grad and lecturer

This year’s speakers include Ian Rosen, HBA’11, president and COO of luxury menswear retailer Harry Rosen; Mike Katchen, HBA ’09, founder and CEO of digital investing and financial services platform Wealthsimple; Linda Hasenfratz, BSc’89, MBA’97, LLD’19, executive chair of Linamar, a global advanced manufacturing and mobility solutions company; and Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, HBA’92, LLD’26, CEO of Xero, a global cloud-based accounting software platform for small businesses. “I believe this class is so special because of students’ aspirational realization that these CEOs are people just like them,” said Murphy.   

Earth, Art, and Culture Earth Sciences

From gemstones to ceramics and ancient monuments, Earth, Art and Culture highlights the ways in which Earth sciences shapes our everyday lives and how Earth materials have been used over the history of human culture. Designed primarily for non-science students, the course explores the use of minerals and rocks as jewelry, art media and construction materials, and how Earth processes and materials have inspired visual art, literature, mythology and other aspects of society. Students have a chance to explore gemstones, fossils and minerals in the department’s collections and study the stone used in campus buildings to understand the characteristics of different rock types used in architecture. Earth sciences professor Cam Tsujita believes it is the only course of its kind offered at a Canadian university.  

Observing the Stars Physics and Astronomy

Look up into the night sky at the millions of stars – each one has a story. Students in Observing the Stars learn how astronomers uncover those stories by studying the light that reaches us from distant stars. “From stellar birth and evolution to the dramatic final stages of stellar life, the course explores how stars reveal the physics of the universe and helps students understand some of the most fascinating objects in the night sky,” said course instructor and visiting physics professor Shahram Abassi. Students also have a chance to conduct their own astronomical investigations using a global network of robotic telescopes. They select targets, obtain real observations, analyze astronomical images and use their results to explore the properties and evolution of stars.  

Law and Entrepreneurship Law and Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship

The Law and Entrepreneurship course is focused on lawyers as entrepreneurs. The course, open to second- and third-year law students and grad students from across campus, brings successful entrepreneurs and business leaders into the classroom each week to share their journeys, the decisions that shaped their ventures and how their legal training informed their entrepreneurial success. Students hear directly from Western law graduates who have built ventures, led organizations, founded companies and navigated entrepreneurial challenges. These alumni share not just their stories, but the lessons learned along the way – the risks they took, the decisions they made and how they began to think about problems differently. Learn more about how Western is preparing future leaders and global citizens.