Hidden Gem: Semester in Dialogue

The Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue is truly one of the jewels amongst SFU's undergrad course offerings. Unfortunately, I believe it's also one of SFU's best kept secrets.

"The Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue addresses what we believe is the principal challenge for contemporary education: to inspire students with a sense of civic responsibility, encourage their passion to improve Canadian society, and develop innovative intellectual tools for effective problem solving. Each semester we develop an original and intensive learning experience that uses dialogue to focus student education on public issues." [excerpt from the Semester in Dialogue website]

I participated in the Semester in Dialogue one year ago in Spring 2007 and it was one of the highlights of my undergraduate experience. The Semester in Dialogue is exactly that - an experience. In a nutshell, the Semester in Dialogue brings together about twenty students from multiple faculties and departments, puts them in a room with community leaders, and unleashes them to explore broad public issues together.

The experience is not unlike a reality TV series. Take twenty strangers thrown together in one room for six hours a day, five days a week over thirteen weeks. Mix in a few unconventional individual and team challenges (assignments), some emotional personal reflections, and a few tears (I'm not kidding) and you've got the Semester in Dialogue. It is certainly an intense experience.

Each semester there is a central topic that is studied for the entire semester (the Semester in Dialogue is 10-15 credits, so students don't take any other courses while in the program). The semester I took it, the topic was the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Accordingly, we took field trips to various 2010 venues and host communities, including Whistler, Cypress Mountain, Richmond, and False Creek. Our assignments were grounded in real world applications, from organizing and facilitating a community dialogue to writing op-eds for newspapers.

The Semester in Dialogue is amazing and is something that is better lived than explained in words. I felt that by connecting my schoolwork to the community, the program reconnected me to my reason for learning. The program succeeds because it gives students the freedom to be creative and inquisitive. It engages them as citizens rather than as students. It challenges them to exceed expectations.

The application deadline for the next two Semesters in Dialogue are coming up:

Summer 2008: "Being About Action: Housing"
Summer Institute in Dialogue, 10 credits (DIAL 390W, 391W)
Application deadline: 15 February, 2008

Fall 2008: "Health, Issues and Ethics"
Full-time, 15 Credits (DIAL 390W, 391W, 392W)
Application deadline: 29 February 2008

For more information, visit the Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue website. I highly recommend it!


Patrick

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