For this segment of At Issue, we turned to undergraduates for their views on courses that appeal to them.

What is the best course you've ever taken at McGill? What made it stand out?




D'Arcy Doran, political science student, McGill Tribune columnist

The best was Professor Alain G. Gagnon's Quebec politics and society seminar. Quebec's political uncertainty drew me here from Ontario. I came for the action. I was reeling after the first few classes as my old assumptions were blown away. Professor Gagnon's style is provocative and he genuinely cares about students. His combination of history, economics, philosophy and sociology changed the way I saw, not only the Quebec question, but politics in general. Eight students. Challenging questions. Ideas flying. It was everything McGill should be.



Sarah Ewing, management student, Vice-President (Communications), Management Undergraduate Society

There are quite a few that were better than average, but probably the one that sticks out the most was my entrepreneurship class with Ian McLachlin. A former engineer and investment banker, Professor McLachlin would start off each class with a current events discussion. The students were free to bring up anything of interest to them, a rather refreshing change, for a lot of teachers tend to teach their subject in isolation from what's going on right there and then in the real world. Then he would relate this discussion to material for that class's lecture. In addition, he focused on learning by example and from others' mistakes and then relating any theory to the cases. His classes were always interesting and even though they began at 8:30 in the morning, I always thought his class was worth getting up for.



Kimberly Huie, chemical engineering student, Vice-President (Internal), McGill International Students' Network

Professor David Cooper's course, Thermodynamics (302-220B). This is a required course in the chemical engineering program and of all the courses I've taken, it's the one I've most enjoyed. I consider it to have been the most "scientific" engineering course in my program thus far; I feel that many of my other engineering courses have often neglected the important theoretical foundations of the material that lie in science. I like this course because it was an uncommon blend of theory and application.



Karen Pelley, microbiology and immunology student, Vice-President (Internal), Students' Society of McGill University

I would honestly have to say that my favourite course at McGill, thus far, was Organic Chemistry I (180-212) which I took last fall.

The subject matter itself was challenging, but what really made it stand out was the professor's teaching style -- he made the course fascinating and enjoyable. Professor David Harpp, who also teaches the World of Chemistry series of courses, incorporated general knowledge and everyday uses of the molecules we were studying into this course. He doesn't simply lecture, it is as though he is telling you a story!