Five One Oh One

The final plenary session for 5101 will take place on Tuesday November 20th.
This will be a participatory session which will involve an evaluation of Orientation Week and the course itself.

This week’s class is canceled on account of the funeral for emeritus professor Reg Lang.

• How is your Statement of Program Purpose different from the Statement of the Area of Concentration
  • Your Statement of Program Purpose is your personal statement. It is about YOU and WHY you are here.
  • The Statement of the Area of Concentration is not about you, but it is a description of WHAT you want to study.
  • The components. learning objectives and strategies (activities) of your POS is the HOW you plan to study.
    

• When does the MES II-III transition happen, and when do you hand in your proposal and final POS?
  • For most of you new MESers you will be working on your proposal and final version of your POS next fall (2008) and, once submitted, your II-III exam will be scheduled (most likely Dec. 2008-Jan. 2009). A few of you may complete your proposals next summer and, likewise, a few may not complete them until sometime in the Winter semester of 2009 (i.e. Jan-Apr 2009).

• Do we have to concentrate on one specific topic or can we look at various issues?
  • Your Area of Concentration is made up of 5 words that describe what you are interested in studying. These words translate into components (which we will discuss further next week).
  • Your components are sub-topics of your AOC. Usually students do have more than one topic they are interested in, but it is not a good idea to have too many topics of interest.
  • It is appropriate to focus your interests into 2-3 different components.

As promised, we’ve posted today’s powerpoint and the Four Guides to Brainstorming to the WebCT (where you’ll also find last week’s stuff as well).

Here’s the link to the periodic table of visualization methods that i spoke about in class.

• During various phases of the planning process will we get feedback right away from our advisers or will we have to wait for the subsequent week?
  • You can expect to receive feedback in about a week’s time. That is reasonable. Some might give you feedback overnight, but that is not likely. If you are not getting a response in a reasonable amount of time, speak directly with your adviser and maybe suggest a schedule that works for the two of you.

• Oct. 16: Research Methods on Health – do we wait and see what that’s about?
  • We have not yet confirmed the speakers for the Oct 16 Research Panel. We’ll let you know ASAP what to expect. It will either be about health as planned or we may switch to a panel about food.

• What if my area of interest is different from my advisor’s area of interest, especially since the Plan of Study is so critical?
  • Given the interdisciplinary nature of the faculty, it is not possible to have a perfect fit between all students and advisors regarding areas of interest. The assigning of advisees to advisors is done with an eye both to matching interests and equitably distributing workload. An advisors first responsibility to to support the development of the POS which does not inherently necessitate shared interests. However, in some cases, shared interest may be an asset if not actually necessary. Switching advisors is discouraged but it can happen. You can stick with your adviser to help with curriculum building, and still feel free to seek out other professors who share your interests and ask them for advice. Be mindful that, while it is possible to change, you will need permission from the new adviser to take you on (and there is paperwork to fill out).

• If I want to finish the program in a year and a half, how organized do I need to be?
  • As someone said in class: “very”. The program is 6 terms. If you are very focussed now or very soon, it is more possible to finish more quickly than 6 terms than if you wait a few semestres to figure things out. As Kerri mentioned, if you want to finish early then basically your Plan of Study shouldn’t change much. Of course, if you do want to finish earlier than 6 semestres you will need to work this out with your advisor regarding deadlines, appropriate course selection and expectations.

• What happens if I am a naturally slow person and don’t think I can finish my MES degree in six terms?
  • While the ideal and recommended times for the MES program is 2 years (6 terms), there are some people who do not finish on time. It is possible to takes leaves of absence under certain circumstances. And you can always register for another semestre if you can afford it. But, of course, the program is designed to do everything to support you in finishing in six semestres.
• What if you have a lot of different ideas that you are interested in—do you have to focus right now on one specific area?
  • The sooner you focus the better. But this semestre is also the best time to explore and experiment.

• Where is RN?
  • Ross North

• In your advising sessions, do you have one-on-one sessions with your advisor or is it always in a group setting?
  • In the begining during the 5101 plenaries you will be meeting with your advisor as a group. Once you have handed in your initial Plan Of Study your advisor will make an individual advising appointment with you.
  • After 5101 ends, all of your subsequent meetings with your advisor will just be the two of you on a needs basis: ie. general exams, advising sessions prior to enrolling in a new term.

• What if there are no professors in the faculty that share my area of interest or are knowledgeable in the field I want to study. Are there opportunities that I can work with a professor outside of Canada or outside of Ontario.
  • Yes, it is possible and there are many opportunities. Your supervisor, for instance, does not have to be a faculty member—she/he can be from outside this Faculty but still within York University, or you can venture outside of the University. What is most important is that the supervisor have some expertise in your field of interest.
  • It is possible to enroll in another course outside of York University at any Ontario University (but there is a limit to the number you can take). you can include that in your POS.

Ray Bennett the Graduate Program Writing Tutor will be offering a series of four consecutive writing sessions.

They will be held from 11:30am-12:30pm

Sept. 20, Sept. 27, Oct. 4 and Oct. 11 2007.

HNES 206

You can contact Ray at rbennett@yorku.ca

There was once a general of war who was tired of fighting. He had spent his whole life perfecting his skill in all the arts of war, save archery. Now he was weary and wished to end his career as a fighter. So he decided that he would spend the rest of his days studying archery and he began to search far and wide for a master to study with.

After much journeying he found a monastery where they taught archery - he entered the monastery and asked if he could live there and study. He thought that his life was now over and the remainder of his days would be spent in study and meditation behind these monastery walls. He had been studying for ten years, perfecting his skill as an archer, when, one day, the abbot of the monastery came to him and told the former-general of war that he must leave. The former-general protested saying that his life in the world outside the monastery was over and that all he wished was to spend the rest of his days here. But the abbot insisted, saying that the general must now leave and go into the world and teach what he had learned.

The former-general had to do as he was told. Having nowhere to go when he left the monastery he decided to return to the village of his birth. It was a long journey and as he neared the village he noticed a bulls-eye on a tree with an arrow dead-centre. He was surprised by this only to notice more bulls-eyes on trees and, in the centre of each, an arrow. Then, on the barns and the buildings of the town he saw dozens, hundreds of bulls-eyes with arrows in the centre of each one.

The peace he had attained in tens years of monastic life had left him and he approached the elders of the town, indignant that after ten years of devoted study he should return to his own home and find an archer more skilled than he. He demanded of the elders that the master archer meet him by the edge of town in one hour. Waiting by the mill the general could see no one coming to meet him though he noticed a young girl playing by the river. The girl noticed him and came over.

“Are you waiting for someone,” asked the girl looking up at the former-general.

“Go away,” he said.

“No, no,” said the girl, “you look like you’re waiting for someone and I was told to come and meet someone here.”

The former-general looked unbelievingly at the little girl and said, “I’m waiting for the master archer responsible for the hundreds of perfect shots I see around here.”

“Then it is you i was sent to meet. I made all the shots,” said the girl.

The former-general looked even more sceptical, convinced that this girl was trying to humiliate him. He said to the girl, “If you’re telling the truth then explain to me how you can get a perfect shot every single time you shoot your arrow.”

“That’s easy,” said the girl. “I take my arrow and I draw it back in the bow and point it very, very straight. Then I let it go and wherever it lands I draw a bulls-eye.”

This blog is a resource for students of 5101: Approaches to Environmental Studies.