Program Overview

Introduction to the Student Directed Seminars Program

The Student Directed Seminars program offers upper-year undergraduate students the opportunity to propose, coordinate, and lead their own 3-credit seminar class with a small group of peers on a topic not currently offered at UBC-Vancouver. This program runs from January to April in Winter Term 2.

Program Details

• Each seminar brings together a group of highly-motivated students to explore and investigate a topic through learning activities including group discussions, research papers, presentations, guest lectures, applied problem-solving, and Community Service Learning.
• Student Directed Seminars are an expansion of the directed studies option offered by most departments and are a great way to enhance your own learning experience while gaining facilitation and leadership skills.
• Students will have the unique opportunity to work closely with a faculty member to develop the course proposal and syllabus.

Getting Involved

Becoming a Student Coordinator

• Student Directed Seminars are a great way to enhance your own learning experience while gaining facilitation and leadership skills.
• You will have the unique opportunity to work closely with a faculty member to develop the course proposal and syllabus.

Being a Student Participant

• Student participants have a role in shaping many aspects of the course.
• From helping to edit the course syllabus and choose readings, to peer marking, facilitating learning activities, and leading individual classes, each student builds their own learning experience and contributes to the learning outcomes for their peers.
• You must be a third or fourth-year undergraduate student to register in a Student Directed Seminar.

Past Student Directed Seminars

• Previous Student Directed Seminars have been successfully facilitated at UBC from 1999 to 2025.

Advisory Committee

• The Student Directed Seminars Advisory Committee is made up of faculty members from various departments, staff from the Centre for Community Engaged Learning, the Alma Mater Society (AMS), and former Student Director Seminars Student Coordinators.
• The committee reviews all course proposals thoroughly for academic rigor, quality of course plans, appropriate marking schemes and assignments, and the overall qualifications and suitability of the student coordinator(s).

Advisory Committee Members

• Dr. José Rodriguez Nunez, Program Chair, 2020 to present, Associate Professor of Teaching (Chemistry)
• Dr. Sarika Bose, Lecturer (English)
• Dr. Andrew Almas, Assistant Professor of Teaching (Urban Forestry)
• Dr. Nesrine Basheer, Assistant Professor of Teaching (Asian Studies)
• Dr. Santokh Singh, Professor of Teaching (Botany)
• Dr. Brianne Orr-Alvarez, Associate Professor of Teaching (Associate Head of Spanish Studies)
• Kyle Nelson, Community Engaged Learning Officer (CCEL)
• Jens Vent-Schmidt, PhD, Educational Consultant, Design & Facilitation
• Cindy Zhang, Student Coordinator 2023/24 (Psychology)
• Kaden Anderson-Hancock, Student Coordinator 2024/25 (Honours Political Science)
• Emmett Mark, Student Coordinator 2020/21 (Integrated Arts)
• Alex Martin, Student Coordinator 2022/23 (Forestry)
• Sheker Mammetgurban, Program Lead (CCEL)

Acknowledgement of Support

• The program is supported by the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology and the Centre for Community Engaged Learning.
• The Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology offers their expertise and mentorship to student coordinators throughout the year.