International Preparatory Programs

Sample Undergraduate Credit Courses for IUSPP Students

Undergraduate credit courses for International Undergraduate Study Preparation Program (IUSPP) students are subject to availability (summer course offerings may be very limited). If courses in your particular interest area are not available, please keep in mind that all courses offer valuable practice to develop skills in taking notes, managing your time, writing exams and working as part of a team while receiving feedback from professors and gaining up to six credits.

A full undergraduate course that lasts two terms/semesters generally represents six credits, while a course offered for one term/semester generally represents three credits. UBC students must complete 120 credits for most undergraduate programs.

Some sample courses typically available to IUSPP students are listed below (this is not the complete list of courses available).

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Faculty of Arts

ANTHROPOLOGY 100 (3 credits) Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Basic concepts and methods of anthropology; culture and race; comparative study of social systems, religion, symbolism, art, and other institutions. Examples are drawn from a variety of cultures.

ASIAN STUDIES 101 (3 credits) Introduction to Modern Asia
A survey of the emergence of modern Asia. Aims at an understanding of how the various peoples of Asia have maintained distinctive cultural identities despite centuries of political, economic, social and cultural change.

ECONOMICS 101 (3 credits) Principles of Microeconomics
Elements of theory and of Canadian policy and institutions concerning the economics of markets and market behaviour, prices and costs, exchange and trade, competition and monopoly, distribution of income.

GEOGRAPHICAL BIO-GEOSCIENCE 102 (3 credits) Our Changing Environment: Climate and Ecosystems
Energy and water in the earth-atmosphere system, global climates and climate change, ecosystem properties and processes, human impacts.

MUSIC 100 (3 credits) Principles of Musical Form
Fundamental materials and processes of music - rhythmic, melodic, textural and harmonic - and how they create small-scale structures in a variety of styles. Compositional and analytical applications.

PHILOSOPHY 101 (3 credits) Introduction to Philosophy
An introduction to the scope and method of philosophical inquiry. Topics may include the nature of knowledge and justification, truth, the existence of God, mind and body, personal identity, and freedom and determinism. Classic and contemporary readings are examined.

SPANISH 101 (3 credits) Beginners' Spanish I
Grammar, composition, translation, oral practice.

Faculty of Forestry

CONSERVATION 101 (1 credit) Introduction to Conservation
Seminars on current natural resources conservation and forest sciences topics.

FORESTRY 100 (3 credits) Sustainable Forests
An overview of forests and forestry. Survey of the disciplines, areas of study, and values that frame sustainable management of forests in British Columbia and the world. Assignments focus on critical thinking and written communication skills.

Faculty of Land and Food Systems

APPLIED BIOLOGY 100 (3 credits) Soil and the Global Environment
Soil as the base of the Earth’s ecosystem pyramid. The interconnection between soil, climate change and human activity, the carbon cycle, water resources, food security, food safety, and biofuel production. Strategies for sustaining soil resources.

LIFE SCIENCE 100 (1 credit) Introduction to Land, Food and Community
Orientation to the programs, learning environment and core values of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems; career programs; survey of professional opportunities and requirements.

Faculty of Science (Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences)

EARTH, OCEAN SCIENCE 110 (3 credits) The Solid Earth: A Dynamic Planet
Earth's origin, composition, structure, and natural resources. Plate tectonics as the driving force for volcanism, mountain building, and earthquakes. Imaging Earth's interior. Environmental geoscience and sustainability.

EARTH, OCEAN SCIENCE 112 (3 credits) The Fluid Earth: Atmosphere and Ocean
Introduction to processes in ocean and atmosphere. Heat, current, winds, clouds, marine life, resources. Effects of coupling, climate change, pollution.

The University of British Columbia

Sample Undergraduate Credit Courses for IUSPP Students