Clubs and Workshops Description
The weekly schedules are as follows:
CET,IELTS, TOEFL workshops schedule
American Culture Club
Co-ordinator: ChrisAmerican Culture Club discusses what helps creates a country's culture. The club focuses on famous American individuals, important holidays, popular music & activities, cities, ethnicities, corporations, and American landmarks to attempt to explain what makes the American culture and America's citizens unique.
American Movie Club
Co-ordinator: Gary / StevenAmerican Movie Club is a fun and exciting way for students to learn more about cinema in the United States. In addition to popular and well known movies the students we will be taking a closer look at more 'indie' films and learning about how they reflect American culture. It will be a fun way to improve listening skills!
American Pop Singing Club
Co-ordinator: EmilyAmerican pop singing club offers students the fun chance to sing their favorite English pop songs a capella (without instruments) with their friends. In the process, they will learn a lot of musical vocabulary and about American music culture.
American Slang Club
Co-ordinator: Megan CunhaThe American Slang club focuses on teaching students new phrases and vocabulary which are part of the venacular of young American citizens. Using songs, film clips and activities this club will aid students in understanding American entertainment, and help them to communicate with native English speakers.
American TV Club
Co-ordinator: JessicaIn the American TV Club, students will have an opportunity to practice their listening and speaking skills while watching and discussing American television shows. During the course of this club students will be introduced to different types of TV shows such as sitcoms, dramas, reality TV, children’s TV, and more. Students will also have the chance to practice reading, speaking, and performing scripts from a variety of television shows. The aim of this club is to provide a fun and entertaining place to practice and speak English.
Ballroom Dance Club
Co-ordinator: StephanieIn this club the students will learn the basic steps of Fox Trot, Waltz, Swing, Cha Cha, Rumba, Tango, Samba, and Salsa. During the class students are expected to speak in English as much as possible.
Comedy Club
Co-ordinator: Andy
In Comedy Club, students will watch a large variety of English language comedy, including Movies, tv shows and internet videos. We'll also discuss the culture around it and just what it is that makes something funny.
Current Events Club
Co-ordinator: LaurenThe Current Events Club will consist of detailed analysis and discussion of newsworthy and breaking news stories, facilitated by the use of online video clips, audio clips, powerpoint presentations, oral explanations, and supplementary news articles from reputable news sources. The purpose of the club is to engage all participants in a discussion about the issues and events that interest them most, including certain "Hot Button" issues, such as global warming. The current affairs club is held from 18.00-18:50 hours on Tuesdays in room c-205, and on Thursdays in room C207.
Drama Club
Co-ordinator: DaveThespiae, or playground of the muses, is UIC's drama club. Participants decide the content, but focus is on performance-based activities, especially scripted drama and improvisation. Various theatre games and methods to develop the members' acting abilities are used, but the emphasis is always on having fun!
HerSpace : A Unique Gathering
Co-ordinator: NathalieWelcome to HerSpace! A club dedicated to talking about woman’s issues. A safe space created for healing and personal growth. I envision this club to become an interactive place for us to discuss global, social, and personal issues surrounding feminism. Through this we will discover that diversity is our strength and unity our goal.
What is a safe space? A safe space is consciously created to support the discussion of sensitive subject matters. It is a place of acceptance and appreciation, a place of self-evaluation and personal growth. A space where you can feel comfortable to share information in connection to the subject matters. Collective ground rules will be established by the members to create a common ground of understanding.
Hip Hop Club
Co-ordinator: ZanderIn this club, students will approach the English language through the slang-laden poetry of hip hop music. In addition to improving their listening skills through constant exposure to a variety of different styles of hip hop, the students will also gain an understanding of popular hip hop slang and culture. After having built up their understanding of hip hop culture, slang, rhyme and rhythm, students will write their own hip hop verses with the help of the instructor.
Pronunciation Club
Co-ordinator: SuzanneIn the Pronunciation Club we aim to improve students' pronunciation through a variety of methods, such as sounds, tongue twisters, stress, music and singing, articles and scripts. Sometimes students are asked to bring a small mirror with them to the club to help them with the correct lip and tongue placement. This clubs aims to be fun and informative.
Psychology in the Media - Fact or Fiction - Club
Co-ordinator: Chad
Have you wondered whether someone could really suffer complete amnesia? Well, if you have, then this is the club for you. This club explores the world of psychology in a fun hands-on way. It will discuss common misconceptions in the media portrayal of psychology. We'll be looking at what can be taken as a fact in the fictional world of movies, tv series and books. The club will offer information about amnesia, sleep- and personality disorders. So come and take an interest in the world of your mind and the media!
Public Speaking and Debate Club
Co-ordinator: Michelle DeeterThe Public Speaking and Debate Club holds debates every week and helps students develop confidence when speaking in front of large groups. Emphasis is placed on refining the students' presentation style. Students will also learn how to organize their opinions so they can present a more effective argument.
Trivia Club
Co-ordinator: RoeyJoin the Trivia Club and learn fascinating facts about many different subjects! Play along with your friends and answer questions as you test your knowledge of history, music, movies, geography, nature, and much more. It's fun, it's interesting, and you will use English to learn about the world around you.
Welness Club
Co-ordinator: Sadie
Welness Club is a club dedicated to making healthy decisions and living a balanced life. Over the course of the semester we will look into various forms of welness: Mental, Emotional, Physical, Social, Environmental and Spiritual. Being in college often presents challenges to many aspects of life. This club presents the opportunity to learn and engage in healthy discussion along with learning and practising new ways to deal with stress, time management, relationships, eating, etc. We explore tools that can be used for an entire lifetime.
Western Art and Culture Club
Co-ordinator: Megan Keough
In this club, we will study the different forms of "human art" - human art or "the humanities" is the art created and enjoyed by humans. These subject include, but are not limited to: Film, Theatre, Dance, Philisophy, Literature, Music and Art. Each week a different form of Western Art and Culture will be taught. At the end of the term, students will be expected to show what they have learned by presenting a group or individual project called "Self-Portrait". Using different examples of "human art". the students will learn about Western Art and Culture, themselves and each other.
Academic workshops:
The IELTS Workshop
Co-ordinator: HowardThis Workshop will take the British approach - demonstrating pragmatic exercises to show how to approach the different types of question in the Test. This is not an IELTS Training Course but a Workshop that helps you to understand what you have to do to study for the Test in your own time. In one Term, it is usually possible to cover two sections of the IELTS Test. You are given an overview of the Test and of each Section, and shown exercises so that you become familiar with the questions types, specific vocabulary areas, the factors on which you are marked, and any other points relevant to the Section. There is no magic and no tricks. There are a few tips but ultimately it is you, the candidate, that has to get down to serious IELTS preparation in your own time. Books needed to do this are recommended in the Workshop. Please bear in mind that the ‘official’ study time to raise your level by half a point is 100 hours. Pretty daunting: but two UIC students got 9 (the maximum band) in Reading in the past year. And remember that an IELTS score is valid for two years only.
TOEFL workshops
Co-ordinator: Vicki StevenTOEFL workshops are run every Monday and Tuesday 12:00 to 13:00 and Thursday from 13:00 to 14:00. and cater for approximately 50 students each session. They are aimed at students in Year 3 or 4 who wish to study abroad after graduating, but all students are welcome. Weeks 3-6 inclusive will be devoted to practising each of the four skills in turn: Reading, Listening, Speaking & Writing. These will be repeated in weeks 7-10 and in weeks 11 & 12 students can take a practice test under test conditions on a computer.