MacEwan’s Academic Calendar is filled with courses that are engaging, unusual – and even fun. Here are a handful of standout courses (along with two innovative new programs) happening in the 2025/26 academic year.

Gaming in class?

In DESN 347: Immersive Learning 1, Dr. Farzan Baradaran Rahimi’s students start the term playing virtual reality games and analyzing their potential for immersive learning. Then, they switch focus and create learning experiences for on-campus and community partners. In 2024, students worked with the Telus World of Science on wayfinding and interpretive solutions. This year, they’re focused on creating immersive learning experiences for MacEwan’s library.

Meet a new AI-powered “patient”

This year, Bachelor of Science in Nursing students will meet HAL, a state-of-the-art, AI-powered patient simulator, for the first time. As they make their way through the nursing program, HAL will make appearances in different courses, allowing students to use its lifelike anatomy, conversational speech, facial expressions and physiologic responses to integrate theory into practice. 

Explore ancient human-animal relationships

For many people, Fido and Mittens are more than animals we share living quarters with – they’re part of the family. In ANTH 497: The Social Zooarchaeology of Domestic Animals and Their People, Dr. Paul Prince invites students to expand their view beyond how groupings of animal bones at archaeological sites show how humans exploited animals for food and to consider more fully the social and symbolic aspects of the human-animal relationship.

What’s the buzz about animal communication?

In PSYC 405: Animal Communication, Dr. Shannon Digweed focuses on the diversity of communication systems found in animals – visual, acoustic and olfactory. Students examine how animals use communication in foraging, predation, mating and social contexts, and how communication systems are tailored to the social and ecological challenges species face.

Study Superman

Superheroes may dominate the silver screen these days, but that’s nothing new. Dr. Mike Perschon takes students on a trek to track Superman’s relevance to audiences across generations in ENGL 387: Men of Steel. Students see how a character changes over time and across media – from leaping tall buildings to flying faster than the speed of light.

You are what you eat

In BIOL 495: Special Topics in Biology – Food Microbiology, Dr. Benjamin Bourrie explores the powerful role tiny living microorganisms play in the food we eat every day. Students see both sides of microbes – sometimes the good guys (allowing us to ferment drinks like beer and kombucha and enjoy yogurt and kimchi) and other times bad actors that cause infection, produce toxins and disrupt bodily functions.

Navigate the fringes

In SOCI 424: Alternative Beliefs: The Paranormal and Conspiracy Theories, Dr. Susan Raine’s students look at the socio-cultural significance of fringe belief systems in North American society. Explore the persistence and prevalence of paranormal beliefs and conspiracy theories, and how the pursuit for “truth” and the quest for personal empowerment permeate counter-ideologies.

The politics of AI

There’s no question artificial intelligence is increasingly entangled with all aspects of our lives – from our Google searches and Spotify song recommendations to the world’s political centres and conflicts. In POLS 470: Politics of AI, Dr. Chong Su Kim invites students to explore the relationship between AI and labour, democracy, surveillance, war, race, gender and academia in order to understand and map the politics of artificial intelligence.

New programs

First-in-Canada Indigenous minor

Designed to provide new perspectives that complement any program, MacEwan’s new Indigegogy minor weaves together Indigenous knowledges with literature and scholarship centred on land-based education and engages Indigenous methodologies and practices to uplift language, traditional teachings and ceremonies.

Bachelor of Public Safety and Justice

A new four-year degree program is meeting the growing demand for public safety and justice professionals with knowledge, ethical grounding and human-centred skills. Students take specialized courses in criminal justice, communication, cybersecurity, emergency management and leadership, and their experience culminates in a practice- or research-based capstone project.