Courses & community internships

HIV/AIDS: Social, Cultural and Scientific Aspects of the Pandemic

The HIV/AIDS course provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the HIV/AIDS Pandemic, emphasizing academic knowledge, research and volunteer work, as well as an opportunity for creative work.  This year the on-site course will be taught by the exceptional team of instructors lead by: Karen Herland. Every week, invited speakers from various Montreal academic or health care institutions and community organizations address specific issues pertaining to the Pandemic. Each class is followed by a tutorial, during which students develop their individual learning interests within a more interactive, personal context. 

To fulfill the requirements for this 6-credit full-year course, students must complete readings, directed journals, and examinations, as well as a major research paper or creative project. A year-end exhibition showcases for the community the art and other creative work produced by the students as course projects. 

HIV/AIDS: An Interdisciplinary Introduction – Distance Online Course

Started in 2001-2002 as a pilot project, the long-distance online version of this course has been a huge success. It is now the most heavily enrolled course in the program, reaching more then 200 students each year. More flexible, this course allows students who are unable to take the six-credit version due to time or geographical constraints to receive an introduction to the social and cultural aspects of this medical crisis, and an exposure to the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

This pioneering course, unique in North America, is available online to students and community volunteers and activists throughout Canada. We experience a continuation of high rates of participation in remote communities as well as other urban centres, due to the unique and experimental appeal of the course. 

The HIV/AIDS Community Internships

In addition to the academic requirements, students of the 6-credit “HIV/AIDS: Social, Cultural and Scientific Aspects of the Pandemic” course must also participate in a community internship, chosen at the beginning of the year. Ranging from frontline assistance, to event organization, data entry and research, these internships give up to fifty students each year invaluable practical experience, as well as the chance to explore the interface between academic knowledge and personal awareness in a community-based venue. The internships also strengthen networks between the University and the community associations and organizations.

Past years’ internship placements have included (to mention only a few):

• AIDS Community Care Montreal (ACCM)
• La Maison d’Hérelle
• La Fondation pour l’Amour de Sarah
• Native Friendship Centre of Montreal
• Les Enfants de Béthanie
• Centre de ressources et d’intervention en santé et sexualité 
• Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
• Archives gaies du Québec
• Centre for AIDS Services Montreal (Women) – (CASM)
• Oméga Cohort
• Concordia University Health Services
• Stella
• Action Séro Zéro