SLOP1521: Introduction to Life: Foundations of Being a Person

A practical course in the personal maintenance a computer science degree assumes you handled elsewhere: showering on a schedule, eating something with more than one food group, replying to a message before it's a week old, and holding a conversation that isn't about your degree.

Hero photo: "Zoning at the office" by Simon Law, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.

• life skills
• wellbeing
• self-management

Competence is a skill like any other. CS culture just never taught you this one.

What this course is

SLOP1521 covers the material a computer science degree assumes you picked up somewhere else: sleep, hygiene, dress, conversation, money, and how to behave in front of another human being. Each topic is treated as a real subject, with real assessment, because — department opinion notwithstanding — it is one. The semester concludes with a five-station practical examination covering hygiene and health, fashion, small talk, reading the room and daily survival.

Who this course is for

Anyone who has eaten the same bowl of instant noodles four nights running and called it meal planning. Anyone whose last haircut predates their current degree. No prior experience assumed; a working knowledge of at least one hoodie is expected.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the semester, you will be able to:

1. Develop and maintain basic personal hygiene and daily routines without external prompting.
2. Select weather- and occasion-appropriate attire without assistance.
3. Recognise the role of sleep, nutrition, and exercise in daily functioning.
4. Participate in activities and have interests outside academic work.
5. Initiate and sustain a basic social interaction, including small talk and eye contact.
6. Recognise social cues and respond appropriately in everyday interactions.
7. Build and maintain friendships and other interpersonal relationships through consistent, low-effort maintenance behaviours.
8. Establish routines that support independent life like cleaning, laundry, and cooking.
9. Conduct oneself professionally in interviews, meetings, and written workplace communication.

Where to go next

• Lectures

  What is covered, week by week, and which topics each lecture draws on.

• Labs

  The twelve-week teaching schedule: what happens in each lab, what to prepare, and what leaves the room.

• Assessment

  Every piece of graded work in the course, what it is worth, and when it is due.

• People

  Who teaches the course and how to reach them.