CENTRE FOR FOUNDATION STUDIES

ORGANISATIONAL CHART

OVERVIEW

The Department of Human Sciences, CFS IIUM was initially part of IRKHS. The Department operates on its own in January 2015 as to accommodate the increasing number of staff, as well as programmes offered.

OBJECTIVES

• Prepare foundation students for admission into the Bachelor Degree programmes at Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, and Kulliyyah of Language and Management in IIUM Main Campus in Gombak.
• Provide the foundation students with knowledge and skills which are required in Humanities field.

PROGRAMMES OFFERED 

• Human Sciences
• English Language
• Arabic Language
• English for International Communication
• Arabic for International Communication
• Malay for International Communication
• Tourism Planning and Hospitality Management

COURSES OFFERED

• Thinking Skills
• Public Speaking Skills
• Writing Skills
• Social Studies
• Basic Sociology and Anthropology
• Basic Psychology
• Basic Communication
• Basic Political Science
• Basic History and Civilization
• Introduction to Language
• Reading and Analyzing Literature
• Arabic Grammar and Morphology in Selected Text
• Advance Reading

COURSES DESCRIPTIONS

• HSA0334 Social Studies

This course introduces students to the fundamental knowledge of various disciplines in social sciences, namely Sociology and Anthropology, History and Civilisation, Psychology, Political Science, Communication, Education, and Economics. Students will be exposed to the definitions of important terms, their scopes, their importance in human life and the element of Islamic perspectives towards the disciplines in order to enable students to understand people and society, and to make informed decisions as active citizens.

• HSA0344 Thinking Skills

The course focuses on the basis of logical inquiry as a tool to develop thinking skills. The course will introduce Islamic        perspective of thinking, elements of critical and creative thinking, logical inquiry discussions. The course will enable students to reason analytically, examine arguments and provide justifications in discussions. It will also guide students to write short argumentative essays.

• HSA0354 Public Speaking

This course is specifically designed for learners to acquire basic skills in public speaking for both academic and non-academic purposes. This course utilizes activities that enable learners to achieve communicative competence to develop poise and confidence in public speaking, in line with Islamic ethics.

• HSA0364 Writing Skills

The course introduces students to social science research, skills of scientific academic writing as well as different research methods used in social science research. It focuses on research process and approach, writing style (e.g. APA style) and different types of research methods such as survey, observation, experiment, case study, ethnography and historical research. The course also helps students to be better planners and more organized in their learning experiences, utilizes their capabilities using most appropriate techniques and learning styles, adopt effective study habits and become independent responsible learners in the process of acquiring knowledge beyond classroom (not limited to academic setting).

• HSC0314 Basic Sociology & Anthropology

This course provides a general understanding of man and society and their culture. The course approaches the study of man and society from two different disciplines; Anthropology and Sociology. In anthropology, man will be studied through various methods and approaches in understanding his relationship with the society. Sociology, then, will be studied in terms of the development of the discipline itself as a sub discipline of social science. Being the basic course of both sociology and anthropology, the course attempts to discuss both major theories in understanding culture and society. Finally, the course will provide some principles of sociological and anthropological understanding that can be analysed from the Islamic perspective.

• HSC0324 Basic Psychology

The course provides students with basic understanding of the discipline of psychology. It discusses the approaches and research methods in psychology. It also highlights some important factors in human behaviour.

• HSC0334 Basic Communication

The course introduces students to such basic concepts in communication as elements, functions, characteristics and perspectives. It also describes the fields, specialisations, and careers in this discipline. The course is designed to provide students with both theoretical and practical aspects of communication.

• HSC0344 Basic Political Science

The course provides students with basic understanding of the discipline of Political Science.  It discusses the areas of specialisation, selected political thinkers, as well as basic concepts in Political Science. Topics such as state, government, political parties, election, pressure group, and international organisations will also be highlighted. 

• HSC0354 Basic History

This course introduces students to basic concepts in the field of history and historiography. It describes ancient civilisations, as well as the distinctive features of Muslim civilisation. The major achievements of Muslim civilisation and its impacts to the growth of Western civilisation will also be highlighted.  

• HSL0314 Introduction to Language

This course will introduce English major students to the basic areas of linguistics such as Phonetics and Phonology, Morphology, Semantics, Syntax, Psycholinguistics, Discourse Analysis, Sociolinguistics and First and Second Language Acquisition.

• HSL0324 Reading and Analysing Literature

This course combines the study of aspects in dramatic texts, poems and proses. It teaches students to conduct analyses of drama, poetry and prose. Students will mainly be exposed to various types of literary texts, ranging from different regions and eras. They will be trained to discuss and write about literature in preparation for degree level studies.

• HSL0334(A) Arabic Grammar and Morphology in Selected Texts

This course helps students to improve their vocabulary and master the basic grammar from various Arabic texts. The course also helps them to plan and organise their learning experiences, use most appropriate techniques and learning styles in order to become independent learners beyond classroom.

• HSL0344(A) Advanced Reading

The course helps students to enrich their Arabic vocabulary in order to understand Arabic texts. It also helps them to evaluate the Arabic language used in different settings and exposes them to historical, cultural and Islamic issues.