in the course of

In or during the process of. In the course of your employment in the company, were you ever aware or suspicious of any illicit financial activity going on? I learned in the course of the meeting that our department was being downsized by over 50 percent.

Also, during the course of. In the process or progress of, as in the famous phrase from the Declaration of Independence (1776), "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands ..." These phrases have been criticized as needlessly wordy ( in or during alone are adequate), but they have an emphatic rhythm that keeps them alive. [Mid-1600s]