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Academic Environment
The
Curriculum
FOUNDATION
As the foundation of their college experience, Skidmore students
strengthen their writing proficiency and demonstrate competence
in quantitative reasoning. The ability to read critically, to
write clearly and precisely, and to reason quantitatively lie
at the heart of a liberal arts education. Skidmore students
thus exercise, during their first years of study, the indispensable
tools of intellectual discourse and discovery.
Expository
Writing. Students are required to complete successfully
one designated expository writing course by the end of the sophomore
year. Students placed in EN103 Writing Seminar I, must complete
this pre-requisite course by the end of the first year. Designated
writing courses offered by the English Department and in various
disciplines can be taken to fulfill the expository writing requirement.
Skidmore’s writing program includes tutorial help at the
Writing Center.
Quantitative
Reasoning. Quantitative skills are not only promoted through
a wide range of mathematics, computer, economics, and statistics
courses, but also are reinforced by peer and professional support
services directed by the Department of Mathematics and Computer
Science. All students will demonstrate competence in basic mathematical
and computational principles by the end of the sophomore year.
This may be demonstrated by attaining a sufficiently high score
on the MSAT I exam (630) or any mathematics SAT II exam (570)
or ACT math score of 28 or higher, by passing Skidmore’s
quantitative reasoning examination, or by successfully
completing MA100 Quantitative Reasoning. By the end of the junior
year, all students must successfully complete a designated course
in mathematics, statistics, or other numerical operations in
various academic disciplines, or in the use of computers for
the manipulation of mathematical, social-scientific, or scientific
data.
INTERDISCIPLINARY
STUDY
A distinctive feature of intellectual activity at Skidmore
is the college’s attention to interdisciplinary learning.
The ability to integrate ideas from several different disciplines
lends coherence to a student’s entire college education
and may be applied to many areas of life. Liberal Studies
courses of a unique nature constitute the interdisciplinary
component of the curriculum. (See course descriptions for
LS2 course options.) Liberal Studies
1: Titled “Human Dilemmas,” Liberal Studies 1 introduces all first-year students to contemporary problems shaping our human experience and initiates students into thinking critically about complex topics such as human identities, justice, and human ecologies. Faculty from the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, arts, and preprofessional programs lead students in seminar discussions in a challenging analysis of common texts and lectures.
In addition to LS1 in the first year, students must complete one LS2 course by the end of the sophomore year.
Liberal Studies
2: These courses make explicit connections to LS1 and are interdisciplinary in nature. Topics vary, but all courses emphasize the continued development of cognitive skills.
BREADTH
The purpose of the breadth requirements is to ensure that
students come to know and understand the central questions,
content, and types of analysis that characterize the major
knowledge domains of the liberal arts: the arts, humanities,
natural sciences, and social sciences. Students who have completed
these requirements should be able to identify, understand,
and evaluate the significance of continuously developing knowledge
in each of these domains. Courses fulfilling the breadth requirements
will ordinarily be at the introductory level. Students must successfully complete
one course in each of the following four fields:
Arts:
Students actively engage in the making or performing of artworks
as modes of creative invention, interpretation, expression,
and discovery. Through the critique and analysis of artworks,
students develop a context for and an understanding of their
own creative output as well as the creations of others. The
fundamental student learning goals include the advancement
of technical proficiency and the refinement of critical aesthetic
sensibility. Courses in this category are typically, but not
exclusively, offered in creative writing, dance, music, studio
(visual) art, and theater.
Humanities:
Students examine and reflect upon human culture as expressed
in historical tradition, literature and languages, art and
music, ideas and beliefs. Students learn about diverse heritages,
customs and values that form patterns and analogies but not
general laws. The humanities search for an understanding of
the unique value of the particulars within human contexts
and thereby create a climate that encourages freedom of thought,
imagination, and inquiry. Courses in this category are typically,
but not exclusively, offered in art history, classics, dance,
literature (in English and in other languages) music, philosophy,
religion, and theater.
Natural
Sciences: Students actively engage in the process of understanding
the natural world through the use of scientific methods. Students
study phenomena that are the product of natural processes
and are known through the senses rather than only through
thought or intuition. Through the laboratory component of
courses meeting this requirement, students will design and
execute experiments (where appropriate as dictated by the
discipline), collect data by observation and/or experimentation,
and analyze data. Student learning goals thus include mastery
of both content and process. Courses in this category are
typically, but not exclusively, offered in biology, chemistry,
exercise science, geosciences, physics, and psychology.
Social
Sciences: Students study the organizational structure
of human societies. They learn about the origins, functions,
dynamics, and relations of large-scale social forces (such
as institutions and cultures) and their intersections with
the individual and small groups. In addition, students explore
the connections between historical processes and contemporary
social issues. Social scientific inquiry uses a combination
of conventional scientific methods and humanistic, qualitative
approaches. Courses in this category are typically, but not
exclusively, offered in American studies, anthropology, economics,
government, history, and sociology.
CULTURE-CENTERED
INQUIRY
In culture-centered inquiry students learn that culturally
based perspectives and values are not universal and in so
doing enhance their ability to interact with persons from
diverse cultural backgrounds. Students fulfill this requirement
by completing one course in a foreign language, and one course
designated as either non-Western culture or cultural diversity
study.
Foreign
Literature and Language: Students expand their use of
a foreign language or their understanding of the literature
of that language by studying in its non-translated form. A
student may choose a course (by placement) from the literature
and language courses offered by the Department of Classics
or the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, excluding
courses in translation.
and either
Non-Western
Culture: Students investigate a way of life and a set
of cultural assumptions significantly different from Western
perspectives. In these courses, students examine the social,
political, literary, aesthetic, or linguistic arrangements
of cultures.
or
Cultural
Diversity Study: Students investigate the interaction
of culturally distinct peoples within a given sociopolitical
context. These courses may focus on diversity in the United
States or on intercultural relations in other contexts. However,
at least one of the groups examined will have non-Western
origins.
THE MAJOR:
FOCUS AND DEPTH
The core curriculum described so far provides the foundation
that students need to choose a major appropriate to their
academic and career interests. This choice usually occurs
at the end of the sophomore year, allowing time for students
to explore a variety of major and minor options. Skidmore
offers the bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees
in more than sixty areas, including traditional liberal arts
disciplines, paraprofessional fields, interdepartmental combinations,
and interdisciplinary programs. Qualified students may construct
a self-determined major when their educational interests lie
outside Skidmore’s established majors. All areas of concentration
at Skidmore, including those most oriented toward careers
and professions, thrive within a liberal arts and humanistic
environment. Students electing two majors must plan course
selections very carefully and should seek assistance from
a faculty advisor as early as possible.
HONORS FORUM
CURRICULUM
The Honors Forum offers a supportive intellectual community
for all highly motivated Skidmore students, and especially
encourages the academic aspirations of first-year and second-year
students. The “forum,” as the name suggests, is
intended as a structure for organizing and promoting the common
interests of an academic community. Some students are invited
to become official members of the Honors Forum, thus constituting
a leadership core for the larger student community.
Designated sections of regular course
offerings and courses developed especially for the Honors
Forum expect a high degree of involvement from participants,
employ more sophisticated materials and pose more complex
questions, and provide an unusually challenging academic
experience. In a typical semester, Honors Forum courses might
be offered in anthropology, chemistry, economics, English, geology,
government, literature, mathematics, and sociology.
INTERNSHIPS
Skidmore’s long experience in combining liberal arts
education with career preparation has established strong connections
between the life of the mind and the life of practicality
and action. This twofold understanding of higher education
is brought to focus through internships offered for academic
credit.
Internships can be particularly rewarding
to students as an application of their academic work to other
life situations, as an exercise of their liberal arts skills
and perspectives, and as a bridge between college and career.
In recent years Skidmore students have earned valuable experience
and academic credit in government agencies, retail and industrial
organizations, publishing houses, banks, law firms, radio
and television networks, and art, music, and theater organizations.
Internship affiliations can be arranged by students themselves
or be made available through alumni and friends of the college.
The Office of the Dean of Studies
organizes the internship guidelines and application criteria
at Skidmore. An electronic library of internship opportunities
is maintained by the Office of Career Services. Once they
have completed a first semester at Skidmore, qualified students
may apply for internship experience, and academic credit,
during any semester of the academic year, including both summer
sessions.
The course IN100 Exploration Internship
is available as an introductory experience to qualified students
in any academic discipline. IN100 applications are reviewed
by the College Curriculum Committee.
Many departments at Skidmore offer
“professional” internships at the 299 or 399 level.
These opportunities are centered on a specific academic discipline,
are offered at a more advanced level than IN100, and often
carry prerequisites. Grading may be on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory
basis. Consult the course descriptions in the departmental
listings for details.
ACADEMIC
GUIDANCE
The Office of the Dean of Studies assigns each entering student
to a member of the faculty who can advise the student about
course scheduling, about the college’s general academic
requirements, and about the student’s particular field
of interest. Students may seek further advice on these and
other issues from the office. Questions about leaves of absence,
academic standing, choice of major, study abroad, internships,
peer tutoring, study skills, learning disabilities, academic
integrity, honors and prizes, graduate fellowships, and other
academic opportunities and difficulties may be referred to
this office.
