Academics and courses

Pre-College students will join Skidmore College students in class and can choose from the following foundational liberal arts options. All of our courses are small – ranging from 5 to 20 students – and enrollment includes the benefit of numerous college support resources on campus, such as our writing center, library, and more.

Residential students must enroll in two courses
Commuting students may enroll in either one or two courses

2025 Course Descriptions

Course # • Course Title • Credits • Instructor • Lab Fee (if any)

Morning

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (AN 101)
Professor Joowon Park
M/T/W/TH 9:30 AM – 11:50 AM
3 Credits

An overview of concepts, theories, and methods of cultural anthropology. Students learn about central anthropological topics, such as kinship, gender, class, race, environment, ritual and religion, ethnicity, economy, and politics, and gain understanding and appreciation for cultural differences.

Note(s): Fulfills Social Sciences requirement; fulfills Humanistic Inquiry requirement.

Introduction to Microeconomics (EC 104)
Professor Rodrigo Schneider
M/T/W/TH 9:00 AM – 12:05 PM
4 Credits

Prerequisites: Placement in this course requires a score of at least 650 on the SAT Mathematics (MSAT I) examination, a score of at least 570 on any Mathematics SAT II subject examination (MSAT II), or a score of at least 28 on the Mathematics ACT examination, emailed to lroutled@skidmore. If scores are unavailable, Skidmore will determine eligibility through a review of the student's high school transcript.

An introduction to the study of markets. Students will develop the basic economic model of supply and demand to illustrate how choices regarding the production and distribution of goods and services are made by firms and households in a market economy. Students will also examine the possibility of market failure and the appropriate government response. Policy topics may include poverty and homelessness, health care, the environment, antitrust, discrimination, international trade, unions, and minimum wage laws.

The History of Earth, Life, and Global Change (GE 102)
Professor Suraj Bajgain
M/T/W/TH 9:00 AM – 11:40 AM
4 Credits

Introduction to the deep time history of biospheric responses to changes in Earth's climatologic and geologic systems. The course draws upon geologic principles and theories to explore the planet's origin and the processes that perpetually modify the global environment. Topics also include the origin of life, the causes and consequences of major environmental crises in Earth's history, and the role of humanity as an agent of global change.

Note(s): Three hours of lecture, two hours of lab per week. Fulfills Natural Sciences requirement; fulfills Scientific Inquiry requirement.

Afternoon

Human Genetics (BI 170) • Lab fee $100
Professor Bernie Possidente
M/T/W/TH/F 1:30 PM – 4:40 PM
4 Credits

An introduction to the principles of genetics and their application to human biology. Topics include the history of genetics; the structure, function, and inheritance of genes; medical genetics; and genetic engineering.

Note(s): Summer: Nine hours of lecture, six hours of lab per week. (Fulfills natural sciences and QR2 requirements.)

Writing Seminar II: Under the Influence (EN 105)
Professor Thaddeus Niles
M/T/W/TH 1:15 PM – 3:35 PM
4 Credits

"Under the Influence - Argument and Persuasion in Our Lives"

Argument seems inescapable. Its rituals have shaped the Western academic tradition, which is perhaps reason enough to study it more closely. But argument is also a central feature of our lives as citizens and consumers. In this writing course, students will consider the nature of persuasion, various methods of thinking critically, and approaches to translating these methods to academic texts. Class projects include essays examining the language and logic of persuasive appeals, as well as a final collaborative project.

Introduction to Media Studies (MF 101)
Professor Maura Jasper
M/T/W/TH/F 1:15 PM – 3:40 PM
4 Credits

An introduction to multiple forms of modern and contemporary mass media. The course examines film and at least two other forms of mass media (such as television, radio/audio, digital media, print mass media). Students will learn how to analyze media images, texts, and systems and understand how media both informs and is informed by social structures and forces.

*Courses subject to change. All course placements are subject to approval by the Pre-College Program director.

Faculty

	Suraj Bajgain Visiting Assistant Professor of Geology
I am visiting assistant professor of geology at Skidmore College. I love doing science and teaching. Some of my research interests are the formation and evolution of planets including Earth, deep volatile cycling of life essential elements, magma mobility, volatiles, and volcanic eruption. I employ atomistic simulations to study material properties at high pressure and temperature conditions of deep planetary interior to mimic the deep interior of present-day Earth as well as during the early stages of planet formation, i.e., magma ocean. I received my Ph.D. in 2016 from the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Louisiana State University. For my dissertation, I studied the magma with basaltic composition to understand (a) the effect of dissolved volatiles on the mobility and stability of magma at depth, (b) the effect of Fe and H2O in the atomic structure and density of melt, and (c) transport properties such as viscosity, diffusion, and electrical conductivity of silicate liquids. After my PhD, I joined the department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Florida State University as a Postdoctoral Researcher. During my postdoc, I explored the properties of metallic melts with composition of iron/nickel and iron-light elements. This study provided an insight into the planet scale budget of life essential elements such as caron and nitrogen. This is important to understand the habitability of terrestrial planets, role of light element to assist the chemical convection and sustenance of geodynamo. I joined Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste Marie, MI as King Chávez Parks Visiting Professor of Geology and taught various geology courses with lab sections.
	Maura Jasper Visiting Assitant Professor of Art
Maura Jasper is a visual artist whose work explores the intersections of history, pop culture, and mass media. A graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art with an MFA in Interrelated Media (2008), her work has been exhibited and screened at venues including Artist's Space, Vox Populi, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. She is an Associate Professor Emerita of Art at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and has been teaching at Skidmore College since 2022. She is currently serving as Artist in Residence at the John B. Moore Center for Collaborative Documentary at Skidmore. Born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, she now lives and works in Troy, NY.
	Thad Niles Lecturer and ESL Specialist for the Writing Center
Professor Niles has been an ESL specialist at Skidmore since 2010, teaching composition and coordinating the college's first intensive English program. Thad’s professional interests include the learning experiences of international students, academic literacies/English for Academic Purposes, Structural-Functional Linguistics/Genre Pedagogy, and new teaching grammars.
	Joowon Park Associate Professor of Anthropology
Dr. Joowon Park researches and teaches on the everyday experiences of violence, migration and refugee resettlement, transnationalism, and militarized landscapes. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, and others. His book, Belonging in a House Divided: The Violence of the North Korean Resettlement Process, was published by University of California Press in 2023, and his peer-reviewed articles have appeared in Anthropology & Humanism, Asian Ethnicity, and Asian Journal of Peacebuilding. Dr. Park earned his PhD from American University in Washington, DC.
	Bernie Possidente Professor of Biology
Dr. Possidente's general research area is genetic analysis of behavioral mechanisms. His research focuses on the function of biological clocks in controlling circadian (daily-endogenous) rhythms using mice and fruitflies as model systems: manipulation of rhythms in mice and fruitflies with genetic, pharmacological, and photoperiod treatments in order to identify functional properties of circadian system components and their physiological mechanisms.
	Rodrigo Schneider Assistant Professor of Economics
I received my Bachelor’s degree in economics from Insper in 2010; my Master’s degree in economics from the University of Brasília in 2012; and my Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018 and I have taught undergraduate courses in economics for more than 10 years. Teaching is my passion, and I'm particularly interested in teaching introductory courses and being able to relate economics with classic works of literature and philosophy. My current research is focused on public finance, policy analysis, Latin American studies, and voting behavior and I have published in peer-reviewed journals related to my field, such as Economic Policy, Economics & Politics, Public Choice, Fiscal Studies, Economía LACEA Journal, Latin American Research Review and Latin American Politics and Society.