Connecting what you're learning in different courses. Connecting with faculty members and other students. Connecting your coursework with your co-curricular activities. Connecting living and learning.
There are three different kinds of learning communities available at Hobart and William Smith, each allowing students to connect their academic experiences with an additional academic or social experience in order to provide students with a more integrated approach to learning in the first year.
Linked Course: Your First-Year Seminar is linked to a second academic course taken during the fall semester. Your professors will work together to link the courses through common readings, themes and projects.
Linked Pods: Your First-Year Seminar is linked to another First-Year Seminar. As a group, the Seminars will enjoy field trips, lectures and other special events throughout the academic year.
Linked Readers College: Your First-Year Seminar is linked to a Readers College course (a 1/2 credit course that meets weekly) taken during the spring semester. The two courses will be linked by a common theme.
Students enrolled in a Learning Community also live together on the same floor of their co-ed residence hall and attend some of the same lectures and field trips. An upper-class peer mentor often also lives on the same floor to provide additional social and academic support.
These living and learning environments focus on shared, active learning, linking academic and out-of-class experiences and developing strong bonds with faculty and fellow students. Learning Community students tend to achieve higher grade point averages, make friends quickly and transition into college life smoothly.
FSEM 008 Epidemics & The Promise of Biotechnology with BIO 167 Topics in Introductory Biology: Bology of Exotic Species (Linked Course)
FSEM 046 Taking Flight with a Readers College course led by Professor Orr in spring 2010 (Linked Readers College)
FSEM 072 Rock Music & American Masculinities with AMST 100 History of American Culture (Linked Course)
FSEM 079 Haunting Memories: Revealing the Uncanny with GERM 101 Beginning German (Linked Course)
FSEM 082 Peace? with POL 180 Introduction to International Relations (Linked Course)
FSEM 085 Knowing Bodies and FSEM 194 The Psychology of Having Fun and Doing Well (Linked Pod)
FSEM 091 Saying Yes, Saying No: Drugs, Relationships and Education with WRRH 100 Writer's Seminar (Linked Course)
FSEM 095 Drawn to Nature with BIO 167 Topics in Introductory Biology: Populations and their Environment (Linked Course)
FSEM 096 Envisioning the Vanquished: The Aztecs in History with ANTH 110 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (Linked Course)
FSEM 097 Going Home with ENG 218 The Once and Future King (Linked Course)
FSEM 098 Dictatorships and Resistance and SPAN 121 Intermediate Spanish I (Linked Course)
FSEM 099 Arts Smarts with a Readers College course led by Professor Carson in spring 2010 (Linked Readers College)
FSEM 101 New Chemistry Meets Old Art with CHEM 110 Molecules That Matter (Linked Course)
FSEM 102 Thinking and Creating with PHIL 100 Introduction to Philosophy (Linked Course)
FSEM 110 Education, Justice and Happiness (Linked Pod)
FSEM 123 Ancient Warfare: How Homer's Iliad Changed the World with EUST 101 Foundations of European Studies I: Antiquity to Renaissance (Linked Course)
FSEM 194 The Psychology of Having Fun with Doing Well with FSEM 085 Knowing Bodies (Linked Pod)
“The experience of pairing courses has allowed me to be more comfortable in both classes because my classmates are more familiar and I am not afraid of sharing my thoughts and ideas with them. It is also nice to be constantly surrounded by fellow students who can help and encourage me when the work gets tough. Without this situation, I may not have been as focused and comfortable in class and as diligent about doing my homework.”
“We do more than work together. We have fun together and help each other. We accept each other’s strengths and weaknesses and learn from each other.”
“I learned how to think abstractly, how to compare two seemingly different topics and find their connection. I was also much more comfortable in these classes because I was with people I knew. I feel like I learned more from the combined courses because the discussions could bring in information from both courses, making us see connections and think more critically.”
“We have become extremely close very quickly, and we have created a supportive net to fall into. We made it a point to take care of each other, to meet before leaving the dorm, to check in with each other on our first assignment, and to spend time with each other outside of class. This has made my transition to college easier in an immense way.”
“I was able to know my fellow classmates better by having paired courses. Also, it seems to me that I am closer with my two teachers than any other professors on campus.”
“Participating in activities together, living together, and always knowing you have someone to sit with at a meal makes the fast transition of college much easier.”
