Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Maymester

Maymester runs from Monday, May 19 through Friday, June 6, 2025. Current students and non-matriculated students will be able to take one course with an HWS faculty member for 3.5 hours, five days a week. Classes are scheduled in the mornings (9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) or afternoons (1:30 – 5 p.m.).

2025 Courses

• ARTS 161 Photography: Design in Nature
  
  • Artistic Process (Substantial)
• ENV 216 Birds in Our Landscape
  
  • Scientific Inquiry (Substantial)
• GSIJ 204 Politics of Health
  
  • Social Inequality (Substantial)
  • Ethical Judgement (Substantial)
• HIST 200 Quantitative Methods for Historians
  
  • Quantitative Reasoning (Substantial)
• MDSC 211 Media Professions
  
  • Artistic Process (Partial)
• MGMT 315 Organizational Management
  
  • Ethical Judgement (Partial)
• SOC 212 Data Analysis
  
  • Quantitative Reasoning (Substantial)

ARTS 161 Photography: Design in Nature
Remote
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Art and Architecture
Professor Christine Chin
Artistic Process (Substantial)

Photography allows us to see and explore the natural world in ways that expands human vision and understanding. We will use our cameras to look for specific design elements in the natural world, and bring nature inside in improvised tabletop studios. Camera controls, exposure, lighting, and lenses will be discussed to help students achieve their photographic goals. Looking at the work of artists who photograph nature will help us explore larger questions: Can photography help us to understand the species who share our planet? What are the possibilities and limits on how photography can advocate for the natural world? How does photography explore the effects of and interactions between humans and nature? Students will use their cameras to complete assignments that will culminate in an individual book project. This is an introductory course in photographic image-making at Hobart and William Smith. This course serves as a prerequisite for upper-level imaging courses and as a studio course for the ARTS major and minor and also fills requirements for other majors including Arch, Art History, MDSC, Environmental Studies and Women’s Studies

ENV 216 Birds in Our Landscape
Remote
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Environmental Studies
Professor Mark Deutschlander
Scientific Inquiry (Substantial)

Birds are an apparent and familiar part of our environments, whether hiking in a national forest or spending time in our own backyards. From pristine natural areas to the most urban settings, birds are ubiquitous and serve as sentinels for the health of the environment. Examining population trends and geographical distributions of birds can help us understand the impacts of urbanization, pollution and pesticides, climate change, and more. In this course, you will learn how distributions of birds inform scientists about environmental change and the impacts of change on the function of ecosystems. You will learn, firsthand through field excursions and exercises, to identify local bird species and how to conduct some basic field techniques for direct monitoring of birds. You will learn how scientists collect distribution data on birds using remote sensing and how citizen science has greatly advanced our ability to understand the distributions and movements of birds. You will also learn how scientists communicate their findings by reviewing scientific publications, which we will use as case studies of how birds in our landscape impact us and tell us about our environments. No prerequisites.

GSIJ 204 Politics of Health
Remote
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Public Health
Professor Jessica Hayes-Conroy
Social Inequality (Substantial)
Ethical Judgement (Substantial)

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the critical study of health politics, including the politics of gender, race and sexuality. Through the themes of social and environmental justice, students will explore the uneven distribution of health care and wellness both within the United States and beyond. Topics include the history of the women’s health movement, breast cancer awareness campaigns, reproductive health and technologies, HIV/AIDS, feminist psychology, eating disorders, environmental health and toxicity, and more. In exploring these topics, feminist theory will serve as a lens through which we examine different experiences of illness and disease. At the same time, feminist pedagogy will serve as the model upon which we build our policy recommendations. No prerequisites.

HIST 200 Quantitative Methods for Historians
Remote
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
History
Professor Sarah Whitten
Quantitative Reasoning (Substantial)

Historians use big data sets and quantitative tools to understand the past especially in the fields of demography, economic history, and environmental history. This course provides an introduction to the quantitative tools used by historians including basic statistical methods, visual presentations of data sets, and regression analysis. Students will examine how this quantitative data is used make historical arguments as well as the limits of these methods. Lastly, students will explore how these tools and historical arguments are relevant to the contemporary world. Individual courses will investigate different topics, but all courses will have the same methodological approach. No prerequisites.

MDSC 211 Media Professions
Remote
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Media and Society
Professor Lisa Patti
Artistic Process (Partial)

How do you break into a career in the media industries? What are the jobs that make the production, distribution, and exhibition of media possible? How do you prepare for media professions, and how do you pivot from one role to another?  How have careers in the media industries changed over time?  We research media labor in the film and television industries and other communications fields, including advertising, marketing, public relations, and journalism. We develop our understanding of media professions by exploring memoirs, interviews, and documentaries featuring first-person perspectives of artists, executives, and other media professionals and by meeting with media professionals and learning about their careers and the companies where they work.  Students will develop resumes and professional networking skills through a series of individual and group assignments. No prerequisites.

MGMT 315 Organizational Management
Remote
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Business, Management, and Entrepreneurship
Professor Craig Talmage
Ethical Judgement (Partial)

This course offers majors the opportunity to engage materials that will enhance their knowledge of the art and science of management across sectors (i.e., for-profit, nonprofit, public, etc.). The course covers the many roles of managers across enterprises and begins with foundational/historical components of enterprise administration (e.g., Fayol's planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding, and controlling). The course continues with contemporary theories and practices in management (e.g., diversity, equity, and inclusion; lean management; sustainability; flexible work arrangements; data-driven decision-making; learning organizations; intrapreneurship; among others). This course draws on interdisciplinary perspectives on management spanning across nonprofit management, industrial/organizational psychology, sociology, among others. Prerequisite: PSY100, SOC 100, MGMT 101, MGMT 120 or ECON 160.

SOC 212 Data Analysis
Remote
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. with a 2 – 3:30 p.m. lab on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
Sociology
Professor Kendralin Freeman
Quantitative Reasoning (Substantial)

This course provides an introduction to the organization and analysis of data in the process of social research. Presentation of data in tabular and graphic forms, the use of elementary descriptive and inferential statistics, and the use of bivariate and multivariate analytic procedures in the analysis of data are examined. This course includes a laboratory experience in the use of computing software to display data and test hypotheses. The course is ultimately intended to prepare students for original research efforts and to help them become more sophisticated consumers of the literature of the social sciences today. No prerequisites.