Salon Descriptions | Fall 2013

All First-Year Salons provide a welcoming experience in which students learn college success skills and reflect on their overall learning. In every section of the Salons, students will explore and reflect on their values and the role of values in decision making, their health and well-being, and being part of a scholarly community. Students will also begin to assemble their learning portfolios.

First Year | Second-Semester Freshmen | Transfers | Seniors

Salons for First-Year Students

Special note for students entering the Promising Scholars Honors Program: You are not required to complete SN 102. Instead, you need to enroll in a section of HN102: Scholar’s Salon, which is designed to foster an atmosphere of community among the Baker Scholars, to promote self-responsibility for lifelong learning, to guide participants into making connections among the various disciplines they are studying and to integrating various knowledge that they are acquiring. Finally, the course will guide students in the development of the Scholars Portfolio, which is a primary component of participation the program. Please consult with your academic advisor to determine if this experience is right for you!

HN 101B: Scholars’ Salon: Extraordinary Lives 

Professor: Erin Joyce | MW 10:30-11:20 

This Salon will serve many roles. First, it will introduce you to life at Baker and life as a college student. Second, we will read and discuss texts together, including the common summer reading. Third, we will explore the lives and accomplishments of some extraordinary people, both past and present, and examine what makes people do incredible things in the face of adversity. These discussions will be based on the text, Dare To Dream: 25 Extraordinary Lives. 

SN 101A: An Anthropologist Goes to College 

Professor: Cynthia Woodbridge | TR 12:30-1:20 

This course will focus on Rebekah Nathan’s text My Freshman Year, which is about her year undercover as a college student. We will discuss what she learned and apply this to what you want to gain from your college experience. 

SN 101B: What Do You Want to Do When You Grow Up? 

Professor: Matthew Potterton | MW 1:30-2:20 

As you transition into college, you often are forced to make decisions that will affect the rest of your life. One big challenge is deciding what you want to do when you graduate. How do you find your passion? What happens if your passion is different from what your parents or other adult mentors think is best for you? This is your life and we will focus on finding and nurturing your dreams. 

SN 101C: Extended Orientation 

Professor: Cassy Bailey | TR 2:00-2:50 

Only students admitted with conditions can enroll in this section. 

This class will focus on the ins and outs of life at Baker after Orientation. Successful students will complete office & campus tours, learn about University academic requirements and resources, and gather organizational skills for success in and out of the classroom. 

SN 101D: Developing Your Identity as a College Student 

Professor: Tim Hodges | MW 12:30-1:20 

This course will help you develop and consolidate the identity and skills you need to succeed in college. You will learn about your unique personality, develop skills related to academic and interpersonal competence, learn how to manage your emotions, and gain a sense of purpose and focus. 

SN 101E: Personal Finance: Why Do I Have More Month than Money? 

Professor: Teresa Clounch | MW 2:30-3:20 

Are you looking to build a savings or improve your money management skills? This course is designed to give you insight into your money management values as a student and individual. This seminar topic will focus on you and provide you an opportunity to strengthen your personal finance skills. 

SN 101F: Etiquette for the Real World 

Professor: Matt Windle | MW 10:30-11:20 

This class will look at relevant etiquette rules such as first impressions, job interviews, email and cell phone usage, social networking, and many other situations that young adults will find themselves a part of in the next five years to life. 

SN 101G: If It's Fun, It Must Be Bad for You

Professor: Rand Ziegler | TR 2-2:50

Contrary to what the old guard would have us believe, many components of today's popular culture may actually contribute to making us smarter rather than dumber. In addition to the obvious fun factor, evidence suggests that today's games, television, film, music and the Internet offer new cognitive challenges that may make our minds measurably sharper. Using the arguments in Steven Johnson's bestseller Everything Bad Is Good for You as a springboard for debate, this course will explore this contemporary hypothesis.

SN 101H: Soul of a Horse 

Professor: Robin Liston | MW 1:30-2:20 

When we enter into relationship with horses, what is required? What does the horse get out of it? Is there a benefit for us? Join me in a reading of Joe Camp’s book, and ponder the ancient fascination with one of nature’s beautiful creatures. 

SN 101I: Getting and Staying on Course 

Professor: Carolyn Clark | MW 11:30-12:20 

Welcome to college. In this course, we will investigate strategies for being successful in college and in life so that students will have the tools they need to have the best freshman year possible. Students will also have the opportunity to reach out into the community and mentor young adults with disabilities. 

Salons for Second-Semester Freshmen

SN 102A: Young Adulthood in the 21st Century 

Professor: Robin Liston | TR 12:30-1:20 

Students will have the chance to read about and discuss issues and concerns that are meaningful for them. 

Salons for Transfer Students

SN 201A: Food and Well-Being in America 

Professor: Eric Hays | MW 12:30-1:20 

Students beginning their studies at Baker with fewer than 30 credit hours, or less than two full college semesters should enroll in this transfer Salon. 

Is organic food really better for you? Should you only eat locally grown produce? Are genetically modified vegetables safe? This course will address these questions by looking at the role food has played in American society from pre-Columbian times through the present. The goal of the course is to provide you with information that will help you make healthy choices when selecting what food to eat. 

SN 231A: Social and Political Upheaval in History 

Professor: Martha Harris | MWF 2:30-3:20 | 3 credit hours 

Students beginning their studies at Baker with more than 30 credit hours, who do not have to take QS111 and QS112, and who have been full-time college students for at least two semesters should enroll in this Salon. 

The theme for this course will be the Ken Follett work, “Pillars of the Earth.” It is a fictional work set in the 1100s in England. As it describes the building of a cathedral it weaves in narrative of the time’s social and political upheavals as well as the politics of the church, making this an interdisciplinary course with something for almost everyone. 

SN 231B: The American Dream 

Professor: Carrie Coward Bucher | TR 9:30-10:45 

Students beginning their studies at Baker with more than 30 credit hours, who do not have to take QS111 and QS112, and who have been full-time college students for at least two semesters should enroll in this Salon. 

This course provides students an opportunity to develop their ability to communicate, problem solve, and work in a team while assessing the current state of the US economy. We will explore the historical causes and consequences of America’s labor dynamic and eventually evaluate the state of the “American Dream.” 

Salon for Senior-Level Students

SN 401A: Summit Salon 

Professor: Cynthia Woodbridge | T 2:00-2:15 

The summit salon, to be taken during the next-to-last semester, will focus on implementing the twenty-nine AUEs in the real world. Students will concentrate on future employment, graduate or professional school, individual ethical standards, and a grasp of the “real world.” The summit salon is a graded course. 

SN 401B: Summit Salon 

Professor: Susan Wade | W 11:30-12:20 

The summit salon, to be taken during the next-to-last semester, will focus on preparing students for ‘life after Baker’. Students will concentrate on identifying personal values, strengths and goals related to career choices, building interviewing skills and job seeking tools for future employment, graduate or professional school. Discussions will include creating work/life balance, financial stability and building community. The summit salon is a graded course.