Freshmen Seminar

A Freshman Seminar course is a 1-hour credit course taken during the first semester at UMHB.

These courses are designed to assist freshmen with enhancing their academic skills while introducing them to campus life at UMHB. While building relationships with faculty and fellow students, new freshmen will critically think, read, discuss and write about the topic selected for their seminar course. Opportunities are also provided to improve basic skills and explore various campus services.

Enjoy reading the descriptions of the creative courses designed
by UMHB's First Faculty Team...

1: The Texas Music Project (W 2-2:50 with Dr. Stephen Crawford)
Texas music is truly unique. Spanning a broad array of genres, including blues, gospel, ragtime, jazz, conjunto, Tejano, country, zydeco, Cajun, rock and roll, and many others, Texas music, perhaps better than anything else, reflects the rich history and tremendous ethnic and cultural diversity of the Southwest. This course will focus on the many different styles and flavors of the Texas music scene from Blues to Czech and German music, Mùsica norteña to Mariachi and Tejano, Country to Rock and Roll, and Classical to Folk and Gospel, and many others. Students will also learn about their favorite artists and musicians from the distant past to the present. Did you know that Waylon Jennings was born and raised in Littlefield, or that Bonham was the birthplace and resting place of guitar legend Charlie Christian, or that Vernon was the hometown of Roy Orbison? Much of our identity is reflected in our music. Come discover yours.

2: Measurement, Metrics, and the Metric System (W 11-11:50 with Max Hart)
Measurement is critical to civilized society. This course contains a serious but enjoyable study of measurement and metrics and a thorough description and analysis of the customary system as well as everything you ever wanted to know about the metric system of measurement. It also investigates their respective roles in today's society and provides guidelines, rules of thumb and shortcuts for mastery. Every American will find nuggets of personal value, from the customary system novice to the well-seasoned metric system user. This knowledge could become invaluable to many categories of professionals and workers. The metric system is indispensable to all current and future scientists, engineers and even mathematicians; amateur and professional athletes; medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists; all elementary, secondary and even college educators; as well as anyone interested in international commerce, travel, or politics. It could also be of great interest to historians, linguists and writers, poets, and musicians. My apologies to anyone I may have left out, but I'm sure you will benefit as well and have fun doing it. Apart from your career, this course will also benefit you both as an American and as a world citizen.

Section 3: Football Fan’tastic (F 11-11:50 with Dr. Ann Crawford)
Football fever is alive and well at UMHB. In this course, you will be introduced to life as a college student at UMHB, with a football-focused game plan. Do you know how the “Ivy” league received its name? Why are there eleven teams in the “Big Ten”? We will examine the sport of football through its history, game rules, play strategies, sportsmanship (both on and off the field), and the concept of teamwork in working toward a goal. Lessons learned through the study of football will be applied to academic, personal, and social survival in the university environment. Some of the planned activities include developing game rules for a ‘Fan’tastic flag football game (and then playing the game), maintaining ongoing game statistics on a selected pro football team, and attending UMHB home football games (as part of the “Couch Cru”) to cheer on the Cru. Along the way, you will learn how to be successful, both inside and outside the classroom.

4: Mummies, Gods, and Inscriptions (W 11-11:50 with Dr. Steve Wyrick)
The course presents the latest archaeological discoveries from the Near East through a combination of readings, visual presentations, and "hands-on" examination of the cultural remains of ancient civilizations. Students will define archaeology, analyze selected archaeological discoveries, and explain how these discoveries influence our modern society.

5: Coffee, Commerce & Christ: Saving the World Through Purpose-Driven Business (W 11-11:50 with Dr. Jim King)
Purpose-driven business: where faith becomes a catalyst for community development through economic opportunities, education programs and healthcare promotion in developing countries around the world. Lives of impoverished coffee farmers, uneducated indigenous artisans and the forgotten sick are being improved through community development. Learn how to save the world while impacting individual lives. Learn how you can make a difference.

6: Einstein's Brain: Five Ideas which changed our view of the universe (W 11-11:50 with Dr. Bill Tanner)
In 1905, a German patent clerk published three scientific papers that revolutionized science. He proposed that all energy comes in packets he called quanta, that apparent erratic motion of molecules could be predicted, and that all physical laws operate the same everywhere in the universe. Once he applied the last idea to the case of high-speed collisions between sub-atomic particles, an elegant formula emerges, ie. E=mc2. When he applied the same theory of relativity to the entire universe he discovered that mass warps all of space. In this course will be presented the contexts in which these ideas were formed in order that the student will come to understand the philosophical and scientific impact of the change wrought by Einstein's brain.

7: Distractions (F 12-12:50 with Kelda McMullen-Fix)
Do you find yourself distracted? As a new freshman college student, life can cause distractions finding yourself too preoccupied to know what good things God wants you to experience. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. These are practices which can cause mental turmoil while leading you down dangerous paths. In this course you will be engaged in a conversation about life’s obstacles. We will work together through discussion, research, and reflection. Fatal Distractions, by author Ed Young, will facilitate our discussion leading us to challenge ourselves and each other while discovering motivations which can lead to separation between us and God. Change will be at the core of the beginning of your new life, as a UMHB freshman, and temptation is patiently waiting. I challenge you to focus on yourself and consider how you will respond in life’s many experiences.

8 (Honors Students): The Changing Face of Friendship: A Philosophical Approach to Facebook (W 11-11:50 with Dr. Steve Oldham)
Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace challenge traditional understanding of friendship, community, character and truth. The course will explore the impact of Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites on our understanding of friendship and community. The course will allow students to explore these changes and to discuss the way technology, especially the interned, is altering our views of personal and communal relationships. Through reading selections from Aristotle, Christian writers, and other authors students will be exposed to traditional views of community and friendship. We will also look at a number of writers who explore the impact of social networking sites on contemporary relationships.

9: The Physics of Music (F 11-11:50 with Dr. Bill Harding)
The course will consider the production and analysis of musical sound. The student will learn about typical devices and instruments that are used to produce and analyze musical sounds. The course will use a student's general interest in various types of music to cultivate an appreciation for the scientific method. The course can provide a unique perspective on the interaction of science and art.

10: Once Upon a Time: The Power of Storytelling (T 9:30-10:20 with Kathy Owens)
This course will focus on the educational, personal, and professional benefits of storytelling. Whether we are reading "Dick and Jane" to children or describing the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., to college students, storytelling is an integral part of our educational culture. The power of stories also extends to our personal lives as we share self disclosure and gossip, and it extends professionally into the workplace as a way to share information, provide motivation, displace blame, and more. We will focus on the way we use stories, learn some effective storytelling techniques, and experience the work of some famous storytellers of our time. This is a performance-based class; thus, students will be required to develop and perform stories before an audience.

11: Manage Your Time (F 12-12:50 with Dr. Paul Stock)
Learn the best way to plan your activities, prioritize your tasks, delegate your duties, and get organized. Topics covered in this seminar include planning, prioritizing, controlling, and goal-setting. The student will learn how to handle obstacles, deal with uncertainty, tackle procrastination, and solve a conflict.

12: Leadership: What do Mickey Mouse and Mother Theresa Have in Common? (W 12-12:50 with Dr. Marty McMahone)
This class will examine the art and skill of effective leadership. Looking at examples from the world of business, entertainment, sports and politics, we will consider how a person can become an effective leader. Is leadership a gift certain people are born with or a skill that can be developed? What are the personal habits and disciplines that lay the foundation for good leadership? What does someone have to do to be effective as a leader? We will delve into these questions through watching movies, reading, discussion, writing and personal application.

13: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Hollywood, History, and the Shaping of American Culture (W 1-1:50 with Dr. David Chrisman)
This course will focus on the cinema's interpretation of key historical events and institutions and how that interpretation has, at times, shaped our popular understanding of American culture. Viewing sections of significant history-related films, from westerns to Gone with the Wind, Saving Private Ryan and beyond, students will explore the difference between the glitter of Hollywood's account compared to the reality history defined by academic research. Through group discussions, activities, and short assignments, students will analyze older and contemporary depictions on film and compare their subjects with a more accurate analysis of historical scholarship. As such, the course will spend as much time on inaccurate portrayals of history while also considering objective contributions to the historical record. Upon a successful completion of this course, students will be able to: (1) analyze the accuracy of significant historical films; (2) indentify some key misrepresentations of history that remain problematic to a valued multi-cultural understanding of the American context; (3) explain how history speaks to non-historic and culture-based films; and (4) examine how film has become a critic of American culture.

14: (Honors Students) Faith and Politics: Religion and U.S. Presidential Elections (M 10-10:50 with Dr. David Holcomb)
This course will examine the ways in which religion has impacted presidential politics and elections—with special focus on the faith of the candidates and the role of religious ideals/commitments in past presidential election. Readings from various disciplines will be discussed to examine questions such as: What has been the role of religion in past presidential elections? How has faith impacted the political behavior of the electorate? What are some of the different religious views on the role of religion in the public square?

15: Science Fiction vs. Reality: Sometimes the Truth is Stranger than Fiction (W 1-1:50 with Dr. Randy Brown)
Using a variety of Science Fiction books, movies, and so on, students will learn how Science Fiction has influenced real-life technological advances. Conversely, we will discover how technological advances have influenced Science Fiction, not only through ideas and concepts, but also through special effects technologies used in making movies. Students will learn the basics of research, writing, ethics, and plagiarism. Students also will be given opportunities to participate in group panels, group collaboration, brainstorming, and presentations. Creative and critical thinking will be emphasized. The LMS will be used extensively as well as turnitin.com

16: Learning to Lead: Experiences Through Film (T 9:30-10:20 with Dr. Cecilia Erlund)
Students will watch films rich in the demonstration of a leader's use of power and influence. All students in the class will watch The Lion King. Individual students will choose a film from such films as Dead Poet's Society, Watership Down, Aliens, A Few Good Men, and The Magnificent Seven. Through these film experiences students will find at least five or more sources of power by which they can induce or influence others to behave in accordance with their wished as a leader. Students will observe reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, expert power, and referent power. The story of Simba is experienced in the film, The Lion King. Simba is heir to the throne of Pride Rock, who makes a bad decision and sends himself into exile as punishment. His power-crazed uncle Scar ascends to the throne as king, but eventually Simba is persuaded by friends Timon, Pumbaa, and Nala to forget his past and return to save his homeland. Class activities will include small group discussions, large group discussions, research activities, writing and speaking activities, and assessment activities all designed to facilitate gaining personal knowledge about a self as a leader while developing academic skills useful in other classes at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

17: The Rhetoric of the Civil Rights Movement: Assimilationist and Isolationists Strategies (T 10-10:50 with Dr. Kerry Owens)
This course will focus on the rhetoric employed during the height of the struggle for civil rights in America during the 1960's. During this time, two competing voices emerged to lead the struggle for racial equality. One voice articulated a vision of an assimilated American culture focused on total integration. This voice emerged primarily in the life and rhetoric of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Another voice sought racial equality through the use of more militant strategies and rhetoric. This voice emerged through the lives and rhetoric of members of the Black Power movement, represented by such men as Malcolm X, Bobby Seale, Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and Stokely Carmichael. We will focus on the way these men and their rhetoric defined and continued to define race relations in our nation.

18: Adjusting to campus life (W 10-10:50 with Karen Frederick)

International students only. This course will introduce International Students to the many services UMHB has to offer (MyCampus, Free Tutoring, Career Services, Health Services, Library, Gym, etc.). Students will also learn about the academic expectations their Professors will have.

19: How to Be a True Crusader: The Warrior Knight (W 12-12:50 with Amy Bawcom)

Wonder why our mascot is the Crusader? Want to know who the Crusaders really were? This course will examine the Crusades from a historical perspective while also identifying what the difference is in a Crusader and a knight. Students will analyze popular films portraying the Crusades and knights to explore how their depiction has influenced our modern culture's definition of a hero. Students will see what lessons they can learn from the Crusaders about fitness (tournaments/jousting), the moral perspective of the knightly order, the rules of dating from the chivalric code, the spiritual nature of these warriors of God, the leadership obligations of a hero, and the personal quest. Students will apply this knowledge to aspects of their own lives this first college semester as they live through the transition from high school to college.

20: When the Sputum Hits the Road: the impacts of culture and health. (F 11-11:50 with Dr. Greg Frederick)

In at least three instances we see Jesus doing the unthinkable. We see him “spit and touch the tongue of a man” to heal his hearing and speech (Mark 7:33). We see him place spit and dirt into the eyes of a man blind from birth to cause sight (John 9:6). We see him spit into the eyes of a third man to restore his sight as well (Mark 8:22). Unthinkable acts changed the lives and culture for these three men and all that knew them. Jesus, being God, knew what He was doing. We don’t always! As you enter UMHB you are moving into a new culture which can impact your health and well-being. At the same time, various cultural practices around the world have had direct impact on the health of individuals living in those cultures. This course will address aspects of how both culture and health (physical and spiritual) mutually influence the lives of individuals around the world. The course will highlight the importance of attentiveness to personal health in whatever culture we encounter.

21: IMPACT (F 11-11:50 with Donna Teel)