First-Year courses
Enrollment closed for 2023. See you next fall!
Supported by a generous donation from the Harold Alfond Foundation as part of UMS TRANSFORMS.
Explore Reading and Writing
RLE 01: ENG 100 — College Composition (2 semesters)
Mary PlymaleLarlee | Department of English
Anyone
UMaine Immersion
On campus
Gen ed
Fall credits: 3
Participants: Anyone
Bridge week theme: UMaine Immersion
Bridge week location: On campus
Bonus: Gen ed
Satisfy a graduation requirement while exploring the ways in which people use writing to make sense of the world and their experiences within it!
Throughout this class students will work individually and collaboratively to develop reading and writing strategies suitable for responding to research in the field of writing studies. End of term projects will emerge from iterative academic inquiry and will help students more fully understand and contextualize the literate activities of their own lives.
Practice Creative Research in the Arts
RLE 02: Successful Strategies for Visual Arts Majors
Andy Mauery | Department of Art
Art History, art education, and studio art majors
UMaine Immersion
On campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Art majors
Bridge week theme: UMaine Immersion
Bridge week location: On campus
A course for first-year and transfer students majoring in studio art, art education, or history of art, ART 104 will introduce students to effective strategies for success in the Visual Arts. Students will learn how to develop proficiencies in creativity, strong work practices, essential artistic and writing skills, and effective critical thinking.
Think Like a Professional Educator
RLE 03: Education: Reflection and action
Ezekiel Kimball | School of Educational Leadership, Higher Education and Human Development
Elementary education and secondary education majors
UMaine Immersion
On campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Elementary education and secondary education majors
Bridge week theme: Conservation Research
Bridge week location: On campus
In this course, students will explore education as both a field of study and also as a profession characterized reflective practice. Throughout the course, we will explore the ways that professional educators develop planful strategies, implement those strategies skillfully, and learn from the outcomes of their actions. Within this framework, we will also explore fundamental questions of professional identity — both for preservice educators and for experienced practitioners. In doing so, participants will undertake a large-scale qualitative interview study — resulting in skill development in the social sciences as well publishable findings.
Print in 3D and Explore Offshore Wind
RLE 04: ASCC Green Energy and Materials
Becky Fisher and Keith Sharp | Advanced Structures and Composites Center
Anyone
UMaine Immersion
On campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Anyone
Bridge week theme: UMaine Immersion
Bridge week location: On campus
Are you interested in a career tackling big societal problems? Want to work on collaborative team projects? Try engineering with the Advanced Structures and Composites Center. Through interaction with ASCC researchers, you will be introduced to projects in offshore wind technology and 3D printing that impact climate change, infrastructure, affordable housing and more. In this exploratory lab style course, you will think like an engineer by completing hands-on design and print/build tasks with your team. You will learn basic engineering principles, gain familiarity with the engineering design process, and practice communicating ideas to others. The course is focused on active participation, creative problem solving, and teamwork. No previous engineering or advanced math experience required.
Understanding Wood
RLE 05: Sustainable Wood Materials and Technology
Ling Li | School of Forest Resources
Sustainable Materials and Technology, Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering technology, construction engineering technology, and civil engineering majors
UMaine Immersion
On campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Sustainable Materials and Technology, Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering technology, construction engineering technology, and civil engineering majors
Bridge week theme: UMaine Immersion
Bridge week location: On campus
Do you wish to seek solutions to move away from fossil fuel-based products? This RLE is for you to discover how to use sustainable wood materials to create bioproducts to meet our daily needs.
Joining this RLE, you will:
- Take part in a one-day field trip to see how the bioproduct and bioenergy research projects are formulated and conducted at different research centers and labs.
- Enroll in SFR 120 — Understanding Wood Lab to do a hands-on woodworking project to gain research skills like attention to detail, searching for information, problem-solving, and communicating results. (Note: it will count toward your degree for sustainable materials and technology students.)
Build Skills, Connections and Community
RLE 06: Community Centered Research
Melissa Ladenheim | Honors College
Honors students
Hurricane Island
Off Campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Honors students
Bridge week theme: Hurricane Island
Bridge week location: Off Campus
Start your academic journey on an island off the coast of Maine with classmates from different majors and colleges. Experience beautiful Hurricane Island’s natural landscape and cultural history. Explore the intertidal zone, research aquaculture with a scallop farmer and try your hand at lobster fishing, hike, build rafts, swim in the ocean, and star gaze while you forge friendships and have moments for quiet reflection. Here we will launch Community Building and Engagement (HON 175), a 1-credit service-learning course which provides research experiences that examines what it means to be part of a community and our roles/expectations as members by working directly with community partners in the field.
Interested students should apply here.
Learning for Social Justice and Liberation
RLE 07: Introduction to WGS
Cam McDonnell | Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Anyone
Community Building
On campus
Gen ed
Fall credits: 3
Participants: Anyone
Bridge week theme: Community Building
Bridge week location: On campus
Bonus: Gen ed
In recent years there has been a growing demand for positive social change. Some argue that U.S. society is in a renaissance of the Civil Rights Movement with greater care for complex, historical contexts. Did we ever leave the Civil Rights Movement? If so, how do we know? Through this RLE, students will be introduced to social justice theories and frameworks like the feminist method of Intersectionality. Students will explore the past before pivoting to the research portion of the course which equips adrienne maree brown’s “Emergent Strategy” through an organized protest or direct action at the end of the spring semester. This RLE is for first-year students of all lived backgrounds, social identities, and majors/minors across the university who are interested in issues of feminism, 2SLGBTQIAP+ experiences, or simply want to do good in the world.
Work on Real-World Business Problems
RLE 08: Business in Action
Buffie McCue-Quinn | Maine Business School
Business Majors
Success and Professionalism
On campus
Fulfills a major requirement
Fall credits: 3
Participants: Business Majors
Bridge week theme: Success and Professionalism
Bridge week location: On campus
Bonus: Fulfills a major requirement
Have you ever been in a business and wondered why they did what they did? In this course you will work on business problems by engaging directly with them in a variety of settings. You will be invited to discover different decisions you can make and see how they might impact what happens with customers, coworkers, and owners.
Cruise a River
RLE 09: Boot Camp/Marine Data — Get Salty
Wge Ellis | School of Marine Science
Marine Science Majors
Darling Marine Center
Off campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Marine Science Majors
Bridge week theme: Darling Marine Center
Bridge week location: Off campus
Spend time on the coast of Maine at the university’s Darling Marine Center. Collect data from the 42-foot research vessel, the Ira C, in the Damariscotta River estuary. The data will be analyzed during the fall 2023 semester. Enrollment for this course is linked to the School of Marine Science’s Boot Camp.
Explore What You Eat
RLE 10: Play With Your Food
Eileen Molloy and Denise Skonberg | School of Food and Agriculture
Anyone
UMaine Immersion
On campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Anyone
Bridge week theme: UMaine Immersion
Bridge week location: On campus
Foodie explorers will be able to get a taste of diverse topics in food science and nutrition by investigating a different theme about the food produce, create or eat each lab period. Each class will start with a question: what may we expect to observe or learn about for a particular food or dietary focus, and finish with a discussion of what the results of our activity may have revealed. We could explore the sensory attributes of food and sensory sciences, examine texture and color in foods, learn about sugar cookery by making candy, use food analysis to analyze beverages components, watch food production at work by taking field trips, and more.
Work in the Forest
RLE 11: Forestry Work Experience
Keith Kanoti | School of Forest Resources
Anyone
Skills for working in the forest
Off campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Anyone
Bridge week theme: Skills for working in the forest
Bridge week location: Off campus
Gain hands-on work experience in University Forest working alongside upper-class students and Maine licensed foresters involved in timber harvesting, forest inventory, boundary line maintenance, precommercial thinning, and more. This work experience provides preparation for forest industry summer internships and future jobs. Join University Forest foresters in local professional meetings to build professional connections essential for a forestry career in Maine.
Course Bridge Week: A one-week field camp at the Tanglewood 4-H Camp and Learning Center in Lincolnville. Students are introduced to skills needed for working in the woods including tree identification, compass use, navigation, tree measurements, and environmental assessment. An ecological inventory will be made for a woodlot which will be the basis for writing a paper to explain the data. Field trip includes a visit to a saw mill and actively managed forests, or to assess tourism activities in the Camden area.
All students in the Forestry program and in the Parks, Recreation and Tourism program are required to take the Course Bridge Week and have the option to take the RLE course. Other students are also welcomed to take the Course Bridge Week and the RLE course
Exploring Our Campus Ecosystem
RLE 12: EES 117
Kate Ruskin | Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Ecology and environmental science majors
Fulfills major requirement
Fall credits: 2
Participants: Ecology and environmental science majors
Bridge week theme: UMaine Immersion
Bridge week location: On campus
Bonus: Fulfills major requirment
This course offers an introduction to college and provides an interdisciplinary perspective on ecological and environmental issues. The course will examine ecological systems, the interrelationships between human activities and the environment, and the social, political, economic, and technological factors that affect the use of natural resources. Material is presented via lectures, field trips during class hours and special readings.
Play With Electricity
RLE 13: Lights and Buzzers and Motors! Oh My!
Jude Pearse | School of Engineering Technology
Anyone
UMaine Immersion
On campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Anyone
Bridge week theme: UMaine Immersion
Bridge week location: On campus
Learn the many uses of electricity by working with devices that convert electrical energy into devices that blink, make noise and move machinery.
Explore Maine’s Environment
RLE 14: Earth and Climate Field Discovery
Karl Kreutz, Seth Campbell, Sean Smith, Andrei Kurbatov, Alice Doughty | School of Earth and Climate Sciences
Earth and climate science majors
Maine Landscape
On campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Earth and climate science majors
Bridge week theme: Maine Landscape
Bridge week location: Off campus
Visit iconic locations in Maine to explore a range of Earth observations and work as part of a team to generate new knowledge. Learn how Maine’s landscape provides vivid examples of the forces that shape our planet and influence society. Use state-of-the-art technology on water, land, and from the air to see how Earth and climate scientists measure and understand the Earth system.
Hunt For Viruses
RLE 15: Rage of Phage
Sally Molloy | Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences
Microbiology, molecular and cellular biology, and biochemistry majors
Bacterial Genomes
On campus
Fulfills major requirement
Fall credits: 4
Participants: Microbiology, molecular and cellular biology, and biochemistry majors
Bridge week theme: Bacterial Genomes
Bridge week location: On campus
Bonus: Fulfills major requirement
Learn about the structure of DNA in genomes, with a particular focus on the role of viral genomes and their role in bacterial virulence. Develop skills in the extraction of nucleic acids from bacterial cultures and sequencing isolated DNA. Assemble bacterial genomes and hunt for viral/phage genomes that potentially contribute to bacterial pathogenesis. These bioinformatic analyses will be conducted in the fall.
How Will You Thrive as a Nursing Student?
RLE 16: Wellness and Mindfulness
Rebecca Schwartz- Mette | Department of Psychology
Kelley Strout | School of Nursing
Nursing majors
Stress Reduction
On campus
Fall credits: 1
Participants: Nursing majors
Bridge week theme: Stress Reduction
Bridge week location: On campus
Following a group bridge-week activity involving a weeklong Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) workshop, fitness, and belonging activities, this hands-on course focuses on holistic student success and well-being. Students will experiment with a range of health interventions available through UMaine Nursing’s WellNurse program, including fitness programming, mindful nutrition, massage therapy, wellness workshops, and more! In addition, students will be guided through the research process from the inside out, learning about research design, assessment, analysis, and evaluation using personal data collected via a free FitBit tracker in a series of classes involving both didactic and experiential learning.
Enrollment closed for 2023. See you next fall!