All Summer Bridge scholars will earn 6 credits by registering for 2 courses:
- CSP 100: Seminar in Academic Engagement (3 cr.)
AND one of the following courses chosen in consultation with a CSP academic advisor:
- CSP 103: Foundations in Quantitative Reasoning and Literacy (3 cr.)
- CSP 105: Writing and Culture Seminar (3 cr.)
Each class will provide multiple opportunities for engaging in course material with faculty and your classmates. This will take many forms such as weekly recorded lectures, online class discussions and study groups. Faculty will be available for virtual office hours and peer tutors will be available to assist with writing and math concepts.
Course Descriptions
CSP 100: Seminar in Academic Engagement
3 credits. Meets Social Science Area Distribution.
As the core course in the Summer Bridge Scholars Program, CSP 100 is an accelerated introduction to the intellectual life and culture of the University of Michigan. Each course section is organized around an intellectually exciting and socially relevant theme. Courses explore social structures, processes, and issues in areas such as public health, education, technology, cultural studies, environmental studies, political science, communications, and public policy.
Though topics vary by instructor, all sections are designed to support students as they engage with the U-M community in exciting and fulfilling ways. CSP 100 courses offer students experience with college-level discussions, readings, and research ahead of the fall term. Students practice using key university resources, including faculty office hours, advising appointments, writing consultation services, and library resources.
Assignments include reflections, quizzes, and presentations, and will culminate in an individual or group research project on a topic of students’ choosing. Students are encouraged to connect their own interests and academic and professional goals with the theme of the course.
CSP 103: Foundations in Quantitative Reasoning and Literacy
3 credits. Fulfills Quantitative Reasoning Requirement.
This course provides an introduction to the rigorous mathematical reasoning required at the University of Michigan. Focus is centered around assisting scholars in strengthening mathematical skills in preparation to use and analyze quantitative information to make decisions, judgments, and predictions. Topics to be explored include: elementary algebra; rational and quadratic equations; properties of relations, functions, and their graphs; linear and quadratic functions; inequalities, logarithmic and exponential functions and equations.
CSP 105: Writing and Culture Seminar
3 credits. Meets Humanities Area Distribution.
Through reading, writing, discussion, and reflection, students in CSP 105 will critically examine representations of race, ethnicity, class, and gender in literature, digital and print media, visual culture, and other elements of popular culture. While thematic emphasis will vary by instructor, all sections are designed to strengthen students’ understanding of the relationship between historical legacies of oppression, and resistance to this oppression, to the present moment. Texts for this class may include films, tv shows, music videos, songs, short stories, essays, and poems. Student writing for this class will span a range of genres, including individual and group reflections, critical and creative essays, and multi-modal compositions (infographics, slideshows, podcasts, photo essays, and more).
