Fall Semester 2006 Courses |
| | Anthropology | Asian
Studies | Biology | Chemistry
| | Classics |Comparative Literature | Drama | English | Environmental Science | Feminist & Gender Studies | General Studies | Geology | History | Music | Philosophy | Physics | Political Science | Psychology | | Russian | Sociology | Spanish | Studies in the Humanities | See courses from 2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000 |
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The "First Course" is intended to provide a stimulating introduction to Colorado College, to enhance the research and writing skills important to academic success, and to reinforce excitement about learning, rigorous analysis and creative expression. First Courses include a substantial writing component and a research project. The seminar format and class size encourage active student involvement. The First Course also introduces students to the CC Library, the Writing Center, other academic support systems, and the Honor system. The courses are only a part of the first year; the entire first-year experience includes interaction with FYE mentors and student-organized events, such as speakers, films, performances, and workshops. The offices of Student Life, Residential Life and Center for Service and Learning will work with first-year students throughout the academic year. Find out about picking courses with the point system. Winter Start Program Approximately 30 students are expected to enter the freshman class in Spring 2006. These students are free during the fall for work, travel, or off-campus study, and begin their studies in January. Although it will not be required, winter start students will be encouraged to stay for the college’s impressive Summer Session so that they can start the following fall with sophomore standing. Click here for Spring 2007 courses and to read more on the program from our admissions office. Anthropology Anthropology: AN101/AN102 Blocks I & II: Mario Montaño & Christina Torres-Rouff, AN101/AN102, Introduction to Cultural and Biological Anthropology Students completing this First Year Experience will receive credit for two required courses in the Anthropology major. This course introduces students to the foundations of anthropology by exploring humanity from multiple viewpoints. Team-taught by an ethnographer and a physical anthropologist, this course will examine issues from both a cultural and biological perspective. We will focus on several themes of great importance for humans in both a historical and modern context. Students will explore topics including the origins of modern humans, social order and conflict, food production, and treatment of the dead from cross-cultural perspectives. All of these will help to demonstrate the holistic approach anthropology takes to the study of humanity. Students will be introduced to the study of cultural anthropology through the examination of basic concepts, research methods, and theories. This course will address several important characteristics of anthropology: (1) the concept of culture and its multiple meanings; (2) people as social and cultural beings; (3) linguistics and how it relates to the construction of cultural meaning; (4) ethnographic research and how people make sense of their way of life; (5) comparative analysis and how it helps us to understand human behavior in different periods and places. At the core of biological anthropology are several issues. Students will learn about the scientific theory of evolution by means of natural selection and how it applies to all living organisms including the human lineage. We will come to understand our own status as a primate and witness the physical and behavioral similarities among the living primates. There will be exploration of those traits that make us uniquely human and how they have developed throughout time including the cultural record of modern Homo sapiens. The course will directly engage students in anthropological practice and teach the methods used by anthropologists in their fieldwork, be it ethnographic or biological. This includes primate observation at the Cheyenne Mountain and Denver Zoos in order to explore the relationship between humans and the non-human primates, our closest living relatives. Additional fieldwork will occur throughout Colorado, where students will investigate folk art of the Southwest, food production, mortuary practices, and different native and modern traditions. A team-taught, two-block course; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Anthropology: AN102 and AN211/PA250 Block I: Calla Jacobson, AN102, Cultural Anthropology Block II: Calla Jacobson, AN211/PA250, Peoples and Cultures of Nepal The first block is an introduction to cultural anthropology. The goals of the course are to examine the diversity of human cultural forms in areas such as subsistence (making a living), social and personal identity, emotions, ritual and belief, social inequality, family and kinship, and gender. We will discuss a variety of cultural groups, from North American Inuit to Bedouin Arabs to high-school students in small-town Texas. In doing so, we will attempt both to understand these groups and to become more aware of the ways that our own cultural beliefs and understandings are constructed. The course is designed both to teach about the unfamiliar cultural practices and beliefs of others and to encourage an examination of our own cultural actions and assumptions about the world. We will pay particular attention to ethnography, the unique methodology of anthropology, and will look at the experiences and results of various kinds of ethnographic fieldwork. We will also address issues such as social change, intercultural contact and conflict, and social inequality. Students will have the opportunity to do "hands-on" ethnographic exercises. The second block builds on the first block, using the tools of anthropological understanding and analysis to make an in-depth study of a culture area: Nepal. Nepal is a very small country, about the size of the state of Tennessee, but it is extraordinarily diverse: stretching from sea level to the highest point on earth, including Hindu, Buddhist, and animist religious traditions, and comprising great cultural and linguistic diversity. The course will begin by contextualizing this diversity within contemporary and historical Nepal as a Hindu kingdom. We will examine the meanings of ethnicity, caste, and identity within nationalizing Nepal and consider the impact of the Hindu caste system on Nepal’s non-Hindu groups. Within this national context, we will also examine the very different ways that gender structures life within caste Hindu and within ethnic groups. Finally, we will take a look at contemporary issues and social changes within Nepal (topics may include changes in the capital city of Kathmandu, issues surrounding national parks in inhabited areas, and Sherpa experiences with tourism). Students will have the opportunity to pursue independent research on a Nepal-related topic of their choosing. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
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Asian Studies Asian Studies/Art History: AH115/PA115 Blocks I and II: Tamara Bentley, AH115/PA115, Confluence & Conflict in Asian Culture Confluence and Conflict in Asian Culture The course will move through three thematic segments. The first, revolving roughly around India, includes early Buddhist sculpture, Hindu and Buddhist temples, textile trade between India and Indonesia, the arts of the Mughal empires of North India, the British Colonization of India, and an in-depth look at Gandhi. The second segment, based in China, includes early Chinese philosophies and their connection to mortuary art, the rise and development of landscape painting in China, new mixed art markets in the Ming, conflicting interpretations of Mao Zedong, and modern Shanghai. The third segment, mainly concerning Japan, covers court art and poetry of the Heian period, Zen arts of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, urban culture of the Edo period, Korean responses to Japanese Colonization, and conflicting responses to Western-style modernization in the writings of Jun’ichiro Tanizaki. We will read primary sources, art historical articles, literary analyses, biographies, excerpts from Edward Said’s Orientalism and other theoretical texts, and novels. We will also see five films. We will travel up to Denver to see the Denver Art Museum and look at Islamic carpets. We will also take a field trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City during the second block of the course. A two-block course with a single instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Asian Studies: JA101/JA130 Blocks I & II: Joan Ericson, JA101/JA130, Japanese Language and Culture This course explores the intersection of Japanese language with the concepts that inform Japanese culture, both traditional and modern. Through an introduction to Japanese, you will have easier access to the underlying aesthetics of literature (from classical poetry and drama to manga) and art forms (from calligraphy and gardens to anime). By the end of the two blocks, you will be able to appreciate recent anime such as "Princess Mononoke" or "Spirited Away" through a better understanding of the cultural and historical referents, as well as catch the excitement through sections of the original dialogue. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for the language portion and the cultural portion of this class. |
Biology Biology/Chemistry: BY100 and CH100 Block I: Murphy Brasuel, CH100, Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science Block II: Lamont Anderson, BY100, Studies in Biology: Forensic Biology and Fiction These linked and integrated courses are designed to provide an introduction to the basic science foundations used in the rapidly growing fields of forensic science. If you are a fan of CSI and murder and mayhem mysteries, and are always wondering if they have gotten the science right, then this is the course for you! It will assume some scientific language and quantitative background (equivalent to about a year each of high school science and math), but the courses are designed for both non-science and science students willing to team up to put their creative, deductive, and laboratory measuring skills to work solving crimes within the confines of the legal milieu. We will use a mix of historical and fictional case studies, collecting evidence from crime scenes to introduce the methodologies employed in the forensic sciences. Library research coupled with written and oral presentations will be used to develop forensic reporting skills. Scientific articles and texts in conjunction with popular literature will be used to elucidate the scientific principles that support analysis and interpretation of forensic evidence. Forensic biology will be examined as an element of criminalistic analysis in the second block, but writing and reading fiction in the mystery/thriller genre will share equal time with Biology in BY100. An afternoon or two each week will be devoted to labs or field trips in both courses. The second block includes a five day field trip to the Baca Campus in the San Luis Valley in the third week for a creative writing workshop. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
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Chemistry Chemistry: CH107 and EV120 Block I: Sally Meyer, CH107, General Chemistry I Block II: Miroslav Kummel, EV120, Topics in Environmental Science: Chemistry and Ecology of Sustainable Agriculture This course combines one block of General Chemistry (CH107) and one block of Topics in Environmental Science (EV120). By linking these two courses, you will be prepared to use the chemistry learned in the first block to better appreciate the complex environmental issues in the ecology of sustainable agriculture discussed in the second block. We will examine issues such as the effects of pesticides and fertilizers on the functioning of agricultural ecosystems and interactions between crop and non-crop organisms. The course will involve hands-on field and laboratory work, field-trips to local farms and ranches, and a weekend trip (October 6-8, *Homecoming/Parents Weekend) to the Prairie Festival at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. The Festival is a celebration of sustainable agriculture and will give us an opportunity to learn from many experts in the field. Without a two-block limit, the topics covered in this course could last an entire four years or even a lifetime! This course is a unique opportunity to use chemistry and ecology to understand environmental problems. Students who need to take General Chemistry as a prerequisite for another course or as a requirement of the Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Neuroscience, Geology, or Environmental Science major, as well as a pre-health professional program, will benefit from this set of linked courses. We will have an opportunity to better understand how chemistry is needed for an understanding of many other fields in science. Prerequisite: Two years of high school algebra and one year of high school chemistry or consent of instructor. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block.
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Classics Classics: CL/HY130 Block I: Patricia FitzGibbon, CL/HY130, The Reinvention of the Greeks: Identity, Empire, and Diaspora Block II: David Mason, CL/HY130, The Reinvention of the Greeks: Identity, Empire, and Diaspora |
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Comparative Literature Comparative Literature: CO100 Block I: William Davis, CO100, Introduction to Comparative Literature Block II: Department, CO100, Introduction to Comparative Literature What is literature? What are genres? How should they be read, interpreted and evaluated? What social and personal functions does writing have? How is writing related to oral tradition? How do writers compare themselves to others (admiration and imitation, rejection, transformation)? This course will study literary texts from ancient to modern and from a variety of languages and cultures, and will emphasize close reading of literary texts as well as critical research, analysis, and writing. A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole.
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Drama/Dance Drama/Dance: DR100 Block I: Tom Lindblade, DR100, Theatre Past and Present Block II: Andrew Manley, DR100, Theatre Past and Present This course is a historical survey of the theoretical, architectural, and practical aspects of the performing arts. The course begins with theories of origins and traces the development of drama through major periods as a way of understanding performance today. Texts include Greek tragedies, Roman comedies, medieval mystery cycles, Shakespearean and Renaissance plays, comedies of manners, American classics, African-American and feminist works, and recent evolutions in dramatic productions. Class format includes lectures, seminar discussions, laboratories, demonstrations, readings of primary and critical texts, and performance. Evaluation by thesis-driven papers, class participation, exams, and small group projects. (1 unit may fulfill Drama/Dance requirements, if applicable) A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole.
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English English: EN207 Blocks I & II: Lisa B. Hughes, EN207, Masterpieces of Literature: Greeks to Modern This introduction to the study of literature addresses many of the vital questions that recur across time and human culture. Starting at the intersection of nature, myth, and history, we will read major works of literature and to a lesser extent philosophy by authors from antiquity to modern times, in various genres such as epic, tragedy, comedy, pastoral, and the modern novel. Homer's Iliad, a meditation on mortality, friendship, passion, and the individual's relation to society, provides the basis for reading Greek tragedy and selections from the Old Testament. The philosophers weigh in on these issues, and we will read Aristotle's Poetics and Plato's Symposium. Nietzsche revisits The Birth of Tragedy and Virginia Woolf investigates the role of classical learning in "On Not Knowing Greek." Our understanding of the literature of the ancient world will offer a vitalizing context for these and other later authors such as Shakespeare, Milton, Larsen, and Pynchon, who see their own work as grounded in this rich tradition. This is a good general introduction to the humanities and to western civilization, and is especially useful for those considering a major in English, Classics or other literatures. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Block I: Adrienne Lanier Seward, EN280, Folklore & Other Media Block II: Adrienne Lanier Seward, EN/AN251, Introduction to Folklore This course introduces students to the field of folklore: the history of the discipline, the materials of study that define it, and the concepts and theories used to make meaning. The class emphasizes, but does not limit itself to, some of the most enduring and popular genres of oral tradition (e.g. folk/fairy tales, urban legends, jokes and pranks, myths). We examine the folklore process in its natural context of one-on-one, face-to-face interaction within small groups, as well as explore the uses of folk traditions in literature and film. With an additional focus on the pervasiveness of folklore in everyday life, students understand and appreciate how folklore shapes identity and worldview. Readings are interdisciplinary and cross-cultural. During the second block students engage in the culminating experience of designing their own folklore collecting projects. This experience includes fieldwork, library research, written documentation and analysis, and an oral presentation to the class. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
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Environmental Science Environmental Science/Psychology: EV120 and PY178 Block I: Howard Drossman, EV120, Introduction to Environmental Science Block II: Emily Chan, PY178, Topics in Psychology: Environmental Conservation “Introduction to Environmental Science” provides an overview of this interdisciplinary field at a level appropriate even for non-science majors: applying concepts, methods, and models from many disciplines to the major problems facing a sustainable management of the environment. The complex interactions of the “biosphere,” the human systems that make up the “sociosphere,” and the physical Earth systems that support them are considered. (Does not meet the field/lab credit.) Block II will introduce you to Conservation Psychology, that is, how psychological processes influence behaviors that help or hurt the environment, and how psychology can help encourage environmental conservation. Readings will be drawn from all areas of psychology. At the end of this course, you should know several psychological theories that are relevant to environmental conservation, and be able to design interventions based on them to promote conservation. Short papers and a large final project will give you the opportunity to practice applying psychology to promote environmental conservation. There will be an overnight field trip Friday, October 6 through Sunday, October 8. *Please note this is Homecoming/Parents Weekend. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
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Feminist and Gender Studies Feminist and Gender Studies: FG110 and FG/HS118 Block I: Sarah Hautzinger, FG110, Introduction to Feminist and Gender Studies: Sex and Power Block II: Tonja Olive, FG/HS118, Gender and Communication: Sex and Power These two linked courses will introduce students to some of the scholarship, the theories, and the debates that presently inform our attempts to understand gender, both in its present-day expressions and as it has existed historically. We will explore gender’s role as an important organizing principle of human society, which affects how each of us exists within and experiences our diverse social world as specific, embodied people. We will also consider how gender expresses and interacts with larger social, ideological, and cultural structures to produce normative regimes with which all of us constantly interact and sometimes contend. The first block course, Introduction to Feminist and Gender Studies, will provide students with the critical thinking skills and beginning information they will need to start their own engagement with feminism as a thorough-going and rigorous critique of human social organization. Feminism's social vision is intrinsically radical, meaning that it seeks to "go to the root" of the deep structures of power which underlie the thought, attitudes, and assumptions that create and keep in place women's subordination. The pursuit of feminism’s critique is both intellectually and psychologically demanding, requiring careful study as well as a willingness to go beyond conventional thinking in ways that students may, at least initially, find threatening. However, the reward—for those who diligently persevere—is the potential to achieve a transformed vision of self and social life that appreciates the constructed nature of social reality and the deep implications of that realization. The second course, Gender and Communication, will examine the central role of communication in the shaping and development of gender and sex. The course operates from the position that what we know as reality is constructed, consciously and unconsciously, within a system of power, through our society's use of a shared verbal and nonverbal symbol system. Students will examine different communication contexts and their role in the construction of gender, including family, education, and organizational communication; public communication about gender in the media; and the personal and cultural ramifications of miscommunication. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
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General Studies General Studies: GS101 (Three sections) "Freedom and Authority" was the first interdisciplinary course at Colorado College and has been taught here for over 40 years. It is a two-block course focusing on the conflict between individual freedom and the limits imposed on this freedom by the state and its laws, by religious institutions and scriptures, and by attitudes of the society in which we live. As an interdisciplinary course, it studies literary, philosophical, religious, historical, and scientific texts in a thematic context. It focuses on four main themes: personal authority, social authority, political authority, and religious authority. Behind all of these themes are questions: What constitutes personal identity? What are the sources of our individual values and commitments? How much of what we are can be traced to ethnic and cultural background? What should one do when conscience and laws conflict? How does the individual relate to the group? How do authority and power work to constrain and mold individuals? How do sources of authority legitimate themselves? Through reading, writing, discussion, and critical thinking we will grapple with these and other questions surrounding the human condition. Section 1: GS101, Freedom and Authority General Studies: GS204 Blocks I & II: Keith Kester, GS204, Spirit & Nature, Religion & Science Come and explore the realms of spirit and nature, and within those realms the human spirit and human nature. Examine where good and evil are to be found. Study the parallels and differences between religion and science. Discover meaningful relationships between: 1) the natural and the supernatural; 2) natural history and natural theology; 3) immanence and transcendence; 4) the animate and the inanimate; 5) the sacred and the secular. Consider how a person of integrity can be both religious and scientific. Explore our world in both natural and religious settings. Become aware of the diversity of life, and of religions, and look for ways to nurture and protect both diversities. Come away looking at our world and all its components, including the spiritual and the natural, in new and different ways. The course will trace the development of the theory of evolution in 19 th century Victorian England by both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace and consider the response to the theory in both scientific and religious circles, both then and now. We will explore faith and the plurality of religions through Paul Tillich's Dynamics of Faith and Diana Eck's Encountering God, consider The Sacred Depths of Nature with Ursula Goodenough, reflect on human-human and human-nature interactions and the nature of evil with the aid of Rosemary Reuther's Gaia and God and Lance Morrow’s Evil: An Investigation, experience different religious communities, and read and recite nature poetry. There will be re-enactments of meetings of the Royal Society of England in response to the publication of The Origin of Species and debates in those meetings. Field projects will include exploring 1) bio-diversity in the San Luis Valley, and 2) the geologic history of the Garden of the Gods and Queen's Canyon. We will be participating in a community service learning project surveying parts of the newly-developed Cheyenne Mountain State Park for signs of wildlife. Class will be held at the Baca campus (located about 175 miles southwest of campus) for one week during Block I. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. An Introduction to Africa Arts A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. Block I: Solomon Nkiwane, GS218, Introduction to Africa Block II: Solomon Nkiwane, GS234, Issues in Contemporary Africa Block I The purpose of the course is to provide a general understanding and appreciation of Africa: its enormous size, significance, and complexity. In the process, hopefully, students will gain some insights into Africa’s uniqueness and the continent’s relations with the rest of the world. It is expected that students will begin to understand Africa’s problems as it increasingly gets involved in this fast globalizing world. The main reading materials will be two books: (1) The Atlas of African Affairs (Second edition) by I.LL. Griffiths, 1994 and (2) AFRICA (Third Edition) by Phylis Martin and Patrick O’Meara, 1995. Block II The purpose of the course is to familiarize students with the range of issues which are contributing to Africa’s underdevelopment and suffering, and what Africa and the international community can do about them. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block.
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Geology Geology: GY130 A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
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History History: HY104 Blocks I & II: Bryan Rommel-Ruiz, HY104, History, Society, and Culture This course compares and contrasts European and Asian Civilizations from the ancient period to the modern. By focusing on political order, material culture, and religion, among other values, we will examine how people structured their lives in these major civilizations similarly and differently. As we move to the modern period we will take these lenses of comparison to look at how cultures and societies developed in the Atlantic World and the Pacific Rim. *This course fulfills the entry requirement for the History, History/Political Science and Classics/History/Politics majors. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Block I: Anne Hyde, HY104/SW175, Culture, Society, and History: The Southwest and its Origins Block II: Doug Monroy, HY104/SW175, Culture, Society, and History: The Southwest and its Origins This course introduces students to the study of history and region by using a world-historical perspective on the place we call the Southwest. Focusing on themes of migration and cultural blending, we will study two threads of history: one beginning in ancient Greece and the other beginning in the ancient Americas, that both finally end up in our own southwestern backyard. The course asks how people construct a sense of place, and explores the implications of this for the relationships people develop between themselves, the environment, and others. As we follow paths that eventually come to the American Southwest, we will look at the artistic and literary traditions and innovations of each region and consider the enduring impact of colonialism. In the second block, the generation of mestizo culture in colonial Mexico and New Mexico will provide a medium for an examination of how “race” is constructed. The Latin American fascination with the ideas of the Enlightenment will be contrasted with how those ideas took root in France and the United States as each experienced revolution or wars of independence. In this context of Enlightenment we will then examine notions of servitude—slavery in the United States, and peonage in Mexico—alongside the rise of capitalism. Late 19 th century ideas about protective tariffs and laissez-faire capitalism as engines of development will then be investigated. The course will then journey into the post-modern Southwest of NAFTA, free trade, “border games” of drugs and immigration, and hip-hop Indians. The course includes a field trip to the Baca campus and to various local communities where students will investigate issues that concern the region's past and present. This course will be integrated over the two blocks with students working on individual and group projects that extend over both blocks. A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. This course will consider the ways in which various ancient, medieval, and modern cultures in the Mediterranean and in Europe have constructed community and identity. Source readings will include major works of literature, seen in the context of, on the one hand, the material culture of village and city life and, on the other, the spiritual and emotional lives of both elites and ordinary people. Class discussion, individual writing assignments, and group research initiatives will alike respond to the question, “How did the people of the past understand participation in society to make their lives meaningful?” *This course fulfills the entry requirement for the History, History/Political Science and Classics/History/Politics majors. A team-taught, two-block course; one grade will be given for the course as a whole.
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Music Music: MU104 Blocks I & II: Victoria Lindsay Levine, MU104, World Music This course explores the role of music in the fascinating cultures of Bali, Native North America, Africa, Ireland, India, and Japan. Students develop an appreciation of the rich and meaningful musical traditions the members of these cultures have developed and learn to interpret music and performance events using interdisciplinary methods. Working with musicians from the cultures represented, students learn to perform songs and instrumental music from Bali, Ireland, and Zimbabwe and perform a public recital of world music on authentic instruments. Students further enhance their musical skills through creative, analytical, and research projects. The course addresses both historic and new musical repertories, including popular music. No prior musical background is necessary. This course meets the ethnomusicology requirement for the Music minor. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
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Philosophy Philosophy: PH203 and PH203 Block I: Alberto Hernandez-Lemus , PH203, Topics in Philosophy: Modernity and Postmodernity in Philosophy and Art, Part I Block II: Alberto Hernandez-Lemus , PH203, Topics in Philosophy: Modernity and Postmodernity in Philosophy and Art, Part II One of the buzzwords in and out of academia today is the term "postmodern," a term often used without a clear referent. This course will help students get a handle on the condition that the buzzword unreflectively points to: the perceived overcoming of the project of modernity, which can be traced to European Enlightenment beginning roughly with the French Revolution, as well as the alleged bankruptcy of grand narratives of social and scientific progress. This course will prepare philosophy majors and non-majors to deepen their understanding of the history of philosophy with History of Modern Philosophy and 20 th Century Philosophy courses. Readings will include some of the following: Descartes, Rousseau, Voltaire, Sade, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, Gramsci, Lyotard, Foucault, Deleuze, Goethe, Kafka, Woolf, Eliot, Baudelaire, Elison, Beckett, and Bataille. In addition, students will do research projects and presentations on visual artists. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block. |
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Physics Physics: PC123/124 Block I and Block II: Barbara Whitten, PC 123 and PC124, Scientific Revolutions: The Copernican Revolution and Relativity 'Tis all in pieces, all cohaerence gone; All just supply, and all Relation: Prince, Subject, Father, Sonne, are things forgot, For every man alone thinkes he hath got To be a Phoenix, and that there can bee None of that kinde, of which he is, but hee.' –John Donne, 1611 In 1543 Copernicus took the Earth from its central position in the world and replaced it with the sun. By 1611 Galileo had turned his telescope to the heavens and found them as changeable and imperfect as the Earth. Because the structure of the universe was intimately woven together with religion and social structure, these changes in the physical world shook the foundations of our relations with each other and with God. John Donne's poetic response illustrates the disorientation of losing your place in the world. Just what was the world in 1611, and how was it changing? We will read from Plato, Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton to sample the way thinkers have thought about the heavens from the ancient Greeks to the 18 th century. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with one instructor in each block; separate grades will be given for each block. |
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Political Science Political Science: PS103 Block I: Tim Fuller, PS103, The Western Political Tradition in Global Perspective Block II: Juan Lindau, PS103, The Western Political Tradition in Global Perspective This course explores the genesis of the Western political tradition in ancient Greece, its expansion and development, and its encounter with the world. A tradition is neither static nor defined by a single thought or idea; it undergoes constant actions of both preservation and innovation and contains numerous voices establishing its character. A tradition is a complex, unsystematic whole encompassing both argument and agreement. We will consider a variety of writings on politics from ancient to modern times, paying attention to continuities and discontinuities in the tradition of thinking about politics. Assignments will also include materials covering the impact of the West on the rest of the world and the reaction of other cultural and intellectual traditions to the spread of Western ideas. We believe that understanding the contours of the tradition sheds light on the current ways we interpret and respond to the world and is of value to students as citizens, whatever major they may ultimately choose. A two-block course with one instructor in each block; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. |
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Psychology Psychology: PY111 Blocks I & II: Tricia Waters, PY111, Introduction to Psychology: General Laws and Individual Differences This course provides a general introduction to five areas of psychological inquiry: human development, abnormal psychology, biological/neuroscientific psychology, learning, and personality. Students will learn the basic principles of psychological investigation through course readings, writing, labs and field work in a community-based setting. The first block will focus on learning/cognition, perception, neuropsychology and social psychology. We will study individual and group differences in intellectual performance, examining work on stereotyping and prejudice as well as research on learning disabilities. The second block will focus on normative and atypical behavior, developmental issues across the lifespan, personality and abnormal psychology. Students will work on community projects over the two-block sequence, and should expect to make a significant commitment of time for both laboratory and community-based work. The course fulfills the entry-level requirement for the Psychology major. A two-block course taught by one instructor; one grade will be given for the two-blocks as a whole. |
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Russian Russian/Eurasian Studies: RU101/RS200 Blocks 1: Alexei Pavlenko, RU101, Elementary Russian Language Block 2: Alexei Pavlenko, RS200, Topics in Russian and Eurasian Studies: Language Literature and Film What's to be done? Who is to blame? What is the Russian soul? These are the "cursed" questions over which the Russian writers, film directors, artists, and intellectuals have been debating since the beginning of the 19 th c entury. Why and how do these questions relate to us today? Russian culture has been perceived by the West as the Other and ( often simultaneously ) as the repository of the West's most cherished values. From Christianity to Marxism to postmodernism, Russia—its history and art — has embodied the crucial conflicts which characterize contemporary consciousness. In spite of the Bolshevik Revolution and the Cold War, much of the European and American intellectual landscape has been shaped by Russian writers, film directors, artists , and composers. Some of the most defining trends in European cultural history of the 20 th century—Realism, Modernism, Existentialism, Symbolism, and Formalism—are inconceivable without Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Mayakovsky, Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Nabokov, and other Russian writers and film directors. In this course, we will integrate the study of the Russian language with the great tradition of Russian literature and film. We begin with the premise that each of these disciplines (i.e., the study of a language, and the concomitant study of literature, film, and culture) infuses and cross-fertilizes the other. Major literary texts will be chosen from among Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina or The Cossacks, Fathers and Sons, and stories by Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn, Nabokov, and Tatyana Tolstaya. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block.
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Sociology Sociology: SO100/SO235 Block I: Gail Murphy-Geiss, SO100, Thinking Sociologically Block II: Gail Murphy-Geiss, SO235, Sociology of Family Family and Social Change The first block will explore sociological thinking in general, including basic theory, methods, and an introduction to the terminology and themes in the field. The goal will be to provide the tools and set the context for deeper sociological analysis. The second block will focus specifically on sociology of family, especially the cutting edge issues of our time, such as same-sex marriage, surrogate motherhood/sperm & egg donation, and international adoption. There will also be significant attention to domestic violence. Assignments will include classic and contemporary readings, debates over controversial issues, as well as data collection in local family courts. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block.
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Spanish Spanish: SP304/SP305 (Prerequisite: At least four years of high school Spanish, or AP grade of 4 or 5) Block I: Salvatore Bizzarro, SP304, Cultural Context & Oral Practice Block II: Salvatore Bizzarro, SP305, Cultural Context & Written Expression Although using different approaches, the first course emphasizing speaking and the second emphasizing writing, these two courses are a language and area program. Spanish 304 begins with oral comprehension and encourages the student to speak as closely to a native speaker as possible. We shall make use of the internet as well as newspapers and magazines, while reading literature that addresses machismo, the battle of the sexes, capital punishment, abortion, religion, astrology, and the differences between the Latin world and the United States, as well as other topics that make the news. The materials used will be practical, the controversial approach simple and, hopefully, interesting, as students acquire a greater understanding of the language they have studied and its cultural aspects. Spanish 304 will lay the foundation for advanced study of the language that will begin in Block 2 with Spanish 305. Spanish 305 will be more of a writing course. While the conversation and the oral practice will continue as an integral part of the two-block offerings, advanced composition is a primary requirement through the study of Hispanic literary texts and taking into account that our studying of an area or region is more cultural than geographic. Students will be encouraged to write papers in Spanish that present arguments and positions aimed at persuading and analyzing, while gathering and interpreting others’ points of views. In both courses we will be studying grammar inductively – i.e. we shall speak first and then learn why we are speaking in a certain grammatical context, with each class reviewing the usage of a particular grammatical point informally presented in the material and the text used. Grammar and vocabulary will be woven into exercises whenever possible, as we shall make exclusive use of Spanish to avoid translations and English in the classroom. Thus, this First Year Experience in Spanish language and culture will depart somewhat from the Spanish you have learned traditionally in the classroom, will challenge you to speak and write about topics of concern in contemporary times, and is intended for students who have successfully completed the equivalent of four or more years of high school Spanish. A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with a single instructor; separate grades will be given for each block.
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Studies in the Humanities Studies in Humanities: HS120 Block 1: Owen Cramer and Liliana Leopardi, HS120, Renaissance Culture Block II: Bob McJimsey and Marie Daniels, HS120, Renaissance Culture Block II A two-block course with two instructors in each block: separate grades will be given for each block.
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General Studies GS101: Freedom & Authority Blocks V & VI: Tonja Olive (Feminist & Gender Studies), GS101, Freedom & Authority "Freedom and Authority" was the first interdisciplinary course at Colorado College and has been taught here for over 40 years. It is a two-block course focusing on the conflict between individual freedom and the limits imposed on this freedom by the state and its laws, by religious institutions and scriptures, and by attitudes of the society in which we live. As an interdisciplinary course, it studies literary, philosophical, religious, historical, and scientific texts in a thematic context. It focuses on four main themes: personal authority, social authority, political authority, and religious authority. Behind all of these themes are questions such as: What constitutes personal identity? What are the sources of our individual values and commitments? How much of what we are can be traced to ethnic and cultural background? What should one do when conscience and laws conflict? How does the individual relate to the group? How do authority and power work to constrain and mold individuals? How do sources of authority legitimate themselves? Through reading, writing, discussion, and critical thinking we will grapple with these and other questions surrounding the human condition. A two-block course taught by a single instructor; one grade will be given for the course as a whole. Block V: Ruth Barton & Richard Hilt, GS242, Woof & Warp: The Weave of Science & Literature Block VI: Daniel D. Chiras, EV120, Topics in Environmental Science: Science Writing in the Age of Contention This FYE course examines some of the ways we write about science. The first half explores the ways science serves as background or subject in literature; the second half is devoted to science journalism, with an emphasis on environmental writing. Block V Block VI A set of linked one-block courses that must be taken together, with two instructors in Block 5 and one instructor in Block 6; separate grades will be give for each block. |
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Studies in Humanities HS120: Renaissance Culture Block V: Regula Evitt & Rebecca Tucker, HS120, Renaissance Culture Block VI: Esther Redmount & Richard Hilt, HS120, Renaissance Culture Block V: "Form and Function in the Arts: Embodying the Renaissance" During this block, we'll examine the re-ordering of European culture through the lenses of literature and art from the 12th through 16th centuries. We will consider changing representations of the human body, sacred and profane, in both literary and visual texts as a means for exploring the authority of classical antiquity and the correlated functions of love and political power. We’ll examine how art and literature operated in the Renaissance—for patrons, for civic and religious institutions, and for different types of audiences. In literature, our readings will cover a range of genres important to the Renaissance and will include selections from Plato (Symposium), Dante (Commedia), Petrarch (Rime Sparza), Chaucer (The Pardoner's Tale), The York Crucifixion [anon.], Machiavelli (The Prince; Mandragola), Shakespeare (Sonnets; Measure for Measure). In the visual arts, we will look at a variety of works from the period in Europe, with a focus on in-depth study of crucial paintings, sculpture, and architecture by artists ranging from Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, and Michelangelo to Dürer and Pieter Bruegel. Block VI: "How They Did It: Patronage and Product in the Renaissance" If the Renaissance is renowned for its breakthroughs in the Arts, Humanities and Sciences, these breakthroughs were made possible by the support and resources of the wealthy, high-minded, and powerful. We examine the interaction between innovation, art, and discovery, on the one hand, and the wealth, gift-systems and patronage that prevailed across Europe during this period, on the other. It appears that Brunelleschi adapted his designs to give donors the opportunity to endow devotional chapels. Many of Galileo's scientific disputes started with discussions around the Medici dinner table. Honor and legitimacy were conferred on individuals, families, court, and church by the patronage of the art of Da Vinci and Michelangelo and the learning of Galileo and Erasmus. And, in their turn, artists and scientists begin to acquire a power and status they retain to this day. We spend the second week of the block at the Baca Campus, where we see for ourselves some of the planetary phenomena Galileo cited in his support of the Copernican heliocentric system. In addition to secondary texts, we use excerpts of the writings of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo. A team-taught, two-block course; separate grades will be given for each block. |
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The Point System for Bidding on Courses at Pre-registration Students pre-register for the following year's courses during the Spring semester. Each student receives 10 points per block and a total of 80 points to bid on their courses during pre-registration. Every student has the same number of points to work with. This allows every student to have the same chance to bid on a course. If the number of points bid on a course does not lead to the enrollment of the student in the class, the student will be placed on the waiting list for the class. Things to remember about the point system and pre-registration:
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