Half-block 2005 - Colorado College

- 2005 PHOTO SCRAPBOOK -

In 2004, Colorado College introduced an exciting new "Half-Block" Program that allowed parents, alumni, and friends to experience the intellectual intensity of CC. The college offered two compelling courses, taught on campus by some of the college’s most outstanding faculty. These were serious half-block courses with papers and assignments.

This program was again offered January 10 - 20, 2005. Read a testimonial from one parent who participated.

Please contact the Colorado College office of Alumni Relations for further details or view the 2005 Half-Block brochure in PDF format.

2005 Courses

John Riker, Philosophy: "Ethics, Psychology, and Society: Why it is good to be good". In this course we will explore the question of whether it is personally advantageous to be a morally good person. We will begin with David Callahan’s The Cheating Society, a book that documents the epidemic of cheating that has overtaken American society. Cheaters believe that sometimes it is better only to appear to be a good person rather than actually being a good person. We will inquire into what conditions in contemporary life would lead one believe that being good and doing what is in one’s best interests are not the same. We will then turn to two compelling visions of human life that propose that it is only by becoming ethical that one can reap genuine personal happiness. The first of these is one of the most ancient—Aristotle’s Ethics; while the other has just been developed—Heinz Kohut’s Self Psychology.

Peter Blasenheim, History: "Understanding and Misunderstanding Latin America". Although visions of political instability usually come first to mind at the mention of Latin America, some (but not all) historians point to social stability, and not political unrest, as the region’s most striking feature. This course will test this hypothesis by looking at different theoretical explanations about patterns of change in Latin America and by examining specific themes and issues in the history of Argentina and Brazil, South America’s major countries. Our purpose is to learn how to ask appropriate questions about Latin America—and not to come up with answers or solutions. Along the way, we will learn about some of the historical forces that explain how and why Latin Americans came to be the way they are.