What’s to be done? Who is to blame? What is the Russian soul? These are the “cursed” questions the Russian writers, film directors, artists, and intelligentsia (интеллигенция) have been debating since the beginning of the 19th century. 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 that characterize contemporary consciousness. In spite of the Bolshevik Revolution and the Cold War

This course is an introduction to comparative mythology and material culture in the ancient Mediterranean basin and the Near East. It is designed sequence with the First-Year Writing Seminar with the same title. Block 1 is an exploration of the ancient Greek psyche through history, philosophy literature and myth. We will read selections of epic and lyric poetry, oracles, riddles, drama, and myths in Ovid complementary to them to inquire into how transformations in language and style reflect cultural and historical changes, focusing especially on expressions of the liminal realms between gods and humans. We also consider ways of receiving and interpreting these ideas in eras that postdate the classical period. Some of these forms of reception are artistic, others literary, dramatic or in film. Students will also see how other disciplines approach the study of myth and culture, including, but not limited to, Anthropology, Art History, Gender Studies, History, Philosophy, and Psychology.

Introduction to the liberal arts through reading of some of their most ancient and foundational sources. Greek and Roman literature from various genres (such as epic, dramatic, lyric and philosophical); modern ways of receiving and interpreting them. Art, architecture and topography of ancient Greece and Rome. This course will consider the long-standing influence these civilizations exercised in the development of later Western cultures, and will examine modern outcomes and parallels to the historical forms and movements, such as Athenian democracy as a precedent for American democracy, colonization in antiquity and European colonialism in the c. 16-19, and the Roman Empire as a precedent for the expansive American State of late c. 19 to the present.

Travel writing is arguably one of the most persistent forms of narrative found across different cultures and time periods. In this class we will take a transhistorical approach to the study of travel narratives. Our conversations about texts of early European exploration in different parts of the world, narratives by South Asian, African and Caribbean authors and recent popular television shows and documentaries will be guided by the following fundamental questions. What defines a travel narrative? What real or imaginative geographies do these narratives chart and what kinds of knowledge do they produce about cultural “others”? What might these texts teach us about the relationship between knowledge and power? Further, in what ways have these so called cultural “others” in turn, engaged creatively with the form and expectations of the European, colonial travel narrative? We will also collectively think about the rapidly evolving relationship between contemporary travel writing and the tourism industry, especially around questions of conservation.

In this CC101 course, we investigate the often-neglected histories of Black and Brown Muslims as they have negotiated a place for themselves as Muslims in the context of a hegemonic White (Euro-American) Protestant milieu. In the process, we discover how Islam has served minority communities as a site of religious creativity and adaptation, as well as an emblem of a distinctive, if often contested, religious identity—both before and after 9/11.

What does it mean to be human, and what are the limits of being human? What is 'humanism' and what are the (bio)politics surrounding this concept? That is, how have 'humanism' and the German concept of 'Bildung' ('proper' education) been marshaled to construct discourses around civility and civilization, normativity, and propriety? What groups do these discourses target and exclude, and how has the study of literature been complicit in such exclusion? What current trends in 'Literaturwissenschaften' (literary studies) have sought to challenge 'anthropocentric' modes of writing and reading, how have they done this, and why is it important? Our class will interrogate these and related questions through both its content (literature, film, history, philosophy) and its methods (close reading, distant reading, literary analysis and interpretation, comparative analysis, digital humanities). We will study representations of the non-human (animals and monsters), the almost human (robots), and the post-human (cyborgs), analyzing how such representations reflect changing cultural attitudes towards and anxieties about being human. We will also reflect on methodological trends in the discipline of German Studies, and literary studies more broadly, which have both embraced-and leveled strong critiques against-humanism. These include hermeneutics, poetics, didacticism, close reading (New Criticism), distant reading, disability studies, animal studies, and the digital humanities.

Museums have been called “managers of consciousness” – places that educate about history and beauty, but that also serve as “propaganda machines.” This course looks at the history of art as it is connected to the history of museums. Whether created for museums or not, much of the world’s cultural heritage now exists in museum spaces, giving rise to crucial questions: How do the colonial legacies of the museum impact our understanding of the art within it? What role does the museum play in the formulation of histories, art canons, and art markets? If the arts and museums in tandem define knowledge, culture, and economic power, who benefits, and who is marginalized? In what ways do artists create artworks that navigate and leverage the power of the museum, or challenge and disrupt it? Can the art world, and the museum, be de- colonized? Using case studies, the class will look broadly at art and museums across the globe to unravel how the creation of art and the operation of the museum work (or don’t work) together. The course will engage with interdisciplinary approaches to illuminate how art and museums generate historical, rhetorical, and visual meaning, as well as how they assert cultural and political power. We’ll discuss current hot-button issues in the art and museum worlds, including the calls for diversity in exhibitions and staffing, repatriation of artworks, the representation of indigenous, marginalized, and colonized cultures within museum spaces, authority vs. censorship, the role of corporate giving, and the rise of the private museums and investment art collecting. Through research, projects, and field trips, the class will take advantage of the resources of the museum of the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College as well as other museums.

This block will focus on exploring and interpreting the African experience from the cinematic perspective. The course will focus mainly on the visual representations of Africa and Africans. We will explore the contemporary dialectical interactions between the indigenous traditions on the one hand and colonialism, Arabo-Islamization, Westernization and Modernization on the other. Topics such as slave trade, roots and ancestry, diaspora, colonial dynamics, stereotypes, and Independence, will be approached through the viewing and discussion of important films by directors such as Ousmane Sembène, Moussa Touré, Jean-Marie Teno, and others.

This course is an introduction to the field of legal anthropology. The course is primarily concerned with the problem of law in action. It interrogates how individuals and groups engage and interpret the law and, in turn, how laws shape societies and individuals. We will learn how to study law and legal institutions ethnographically and explore the class and racial dynamics of modern-day legal operations. We will also focus on some key concepts in legal anthropology like sovereignty and rights. Readings will include ethnographies from US, South Africa, India, Russia, Egypt among others.

This course will examine what we understand to be “Latin America” through different disciplinary fields and cultural productions. What does “Latin America” refer to exactly? Who gets to define and who does not? What forms of authority (scholarly, political, artistic) are necessary to construct that which we call “Latin America”? Why is the term useful or not useful and for whom? How does linguistic diversity play into it (Spanish, English, French, indigenous and creole languages)? We will consider a variety of perspectives from Latin American artists, scholars, and politicians, and also US and European historical understandings of the region. By understanding the constructed nature of the term, we will then look at how various groups have worked to de-essentialize “Latin America” and what might be gained from those efforts. The course will touch on issues of empire and power, as well as resistance and resilience and we will focus on specific themes, such as culture and the environment, race and ethnicity, and economic dependency. This course is designed to align with the college’s Antiracism Initiative, as it deals with the racialization of bodies during colonization, with contemporary unequal relations between the US and Latin America, as well as with political emancipatory struggles led by indigenous, afro-descendent, and queer people throughout the region.

Contemporary global and world literature enables us to examine not only environmental dilemmas in specific contexts, but also the understudied linkages between global ecological issues and various systems of injustices, including colonialism, racism, ethnification, sexism and global economic inequality. By critically engaging the work of contemporary social and eco-activists, documentary/film makers, journalists, ethnographers, ecologists and literary authors from diverse national locations—South Africa, multicultural U.S., India, Nigeria, the Maldives, the Caribbean and the Middle East, this critical inquiry seminar helps students explore how the environment has a direct impact on the production, circulation and perception of knowledge in the world today.

This course starts with introducing students to Chinese concept of family, nature and self and how Chinese philosophical thinking (Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism) transformed way of life for the East, but will focus on critical inquiry of social and political changes of modern China and help students to understand how these changes perceived and conjured up modern Chinese society and cultural landscape as well as individual identity. This is an introductory course, which will lead students to study Chinese culture in a broader historical, political, social and global context.

Exploring the various answers to the question from the Platonic Academy in antiquity to the founding of liberal arts colleges in America in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the founding of Colorado College; study of the humanities, the inclusion of the natural sciences and the development of the social sciences in the 19th century. The advent of women’s colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. And philosophic reflections on the role of higher education in the larger society today.

Introduction to Feminist and Gender Studies investigates the dynamics and consequences of power, how power is mediated through identities and the relationship of these issues to representation and production of knowledge. In addition, we also examine the theories and methodologies constitutive of Feminist and Gender Studies, and interdisciplinary field that examines the historical, contemporary, and always changing relationships between power and markers of identity, such as gender, sexuality, race, class, nation, dis/ability, and citizenship. Informed by the legacies of the civil rights, student, labor, LGBTQ, and women's movements, this course encourages reflection on student participation in institutions of power and privilege, as well as their role in affecting change.

What is it to lead a meaningful and good life? How can we embrace a way of living that is respectful of others and authentic to ourselves? This course explores a diverse array of thinkers and texts that seek to answer such questions and to help people understand how to live well. The course draws upon and puts into creative and critical conversation the diversity of ways in which philosophers across time and around the globe have grappled with the challenges of living a human life.

In this course we will explore the concepts that inform Japanese culture, both traditional and modern. This includes acquiring an understanding of 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 block students will be able to appreciate anime such as “Princess Mononoke” or “Spirited Away” through a better understanding of the cultural and historical referents. Here are some of the overall concepts we will be addressing in Block 1: What is the Humanities academic discipline? What are stereotypes? Who writes the history of a culture? What is high culture? Equal time will be spent on discussing readings and videos about the history, literature, and other aspects of Japanese culture. Readings, discussions, and writing assignments will be in English.

Examines contemporary media and its effects on our understanding and experience of culture and society. In-depth reading of influential theories in the disciplines of contemporary film and media theory, Cultural Studies, and technology studies, as well as close analysis of visual media (television, film, web pages, and interactive technology). Group projects and analytical writing assignments will emphasize both formal and ideological analysis of media.

This course is designed as an introduction to fascism, starting from Italian fascism, to explore other forms of fascism, populism and totalitarianism in the world. Special attention will be given to textual analyses, as well as writing and research.