Field Trip Courses

Field trips range from one-day visits to Denver to visit with the executives of high-tech telecommunications firms and the front offices of professional sports franchises to extensive one- to two-week field trips throughout the Southwest to study environmental economics issues. Some courses are able to take place entirely in a different country!

Many classes in the Economics and Business department will include local field trips or take place abroad. Below are some specific courses that are held in countries and cities across the nation and the world. Faculty are able to offer students truly extraordinary learning experiences due to Colorado College's location, resources and unique Block Plan calendar.

 

Local

Local Schools: Decision Making and Negotiation

EC114 Principles of Decision Making & EC113 Negotiation with Professor Christina Rader, to be taken in that order, are designed for first-year students as the first classes they could take at CC. The courses include field trips to local schools for service learning.

This first course examines how people make decisions, drawing on the work of behavioral psychologists and behavioral economists to understand how decisions are made and why this makes a difference in addressing real world problems such as caring for the environment and for human health. Topics include framing the decision problem, making decisions under risk and uncertainty, dealing with conflicting values, forming group decisions, and improving decision making.

The second course explores the processes of bargaining and negotiation, the dynamics of interpersonal and intergroup conflict, and theory and research related to processes of influence, negotiation, and conflict management. Skills will be developed through case analysis, role playing, and service learning.


 

Baca: Nonprofit Management

Students in EC325 Topics in Business: Nonprofit Management course take a 3-4 day trip to Baca (Southern Colorado) in week 3 of the block with Professor Kat Miller-Stevens. The nonprofit sector is a significant component of the economic, social, and political fabric of the United States. This course offers a broad introduction to the study and practice of the nonprofit sector. The course is designed to explore the history, scope, and significance of the nonprofit sector, in addition to key areas of nonprofit management such as writing sound mission and vision statements, developing strong boards of directors, recruiting and motivating talented staff and volunteers, creating strategic plans and innovative programs, and wisely managing fiscal and human resources.


 

Denver: Sports Economics

EC241 The Economics of Sports is taught by Professor Aju Fenn. The course will examine sports economics models. Students will apply theory to various aspects of both collegiate and professional sports. Topics include (but are not limited to) wage discrimination in sports, the economics of stadiums, alumni giving and collegiate athletics, academics and collegiate athletics, sports rights and broadcasting, and sports and gambling.

Domestic

Boston: Economics of Innovation

Students in Professor Dan Johnson's EC348 Economics of Innovation class spend a week learning about the history of innovation in Boston, and meet with alums and CC supporters at venture capital and private equity firms, startups and incubators, educational institutions like Harvard and MIT, big pharma and electronics and manufacturing, public policymakers and many more. After their last visit, a full 20% of the class landed jobs or internships in the area.

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International

England: Industrial Revolution

EC385 Topics in Macroeconomics: The Industrial Revolution is a two-block course taught by Professor Vibha Kapuria-Foreman and Professor Esther Redmount. The industrial revolution that began in England is, arguably, one of the defining events of western civilization. The productive capacity made possible by combining coal with steam power unleashed human beings from their connection with the land, community and society, in unprecedented ways. Such a transformation could not go unnoticed by some of the period's greater thinkers - Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, but also by great artists such as John Constable, William Turner, Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens. Following a historical progression, this course develops an understanding of how the industrial revolution transformed the British economy and society and led to the development of a new "worldly" philosophy, the study of how human beings organize themselves to create and distribute goods and services - the birth of economic thought. By studying the industrial revolution and its resulting social and intellectual ferment, students will come to an understanding that issues raised by such contemporary "revolutions" in production, technology, information, and globalization had roots in the Black Death in the 14th century and the rise of science in the Renaissance. The economic ideas that emerged from the industrial revolution continue to influence our world. While the industrial revolution in England covers some 200 years, we will extend further back to consider what motivated these changes in economic and social relationships as well as production and to examine their continuing impact.

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Nicaragua: "The Coffee Marketing Challenge"

EC425 Advanced Topics in Business: Marketing Practicum: "The Coffee Marketing Challenge" with Professor John Mann in Block 5 2018 is a farm-to-market marketing project connecting local artisanal coffee growers in the mountains of Nicaragua to craft coffee consumers in Colorado Springs. Students work in teams to apply core marketing principles to define a target market, create and refine marketing concepts, and then produce and sell packaged coffee sourced from growers in Nicaragua. Teams work with a craft coffee roaster in the Colorado Springs area for production and packaging. Course topics include marketing principles such as positioning, differentiation, advertising, pricing, distribution channels, sales, accounting, and finance.

The class includes a one-week trip to Nicaragua to live among the coffee growers and acquire insights into their lives and operations that inform the subsequent marketing concept development. In addition to providing a real-world laboratory to apply and grow marketing skills, the course provide an opportunity for students to develop appreciation for Nicaraguan history and culture, developing world economic systems, and entrepreneurial challenges.

Future course is likely to take place in Guatemala.

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Report an issue - Last updated: 09/09/2022