Embodied Practices

Courses in this cluster examine the nature of bodies and embodied practices, asking questions about the cultural and scientific value placed on the body, interpretations of experience arising from the senses, and the role of the senses as a mode of knowing.


CC100: Emotion and Meaning in Music

Instructor: Michael Grace
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Historical Perspectives
CRN# 13943
Block: 1

Why do you like your favorite music? Answering this question is not always easy because individual preference emerges from both the affect of the music on your emotions as well as the appeal of specific compositional aspects. The process of expressing feeling and meaning in music has deep roots that provide a foundation for understanding our musical world today. During the history of music in Western culture, some composers have focused on the expression of emotion regardless of form while others have sought to bring a greater degree of order to the mix. In fact, we might view music history as the swing of a pendulum from periods of unbridled romanticism to others that privilege a more methodical approach. This course explores such trends and considers how social and cultural considerations influence the creation and meaning of music from Bach to the early 20th Century. We will focus on periods of change in our musical heritage, changes that generally result from a desire for greater emotional content or a renewed interest in musical structure or order. Such periods include the outburst of romanticism in the early 19th Century when the music of Chopin, Berlioz and Liszt seemed to trump that of Mozart and Beethoven, the emergence of “Modernism” in the early 20th Century when the music of Stravinsky and Schoenberg superseded that of Mahler and Debussy, and the age of minimalism where Terry Riley and Steve Reich inverted the overwrought procedures and techniques of the post-WWII generation of composers that preceded them. Forays into the realms of jazz and popular music reveal similar trends in these genres as well. The meaning of a piece of music today depends greatly on cultural considerations, regardless of where it lies on the spectrum of expression and form. For this reason, we will always examine the political, philosophical and social contexts of the works we study. Music provides a window into the lives and cultures of past and contemporary generations. These experiences help us understand our own world and our place in history, while providing a variety of models for expressing our own musical tastes more clearly. Students do not need to have prior musical training or experience to participate in this course.

CC120: Food and the Nation

Instructor: Tyler Cornelius
CRN# 13901
Block: 4

One of the best windows into the values of a society is by looking at what they eat – where their food comes from, how it is prepared and consumed, and what it can tell us about the larger forces shaping its past and present. In this course students will use environmental history to ask and answer questions about social, political, and environmental change. In exploring these ideas the course will engage a broad range of historical materials, including dairies, menus, recipes, documentary film, photography, advertisement, government legislation/regulation, architecture, and… food itself. This class will be both interesting and delicious!


 


CC100: Food for Thought

Instructor: Tyler Cornelius
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Analysis & Interpretation of Meaning
CRN# 13903
Block: 1

This course is an introduction to food as a serious subject/object of analysis, beginning with investigations of the earliest American food systems and ending with the ecological problems associated with industrial agriculture today. In learning about the history of food in North America this class will encounter diverse perspectives across a number of academic disciplines. Our inquiry will be both historical and contemporary with a focus on present-day issues relating to social justice and sustainability. In exploring these ideas the course will engage a broad range of materials, including history, documentary film, fiction, photography, advertisement, government legislation/regulation, architecture, and… food itself. This class will be both interesting and delicious!

Note: Some field trips, usually returning by 3 pm.

CC120: Food Fight

Instructor: Tyler Cornelius
CRN# 13904
Block: 2

One of the best windows into the values of a society is by looking at what they eat – where their food comes from, how it is prepared and consumed, and what it can tell us about the larger forces shaping its past and present. In the second part of this course students will build and expand upon their exploration of the history of food in North America to ask and answer questions relating to social, political, and environmental change. In tracing the relationship between food and power, this class explores the role of food in crafting personal and collective identities; the contradictions of current food systems; and the use of food in political and cultural critique.

Note: Possible 3 day trip to the San Luis Valley. Some afternoons, finishing by 3:30 pm.


 


CC100: Nutrition's Role in the Pursuit of Health

Instructor: Eryn Murphy
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Scientific Analysis
CRN# 13905
Block: 1

Emphasizing an exploration of the current literature investigating the links between nutrition and the spectrum of physical and mental health, students will build the skills necessary to interpret the research and reflect on the application of the findings to their lives.

CC120: Sport, Media, and Society

Instructor: Taylor Nygaard
CRN# 13908
Block: 3

This course examines the ways in which discourse surrounding sports influences culture, politics, and identity. Using the tools of media and cultural studies students analyze the discourses surrounding topics such as the rhetorical construction of the athlete, sporting events, athletes as racialized and gendered bodies, the commodification of the athlete, athletes and activism, as well as fandom and identification. This isn’t a class about the rules or the appreciation of sport. It’s about how sport is commemorated, how its heroes and villains are constructed and represented, and most importantly what that tells us about how contemporary popular culture values different racial, gendered, and class identities. The aim of the course overall is to introduce students to the kinds of questions scholars ask in studying sport and to enable students to improve their writing by learning to assess and analyze sources more carefully, and to position their own perspective among others in a way that is informed, critical, and civil.

Note: This course will require out-of-class screenings. Most will be available via streaming platforms.


 


CC100: Practicing Togetherness: Building Community through the Arts and Creative Action

Instructor: Shawn Womack & Rebecca Parker
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Creative Process
CRN# 13906
Block: 1

What happens when we imagine with our bodies and our minds, with our curiosity and our intellect to discover and learn together? This course centers on daily artistic explorations as the means to create, to collaborate, to come together. How might we reimagine and animate togetherness and belonging – a community - through our creative practices? Artists, community organizations, educators, and activists have a history of working in tandem using art to build community. We will explore the ways the creative process can meaningfully contribute to social change drawing on examples from the visual and performing arts. How might our performance-based acts and community-building affect social change? What is the artist’s role, responsibilities and ethical dilemmas when taking part in a community? How do we create an inclusive and brave space to recognize, respect and speak to difference? The course will draw from resources within the college and from extended networks in Colorado Springs and beyond. Students from all arts disciplines are welcome, however, no prior artistic training is necessary to join and enjoy this course.

Note: A few afternoon (no more than 6) viewing sessions and artist interviews as well as two to three field trips in the Springs.

CC120: Playing and Plays

Instructor: Ryan Platt
CRN# 13907
Block: 2

This course proposes that serious learning depends on a frequently neglected skill: play. Play cultivates our capacity to make new discoveries, imagine alternative possibilities, and contend with setbacks, failures, and challenges. The course explores many types of play, including children’s play, rule-based games, improvisation, and combat sports. Reaching across disciplines, we will speak with scholars and scientists about how they experiment with ideas and possibilities in their research. The course also introduces methods and materials that theatre artists use to write plays and hone their skills as actors. While taking inspiration from theatre, this course is primarily a writing seminar and does not require prior experience on stage. Students should expect to play and experiment with writing in daily in-class exercises that draw on an unruly combination of scholarly and non-academic readings drawn from philosophy, sociology, performance studies, literature, and journalism.

Note: 1-3 day trips.


 

Report an issue - Last updated: 07/22/2022