Courses in this cluster will examine the way that modern technological advancements, from the discovery of new antibiotics to social media and artificial intelligence, have changed the way that we interact with one another and the world at large.

Associated Course Pairings:

Course Descriptions

CC101: New Media Publics and Social Movements

Instructor: Baran Germen
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Analysis & Interpretation of Meaning
Block: 1

This course investigates the impact new media technologies and infrastructures have on the notion of the public through an analysis of select global-scale social and migratory movements in the recent. We will carry out our investigation with attention to three media phenomena of the twenty-first century: social media's instrumentality in mass protests and insurgent movements of the last decade; the increasing deployment of unmanned vehicles of surveying, mapping, and targeted killings in contemporary warfare; and activist-artists' response to ongoing humanitarian crises of mass displacements and migrations through conventional and new media. We will thereby examine how shifting present-day media practices and networks signal an emergent public that expands the communicative and practical methodology of revolutionary, anticolonial, and transnational social and political activism.

Some film screenings from 10-12.

CC120: Introduction to Russia

Instructor: Alexei Pavlenko
Block: 2

CC120 Russia: Introduction to the Language, the Literature, and the Film is an emphasis-on-writing course focused on exploring and practicing written expression through an analysis of Russian culture, particularly its literature and film. By the end of this course, students will be able to demonstrate in their research essays a contextualized understanding of samples of Russia’s prominent writers, film directors, and politicians, as well as a familiarity with Russian intellectual movements from the 1840s to the present.

2 day trip to Baca.

CC103: Socially Responsible Computing

Instructor: Cory Scott
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Formal Reasoning & Logic
Block: 1

Computer networks, algorithms, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) are an ever-present part of daily life. These systems are often deployed in ways that have serious impacts on society, the economy, and the environment. This course introduces students to the basics of computer programming and how computer systems work. We will cover the basics of the Python programming language with examples drawn from many fields (e.g. chemistry, biology, linguistics, video games, art, music). Additionally, we will discuss more broadly how computers store and manipulate information in each of these areas. We will read and consider a variety of viewpoints that discuss the place of computers in society. Special attention will be placed on the social impacts of computing: how can we build computer systems that are environmentally conscious, accessible, and anti-racist?

Saturday field trip to Nan Desu Kan (anime convention) in Denver, and a field trip to the Denver Art Museum.

CC120: Writing as Translation

Instructor: Aline Lo
Block: 4

This course helps you develop your own voice as we explore different approaches to the concept of "translation” Alongside questions of what and who defines the field of translation, we think through larger questions about authority and representation: “How have others established their perspective?, “How do I establish my own perspective?,” and “How do I empower myself to write within an established scholarly conversation?” Thinking about writing as a process and a practice, your work will culminate in a research-driven project that brings together different writing assignments that are creative, reflective, and critical.

CC105: Discovery of New Antibiotics: From the Laboratory Bench to Bedside

Instructor: Amy Dounay and Olivia Hatton
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Scientific Analysis
Block: 1

Antibiotics are one of the primary tools we have to treat bacterial infections and have saved millions of lives. However, the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections presents a significant challenge for science and society. How do antibiotics work and how does antibiotic resistance develop? How do scientists discover novel antibiotics and other medicines? How are new medicines tested for safety and efficacy? In this course, we will explore how new medicines are designed, tested, marketed, and administered in the community. Throughout, we will consider how these processes have benefitted or marginalized different identity groups. Finally, students will participate in a collaborative research project to test potential novel antibiotics for the treatment of biofilm-mediated bacterial infections. This course is designed for students who are not currently planning to major in the chemical or biological sciences and/or are taking the course to satisfy the Scientific Analysis general education requirement.

Some afternoon classes/labs.

CC120: Influencing Public Policy through Written Narratives

Instructor: Kat Miller-Stevens
Block: 2

In this course, you will explore written narratives used by grassroots and nonprofit organizations as a tool to influence public policy. Grassroots advocacy is often viewed as a major force for the renewal of American democracy and a counteractive element to the interests of big business. Advocacy work is complex in that it entails pursuing public and community interests while often working with or against powerful elite influences. This course examines the role of grassroots and nonprofit organizations in the public policy process, focusing on the different ways they use narratives to persuade policymakers and powerful industries. A primary goal of this course is to practice writing policy narratives from a grassroots perspective.

CC106: #EverybodyWantstoSaveTheWorld #SharingMemesfromtheToilet

Instructor: Paulina Rodis
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Societies & Human Behavior
Block: 1

For many, social media is an everyday habit: checking in with family and friends; following a favorite team, celebrity, or influencer; or even looking up the answer to a quick question (like where to eat next). Given its place in our lives, it's easy to forget the power of social media, how it can give us the ability to collapse time and space, provide opportunities to engage in deep conversations with hundreds of strangers, or help us change our individual worlds (or the world more broadly). Moreover, the Internet broadly and social media specifically have so thoroughly transformed everyday life that the potential for greater change through it, the ability to save the world through memes seems possible. At the same time, all those opportunities come with the potential for diverse kinds of harm, greater surveillance, and increasingly complicated questions of permanence and authenticity. In this class, we'll explore what social media means by studying how we use it everyday, how its many forms shape (for better and for worse) our relationships and experiences and, crucially, how social media isn't a neutral or isolated space, but a world that can reflect, scrutinize, and exacerbate all our offline realities.

Potentially one local field trip.

CC120: Race, Place, and Environmental Health

Instructor: Wade Roberts
Block: 3

This course draws on sociological and public health literatures to examine the relationship between historical forms of systemic racism and contemporary inequities in environmental health across neighborhoods and communities. Students will develop proficiency in ArcGIS Pro, a leading geospatial software program, to carry out research while learning how theory-informed data analysis and the process of writing can work together to generate critical insights that further the cause of social justice.