Ways of Knowing
Associated Course Pairings:
Course Descriptions
CC101: Philosophy as a Way of Life
Instructor: Jonathan Lee
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Analysis & Interpretation of Meaning
Block: 1
CC120: How to Do Nothing: Italian Marxisms & Feminisms
Instructor: Ken Scriboni
Block: 2
In this course we'll explore the novel critiques of capitalism developed by Marxist and Feminist movements in Italy. From their framework, we'll analyze the current state of productivity culture, self-entrepreneurialism, hustle and grind culture, and in what ways these are related to the larger mental health crisis of our contemporary world. Is endless growth the only option for a life well lived? What does it mean to think of a life outside the sphere of work and productivity? In what ways does our culture value or undervalue care and maintenance? What is the value of doing nothing and leisure? This course will be theoretical and practical. We'll read some canonical texts from these movements, but we'll also practice several techniques that are critical of the basic premises of capitalist creativity culture including meditation, reparative reading, "machinic" writing practices and more.
The class will spend one week at BACA Campus.
CC102: Yoga and the Scientific Method
Instructor: Meredith Course
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Creative Process
Block: 1
Instructor: David Gardiner
Block: 2
“The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." This famous quote from Jesus of Nazareth is but one example of what seems a natural division between mind and body. This division is not only common in many religions but is a mainstay in everyday cultural thinking, globally. In what ways does this bipartite framework get articulated? Inform views of life's purpose? Views of an afterlife? How is it established in secular culture? What reasonings support it? On what bases does it get critiqued? How can philosophical inquiry help us understand this paradigm's power and possibly construct alternative models?”
Instructor: John Horner
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Formal Reasoning & Logic
Block: 1
This course examines the philosophical and psychological dimensions of the various epistemological platforms upon which we believe our capacity to think is based. Logic, science and mathematics are just a few of the paradigmatic examples of reasoning we will explore, along with failures of reasoning, such as conspiracy theories, logical fallacies and mythology.
CC120: Inside Out: Psychology and Philosophy of Emotion
Instructor: Tomi-Ann Roberts
Block: 2
Our feelings matter to us in various ways. Emotions such as anger, fear, love, disgust, and embarrassment are complex phenomena that hold a place of great importance in human life – influencing our decisions, coloring our experience, and affecting our mental and bodily health. We have emotions every day, but what exactly are they? Physiological disturbances? Cultural constructions? Expressions or reactions? Judgments, perceptions, appraisals, or evaluations? And why are they such a significant part of human life? Do they serve a personal, social, or biological function? Do they cloud our thinking, or offer us a kind of insight? Can we control them, and should we wish to do so? In this course, we will explore these and other questions, drawing upon evidence and arguments presented by psychologists and philosophers in this exciting area of interdisciplinary scholarship. Students will be introduced to a diverse body of work attempting to explain the matter and meaning of emotion and feeling. Through a critical investigation of the emotions, we will examine what it means to lead a fulfilling life as a human being.
CC105: Understanding the San Luis Valley
Instructor: Henry Fricke
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Scientific Analysis
Block: 1
The part of Colorado that includes, and surrounds, the San Luis Valley (SLV) has an amazingly rich set of ‘histories’, including those that are earth science, anthropological, cultural, economic and political in nature. In other words it is a region that can be explored using a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives that together fit under the General Education umbrella. In this course students will be introduced to the concept of ‘disciplinary perspectives’ and what defines them in general. As an example of how such disciplines can operate, students will spend several weeks learning and applying the practices & methods inherent to the earth sciences via first-hand study of the SLV region. Then they will step back and consider the ‘why’ of the earth sciences; what questions or applications are considered important, and how the field of study has evolved over time. Throughout the course students will also have the opportunity to study other kinds of histories via readings and conversations with students in other CC100 classes.
Regular afternoon labs. Two day-long local field trips, one overnight field trip to the CC cabin, one two-night field trip to the Baca campus, One overnight field trip to Trinidad Lake State Park.
Instructor: Christina Rader
Block: 2
This course considers where success comes from: skill, effort, or luck, to explore how knowledge is created and transmitted in the discipline of business via the writing process. We focus in particular on writing about success. We take a research project about success and craft it into written products for academics and practitioners. In doing so, we explore how the writing process in the discipline is a result of its history, culture, practices and values, as well as how the writing process shapes the discipline. We practice skills, habits, and processes of effective writing in the discipline.
Occasional afternoon meetings with professor on Fridays.
Instructor: Dan Johnson
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Societies & Human Behavior
Block: 1
As the social science devoted to decision-making, economics is a mathematical analysis of how to optimize outcomes. But how do we make choices when the yardstick isn’t obvious? How do we assess outcomes that are more moral than financial, more holistic than quantitative? Even more challenging, how do humans interact effectively when we don’t agree on how to assess the outcomes, or don’t even agree on the value systems we might use to evaluate the outcomes? This course is about how we make economic decisions, but more importantly it is about how we think about our own morality and the morality of those around us as we make decisions together. So each day we will advance your knowledge of the core principles of economic theory while reflecting on them critically to ascertain their implicit cultural assumptions (and therefore, also our own positionality as scholars and citizens).
One local field trip to visit local court.
CC120: Introduction to Political Philosophy
Instructor: Eve Grace
Block: 2
Investigates the foundation and aims of politic rule as well as fundamental debates over the meaning of justice, liberty, power, authority, law and rights through an examination of basic but competing perspectives drawn from ancient, medieval, and modern texts. Thinkers include, but are not limited to, Aristotle, Aquinas, Machiavelli, and Locke.