CMC seminars help students become critical thinkers as they discover the learning potential inherent in their own daily activities and experiences. Seminars facilitate the use of the city as a classroom and help students learn from each other's experiences, as well as their own. The values and vocations seminar will explore these questions with the aim to more fully prepare you for life after college. This course is an introduction to the city, focusing primarily on the cultural and economic diversity of the Chicago metropolitan area. It evaluates the role of social systems, especially the political and economic systems that shape urbanized society.
Students look at several major issues facing residents of Chicago.
The class discusses models of social change and hears how individuals, institutions, and communities are addressing issues of common concern. The assignments provide opportunity for students to integrate readings, research and panel presentations with observations from field-based explorations. This seminar is unusual in that it is neither exclusively about art appreciation nor academic analysis. It aims to foster heightened sensitivity to and critical understanding of the arts through three components. The course work includes attendance at all art events, weekly readings, three essays, one 7-10 page paper and a final art project.