College Transitions Program

Comparative Ideologies

Courses in this cluster will consider the histories and legacies of different political ideologies such as communism, post-communism, and fascism.

Associated Course Pairings:

This table lists the CC100 and CC120 courses in this thematic cluster.
CC101: The Rise of Fascism	and	CC120: Writing the News
CC106: Central Europe's Post-Communist Journey, 1989 to Present	and	CC120: Dostoevsky or Tolstoy?

Course Descriptions

CC101: The Rise of Fascism

Instructor: Amanda Minervini
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Analysis & Interpretation of Meaning
CRN# 18277
Block: 1

What does the term “fascism” mean, and which are its historical origin and conceptual antecedents? Which are some of the main theories of fascism? How has fascism been represented, which symbols did it create, appropriate, instrumentalize? What is its relationship to media? Why and how is fascism “fascinating”? Is fascism a recurrent “disease of power”? And, if we are seeing a resurgence of fascism in the contemporary world, why does it keep happening, and which are the similarities and differences from other instantiations of fascism? Through the reading of academic texts, newspaper articles, the analysis of films and documentaries, and a podcast, this course is designed as an introduction to the concept fascism through its first historical instantiation: Italian Fascism. This course is also an invitation to acquire the tools to explore meaningfully other forms of fascism, populism, and totalitarianism in the world.

Two field trips returning to campus by 2 pm.

CC120: Writing the News

Instructor: Corey Hutchins
CRN# 18317
Block: 3

Students in Writing the News will learn how to gather information and properly assemble it to create compelling and engaging narratives for a broad readership in various ways. Whether writing a news report for publication or drafting a press release on behalf of an nonprofit client, clear concise, accurate, and error-free copy is expected. In this class, students will understand the difference and relationship between journalism, advertising, public relations, and other forms of communication. They will learn how to write news stories, editorials and opinion columns, memos, emails, analysis, and narrative nonfiction. They will also learn how to craft press releases and to tell stories in different ways from different perspectives, and on different platforms including social media. The goal of this class is to help students understand that each kind of writing operates within its own guidelines, ethics, structure, style, and form.

CC106: Central Europe's Post-Communist Journey, 1989 to Present

Instructor: John Gould
Learning Across the Liberal Arts Designation: Societies & Human Behaviors
CRN# 18288
Block: 1

An introduction to the politics of Central Europe and the Western Balkans since the end of Communism. Students critically examine the broad range of approaches used by scholars and policy makers, both within and across the disciplines of the Liberal Arts, to explain events and make policy. Particular attention will be given to how political power and economic wealth are constructed, maintained, and contested.

There will be 3-4 films shown over lunch, generally concluding at 1:30 pm.

CC120: Dostoevsky or Tolstoy?

Instructors: Alexei Pavlanko
CRN# 18326
Block: 4

CC120 "Dostoevsky or Tolstoy?" is a writing-intensive course focused on exploring and practicing literary analysis of the two epoch-making Russian writers, Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) and Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910). The two masters of nineteenth-century realism offered radically different visions of human nature, the arts, and the place of Russia in the world. The class will examine the contents and the social, philosophical, and biographical contexts of Dostoevsky’s and Tolstoy’s works. By the end of this course, the students will be able to demonstrate in their essays a contextualized understanding of the primary and secondary texts discussed in the class and an understanding of literary analysis as a distinct form of writing.

There will be an overnight trip to Baca campus.

Report an issue - Last updated: 07/11/2025