CC Academic engagement

A Mission to Support and Enhance Teaching and Learning

As a community of scholars and learners, Colorado College continually seeks to develop active, collaborative forms of learning that augment the opportunities for deep engagement afforded by the Block Plan. To nurture innovative teaching strategies at the College, the Fine Arts Center Museum is committed to providing faculty with personalized support to develop innovative approaches to teaching using the Museum’s resources. The Museum engages with the curriculum in all divisions through a vibrant program of exhibitions, class visits, skill-building exercises, museum-based courses, student assistantships, and faculty workshops. The museum staff is committed to supporting teaching across the college, through professional development for faculty, opportunities to link museum programs to courses, support for class projects in the museum, and opportunities for research in the collection.

Guiding Principles:

• The development of visual literacy and observational skills are essential components of a liberal arts education; these abilities support and enhance learning across disciplines;
• Working with original artworks and cultural objects within the Museum complements the ways in which students work with primary sources in other disciplines, such as laboratory experiments, field work, and textual analysis;
• Experiences within the Museum can provide safe spaces for intellectual risk-taking and personal growth, and offers new ways to engage all students — even those who rarely participate in classroom discussions;
• Facilitated encounters with original works of art enhance creative and critical thinking by inviting students to reframe their understanding of a subject or apply prior knowledge to a new situation.