In the 1992 vice presidential debate, Admiral James Stockdale--Ross Perot's running mate--began by asking, "Who am I? Why am I here?" This was later parodied by Phil Hartman on SNL, but they're good questions we should all ask more often. I give them as advice for writing and revising papers--if you can't answer those questions about a sentence or paragraph, it shouldn't be there. It now strikes me that they are equally good questions to ask about a class and about a syllabus, especially a class as nebulous as Collo. So to open what will hopefully be an extended conversation (or soliloquy) about what this class can and should be, I'm starting with the Stockdale questions.
Let me ruin the surprise and say upfront that I don't have (good) answers. The easy answer is that it's a class UHS, Midways and FPAs have to take every semester because someone put it in the curriculum, but that's not very helpful. I think the better answers will involve thinking about the goals of an Honors education and how what we do (or could do) in Collo contributes to those.
These are big questions that we aren't going to answer any time soon. For now, let these questions serve as an invitation to join the discussion (or at least follow along.) Whatever Collo ultimately becomes, I want that process to be transparent and for those who will have to live with the results to at least have an opportunity to be a part of those changes. I make no promises about the frequency, relevance, originality or linearity of the posts to come over the course of the summer, but I hope those of you in Collo will occasionally check in and play along.
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