Humanities 222-­‐I : Arts and Ideas: Modern Spring 2015 Instructor: Carolyn Brown Heinz, PhD Class time and place: T TH 9:30 Modoc 118; 11:00 O’Connell 121 Office: Glenn 204 G Office Hours: T Th 12:30 – 2:00 Email: [email protected] [This is the best, fastest way to reach me; or use Blackboard] Cell phone: 530-­‐591-­‐9809 [you may text me if necessary] Course Description Catalog Description: An overview of Western Culture from the Renaissance to the present. Serves as a
broad introduction to the major forms and types of artistic expression: sculpture, architecture, painting,
philosophy, literature, drama, dance, film, and music, and includes comparative analysis of primary texts
(theatre, philosophy and religion, literature, history, and political science). 3 hours lecture. This is an
approved General Education course. This is a Writing Intensive curse.
My Description: Over the last 500 years, our contemporary world was built by people much like
ourselves: smart, creative, ambitious, funny; who also could be stupid, greedy, cruel, reactionary,
frightened. They created, they destroyed. Their efforts are all around us, including in our own minds. This
course systematically explores the people and achievements from the Renaissance through the 20th
century, emphasizing the visual arts, architecture, music, literature, and ideas (i.e., Big Ideas in science
and philosophy).
Student Learning Objectives:
• Ability to identify and discuss major cultural periods from the Renaissance to the present
• Ability to identify major works of art, music, architecture, literature, and philosophy from these
periods
• Ability to write about major works through the steps of forming ideas, gathering information,
drafting, revising, and finalizing a major analytical paper
The Writing Intensive Component:
The purpose of the writing assignments is to give you opportunity to work on a variety of writing styles to
enhance your skills. These types of writings are as follows:
• “Quick-writes” in class (one paragraph, which will be collected and recorded for attendance)
Each of the units of the course have two types of writing assignments:
• One precis based on the readings OR an art analysis of one work of art (one single-spaced page)
• A “unit paper” of 2-3 pages based on prompts I’ll provide for the material of that unit
• An analytic course paper (5-6 pages) that will be written in stages
Required Texts There is only one required text, but that one is REALLY required: we will use it constantly, so please
don’t think you can can get by without it:
• Benton and DiYanni, Arts and Culture, vol 2, Fourth Edition, Prentice-Hall, 2011. It is also
available on Amazon.
I have ordered a loose-leaf version, which is convenient for bringing certain sections to class. This book
also contains excerpts from classic works of philosphy and literature. There will be a few additional
readings available in BlackBoard.
TOPICS AND READINGS* 2
Date
Tuesday,
Jan 20
Thursday,
Jan 22
Tuesday,
Jan 27
Thursday,
Jan 29
Tuesday,
Feb 3
Thursday,
Feb 5
Tuesday,
Feb 10
Thursday,
Feb 12
Tuesday,
Feb 17
Thursday,
Feb 19
Tuesday,
Feb 24
(I reserve the right to make changes with fair warning)
Readings
Work Due
Topics
UNIT 1
Introduction to course why
study “western civilization”?
toolkit for talking about the
visual arts and architecture,
literature, religion and
philosophy.
The Early Renaissance and
What Came Before.
The High Renaissance, 14851527 and Mannerism
Discussion of humanism in
Pico, Castiglione, and
Machiavelli
Plus: how to write an analysis
of a work of art.
UNIT 2
Early Renaissance in Northern
Europe
Religious Conflict: The
Reformation
The High Renaissance in
Northern Europe: Holbein,
Breugel, and the English
Renaissance
UNIT 3
Baroque: The CounterReformation
Baroque Arts: Over the Top
Music through the Baroque:
Bach, Vivaldi, Handel
Society and Science: Hobbes,
Locke, Descartes, and Galileo
Reading: Benton&DiYanni,
Chapter 13
Reading: Pico della Mirandola,
Oration on the Dignity of Man
(pp. 40-41) ; Baldassare
Castiglione, excerpt from the
Book of the Courier. (pp. 45);
and Niccolo Machiavelli, excerpt
from The Prince, all in B&D
(Benton&DiYanni).
Reading: “Humanism” – see
Blackboard for link
Catch up with any readings
you’ve missed. Your precis will
be returned for today’s
discussion.
Reading: Benton&DiYanni,
chapter 14 pp 51-58
Precis: Choose ONE
of the readings to
write the first precis
(see “The Precis
Assignments” in
BlackBoard).
Unit 1 Paper Due
Benton&DiYanni, ch 14, pp 5862;
Scan the 95 Theses of Luther
(B&D p 79-80); Erasmus (p 7678), Queen Elizabeth’s speech to
troops (p 81)
Reading: Benton&DiYanni, pp
63-74. Shakespeare’s sonnets
and excerpts, pp 86-89.
Art Analysis due
Reading: Benton, DiYanni, pp
92-121
Ignatius of Loyola, p 126
Unit 2 Paper Due
Excerpt from Gaines, Evening in
the Palace of Reason, ch 8, Song
of the Endlessly Orbiting
Spheres (Blackboard)
Descartes p 126-127
Hobbes p 132-134
Precis due
3
Thursday,
Feb 26
Tuesday,
March 3
Thursday,
March 5
Tuesday,
March 10
Thursday,
March 12
UNIT 4
The Enlightenment Century
(18th): Toward Reason
Thinkers of the Enlightenment:
Voltaire, Rousseau, Adam
Smith, Newton, Jefferson
Locke p 134-137
Benton&DiYanni, Ch. 16, pp
143-170
Voltaire, excerpt from Candide,
pp 176-179;
Thomas Jefferson, pp 179-180
Declaration of the Rights of Man
and Citizen pp 180-181
Mary Wollstonecraft, A
Vindication of the Rights of
Women, pp 182-185
Thomas Paine, pp 185-186
Adam Smith, excerpt from The
Wealth of Nations (see
Blackboard)
The Visual Arts: Rococo for the
Aristocracy
Mozart and Haydn
Unit 3 Paper Due
Precis or art analysis
due
Unit 4 Paper Due
Midterm Exam
SPRING BREAK - ENJOY!
Tuesday,
March 24
UNIT 5
The French Revolution
Romanticism: Away from
Reason; the Romantic Hero
Readings: Benton&DiYanni,
ch17, pp189-223
Rousseau, ‘On Social Contract’
pp 224-227
Wordsworth, Blake, and Keats,
pp 227-229
Readings:
Darwin, pp 232
Marx & Engels, from the
Communist Manifesto, 232-233
Thursday,
March 26
Realism: Revolution and
Poverty
Tuesday,
March 31
Thursday,
April 2
Cesar Chavez Day – no class
Tuesday,
April 7
Thursday,
April 9
Tuesday,
April 14
Grand Opera: Verdi, Pucchini,
Wagner
UNIT 6
La Belle Epoque
Impressionism: Monet, Renoir,
Degas, Cassatt
Read: librettos: La Boheme,
Caveliera Rusticana
Readings: Benton&DiYanni, ch
18, pp 237-257
Thursday,
April 16
Post-Impressionists: Cezanne,
Seurat, Gaugin, Van Gogh
Ibsen, Nietsche, Freud
Precis/art analysis
Romantic music:
Beethoven, Berlioz, Chopin
Unit 5 Paper
Idea Notes Due-First
stage of Term Paper –
Art analysis/precis due
4
Tuesday,
April 21
Thursday,
April 23
Tuesday,
April 28
Thursday,
April 30
Tuesday,
May 5
Thursday,
May 7
UNIT 7
Twentieth Century: The PreWar Avant Garde
From War to War
Benton&DiYanni, ch 22, pp
349-393
Literatary innovations
Kafka, Virginia Woolf,
Hemingway, Joyce (all in B&D)
Benton&DiYanni, ch 23, pp
395-457
UNIT 8
Mid-20th Century and Later
Abstract Expressionism
Musical theatre:
Rodgers&Hammerstein,
Leonard Bernstein, Andrew
Lloyd Weber
Review, Final Thoughts
First Draft Due
5 copies due
Final Draft Due
Finals Week
Course Requirements and Student Responsibilities: Attendance and Class Participation:
Regular attendance is required; generally I will use in-class quick-writes as attendance data (they will be
recorded but not graded).
This course will be more enjoyable if you regularly participate, and with each other, not just with me. I
will make an effort to create a friendly environment, and you should do that, too (e.g., a party is fun if
guests bring energy to it). This course is part-lecture, part-seminar in format. Like other university-level
courses, learning is a social process which requires dialogue, the commitment of professor and students,
an inquiring mind, regular reading and attendance.
Exams:
There will be 2 exams, a mid-term and a final. These will consist of identification, short answer, and
essay questions. You will be expected to identify the major works of art discussed in class and in the text.
I will provide study guides before each exam.
Bi-weekly one-page writing assignments: Two types of writing assignments will alternate by week.
• The Precis: A precis is an accurate summary, a kind of substitute for the original work which
does not use the original words and does not even include your own ideas. What’s the point, you
may ask? One skill in writing is to be able to write about someone else’s ideas clearly without
editorializing. Later you can incorporate this skill in a paper in which you develop your own idea.
One page, single-spaced, 10 or 11 point font.
The Analysis of a Work of Art: One-page analyses of a work of art, using the analytical tools
taught in this course. (See handout in Blackboard). When you go to an art museum, you should
be able to identify the style of the art, have something intelligent to say (or at least ask) about the
content of the work, take an interest in the technique or media used to create the work, ponder its
fomal composition, and think about the social context of the artist’s period—and what the artist’s
intentions might have been. These three analytical papers should give you some practical
experience in these skills. One page, single-spaced, 10 or 11 point font.
Unit Papers At the end of each unit, a 2-3 page essay will be due in which you respond to a prompt
based on material in that unit.
Major Paper: Writing activities are oriented to one major paper. Peer groups will be organized for the
•
5
purpose of reading and responding to each others’ drafts. In your role as a peer reader, your job will be to
evaluate and make suggestions on 1) the Working Notes and 2) the First Draft of the four other students
in your group. (See handout in Blackboard for more information).
• The One-Page “Working Notes” – It takes some effort to come up with ideas for a paper. You
have to work out some initial ideas, then ask yourself questions to further expand the idea(s) into
a more developed argument. This should be a working paper that is coherent enough for your
peer reviewers to figure out what you’re talking about, and be a guide for you as you write the
paper. It should include at least preliminary source material.
• The First Draft: Write a first draft of your paper. This should be a complete effort, with title and
citation page. Aim for approximately 1000-1500 words.
• The Final Draft: The hardest part is done. Now make it elegant. Typically, the opening section
and the final section need to be re-worked. Maybe the title could be more compelling. Maybe
connections between parts (the segues) could be better articulated.
Writing
Precis/art analysis
Unit papers
Idea Notes
First Draft
Second Draft
Other
Exam 1
Exam 2
Attendance &
Participation (including
peer participation)
% of grade
50%
10%
10%
15%
15%
50%
20%
20%
10%
Other Important Information – Legal Stuff •
DISABILITIES: If you have a documented disability that may require reasonable accommodations,
please contact Disability Support Services (DSS) for coordination of your academic accommodations
and then let me know.
•
WARNING ON ACADEMIC CHEATING: If there is evidence that you have been involved in any
form of academic dishonesty, including turning in some else’s paper, letting someone turn in a copy
of your paper, or turning in papers acquired on the internet, you will receive an “F” grade for the
course, be locked from Blackboard, and a report will be provided to Student Judicial Affairs for
further action. [Yes, I have done this! Not often, and I hate it; please don’t test me].
•
CLASSROOM COURTESY: THIS IS A SILICON-FREE CLASSROOM. Cellphone and laptop
screens are a distraction to others, to me, and to you. Please turn off cell phones and laptops during
class time, and leave them in your bag; you can live without texting for an hour. Really!! That goes
for Candy Crush, photo sharing, UTube, and all the other amusements on your devices.