Humanities 2
Introduction to the Humanities: Music and the Arts in the Twentieth Century
Jacobs 132, MWF 10:00-10:50
Office: Parsons 278 - Phone: x74170
This document includes class description, goals, and policies.
Click here for the semester assignment schedule.
Click here for contents of the listening
CDs.
Click here to go to writing tips
Click here to go to my list of courses.
Class Goals and Background
The study of the diverse, volatile, exciting history of the arts in our
own century can give fascinating insights into our culture and help us
to comprehend works of frequently astonishing beauty. Like our century,
some of these works may seem difficult to understand at first, but many
people feel the effort is abundantly rewarded. On the other hand, the reputation
modernist arts have for inscrutability is frequently overblown, and the
diversity of artistic approaches in this period can hold something for
just about everyone.
While this course will be mainly "about" these arts, there are
several goals that are at least as important as learning about the fine
arts in the twentieth century. First, I want you to come away from this
class with keener insights about the interpretation of art and art criticism
in general. Creative interpretation is much more important than the memorization
of facts in this class. A second goal is continuing improvement to your
ability to clearly express yourself in oral presentations and especially
in writing. This goal includes the good organization of thought, clarity
of communication, and the depth of insights. A third goal is to prepare
research skills that will be valuable for future courses both within and
outside of the humanities and social sciences.
This course focuses on the "fine" or "classical" arts in the twentieth
century. We will not be covering popular or folk arts or arts completely
outside of the European tradition. This restriction is entirely one of
practicality, and it is not meant to imply that these arts are better or
more worthy of study than others. Only paper topics within this broad field
will be appropriate for this course.
Required Materials for this Course
- Shattuck, Roger. The Banquet Years. Revised edition. New York: Viking,
1968.
- Goldberg, Roselee. Performance Art from Futurism to the Present.
Revised edition. New York: Harry Abrams, 1988.
- Frank Whitford. Bauhaus. London: Thames and Hudson, 1984.
- Tomkins, Calvin. The Bride and the Bachelors. Revised edition. New
York: Penguin, 1968.
- A course packet of xerox readings available from Huntley Bookstore.
- Three audio CDs on reserve for this class in Sprague Library.
Evaluation
| Class participation | 20% |
| Three interpretive papers | 30% |
| Research paper | 20% |
| Three listening essays | 15% |
| Class presentation | 8% |
| Field Trip | 7% |
Class Participation
This is a seminar class, in which active participation in class discussions
is vital. Your ability to analyze the issues associated with the readings
and listening excerpts and to contribute thoughtfully to the discussion
of these issues will be a significant part of your evaluation. Therefore
it is crucial that you keep up with the reading, including taking notes
as you read and formulating questions and discussion points before class.
Your constructive and thoughtful peer editing as well as your consistent
attendance will also be considered in this part of your grade.
Class Presentation
You will do one oral presentation to the class during the course
of the semester. The schedule of these presentations will be announced
early in the semester. The general topic I will assign randomly, though
if you have a particular interest, I will be happy to try to arrange that
with you. Presentations will be no longer than 10 minutes, not including
discussion. Before each presentation, you will submit to me a specific
topic or thesis, then an outline and discussion questions. Evaluations
of the presentation will be made by both me and your peers.
Writing Assignments
There will be four main writing assignments during the course of the semester
and three shorter essays. The interpretive papers and research paper will
include a peer editing and revision process that will be discussed in class.
None of these papers should be purely historical in nature. The writing
assignments should be interpretive and critical, including evidence of
your own original thought and ability to synthesize and evaluate sources.
All writing assignments should follow standard and consistent formats as
used in Hum 1 or other scholarly disciplines and should be computer printed
(not hand-written). A creative project may be substituted for any one of
the three interpretive papers, but not the research paper (see below).
Page counts below do not include bibliography.
- Listening essays: There will be three one- to two-page essays relating
to the required listening CDs. No outside research will be required.
- First interpretive paper: This is a four-page paper that will concentrate
on topics raised in The Banquet Years. Outside sources are not required
for this paper, though they may be used.
- Second interpretive paper: This is a four-page paper that can be
on a topic related to the issues discussed so far in the reading assignments.
A proposal will be due before the paper and discussed with me in conference.
Outside sources are encouraged, but may not be necessary depending on the
topic chosen. Other requirements will be discussed in class.
- Third interpretive paper: This is another four-page paper on a topic
related to the issues covered so far, but not necessarily directly addressed
in the reading assignments. A proposal will be due before the paper and
discussed with me. An annotated bibliography will then be due with a minimum
of three outside sources.
- Research paper: This is a nine-page interpretive paper with considerably
more depth than the previous papers. It may be over any topic related to
those covered in the semester. A proposal and annotated bibliography will
be due before the paper. The bibliography should include at least five
outside sources, including three journal or periodical articles.
Creative Project
You may substitute a creative project for any ONE of the interpretive papers
(that is, not the research paper or listening essays). This project may
be a set of poems, a short story, a musical composition, a work of fine
art, or other work of art. However, the style of the project must relate
to one or more of the styles we will be discussing, and you must submit
a proposal just as those doing papers will. The following types of projects
are NOT acceptable: cut-and-paste poster collages, spoken word audio cassettes
when the work could have been submitted in written form, group projects,
or works not done during this semester for this assignment. Proposals for
projects involving some styles are less likely to be approved, such as
Dadaist poems, Cageian chance music, free verse poems, and happenings.
Field Trip
During a semester weekend I will arrange a field trip to an art museum,
such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Participants will write an
essay of at least two pages on their museum experience and the ways in
which it related to issues discussed in class and in the readings. Students
unable to attend this field trip may substitute attendance at two concerts
of mostly twentieth-century music and a similar reaction essay. Other "emergency
substitutions," such as writing a book review, may be available, depending
on the situation.
Click here for the semester assignment schedule.
Click here to go to my list of courses.
Updated on January 10, 2001 (alves@hmc.edu).