ART
ART 20 (GA) Introduction to Drawing
ART 50 (GA) Introduction to Painting
ART HISTORY
ARTH 112 (GA) Ren to Modern Art
COMMUNICATIONS
COMM 150N (GA) (GH) (INTER-D) The Art of the Cinema
ENGLISH
ENGL 50 (GA) Introduction to Creative Writing
ENGL 212 (GA) Introduction to Fiction Writing
GAMING
GAME 160N (GA) (GH) (INTER-D) Introduction to Video Game Culture
INTEGRATED ARTS
INART 1 (GA) The Arts
MUSIC
MUSIC 5 (GA) An Introduction to Western Music
MUSIC 9 (GA) Introduction to World Music (Music, Conflict, and Peace Building)
THEATRE
THEA 105 (GA) Introduction to Theatre: How Theatre Happens
THEA 208 (GA) Workshop: Theatre in Diverse Culture
WOMEN'S STUDIES
WMNST 106N (GA) (GH) (INTER-D) Representing Women & Gender in Literature, Art & Popular Cultures
ART
ART 20 (GA) Introduction to Drawing
Drawing is a course built upon a traditional, observation-based approach to drawing. Our primary source is the human figure (nude models). Still life, landscape, and portraiture are also considered. Development of gestalt (the psychology of implied shape), space, figure-ground, and perspective are active components in this course. Materials are of a time-honored nature. Mainly, monochromatic "dry mediums," charcoal, conte crayon, chalk, etc. This course is taught at an introductory level and is predominantly technique-driven. Our student drawings, while based upon traditional approaches, are made in a Post-postmodern environment. What we gain from the lessons of antiquity, colliding with the pastiche of "the here and now."
ART 50 (GA) Introduction to Painting
Painting is a course built upon a traditional, observation-based approach to painting. Our primary source is the still life. The course content has been constructed from the “nature morte” works of Giorgio Morandi. Development of gestalt (the psychology of implied shape), space, figure-ground, perspective, and color theory are active components in this course. Materials are of a time-honored nature. Mainly, acrylic paints, brushes, quality paper, sketchbooks, etc. This course is taught at an introductory level and is predominantly technique-driven. Our student paintings, while based upon traditional approaches, are made in a Post-postmodern environment. What we gain from the lessons of antiquity, colliding with the pastiche of the “here and now."
ART HISTORY
ARTH 112 (GA) Ren to Modern Art
This course is a broad survey of the most important artists and developments in Western art from the early 14th century to the present, including architecture, sculpture and painting. In addition to being a survey of major monuments in art, the course is also intended as an introduction to the field of art history: to its studies of artistic style, iconography (the study of subject matter and its meaning), patronage and contextual history. Art history not only studies the formal elements of art, like the use of color and line, but also analyzes the historical circumstances (social, political, economic) that surround the production of art, and it questions the meaning of works of art for viewers of the time and for later generations. Around 1310, an artist known as Giotto painted several major series of frescoes (mural painting done on wet plaster) in which we see the beginnings of a modern Western notion of composition, dramatic narrative, and the illusion of perspective. We will look at the refinements of these elements of art through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when artists we now call avant-garde-notably Cézanne but also predecessors such as Courbet and Manet, and successors such as Picasso and Matisse-presented serious challenges to these fundamental elements of painting. We will look at the extraordinary art produced between the time of Giotto and Cézanne, as well as the consequences of the modernist challenge to art, including 20th-century abstract painting and conceptual art.
COMMUNICATIONS
COMM 150N (GA) (GH) (INTER-D) The Art of the Cinema
COMM 150 (The Art of Cinema): COMM 150 is an introduction to cinema studies which aims to provide students with media literacy for a world in which communication is increasingly visual and cinematic in its form. The course assumes that films tell stories and make arguments as communicative forms by drawing on a visual language that can be learned. As such, films can be interpreted and analyzed to reveal something about the cultural conditions that produced them. The course seeks to familiarize students with examples of films that speak to both the forms that they follow and the cultural context in which they were produced. Movies, from early silent films to contemporary blockbusters, are examined as formal constructs, market commodities, and cultural artifacts that aim to represent a world for the viewer. Topics include the emergence of the cinema as a communications technology, business industry and cultural institution; the global dominance of classical Hollywood cinema; American film industry organization (production, distribution, exhibition, vertical integration, the studio system, the star system); analysis of film styles (national cinemas, historical movements); analysis of film genres (e.g., silent film melodrama, film noir, comedy, the war film, the western); consideration of film audiences (reception, spectatorship, criticism); introduction to film aesthetics (film art and appreciation); and alternative cinemas (independent, documentary and experimental cinemas). COMM 150 emphasizes media literacy and seeks to help students develop critical thinking, reading and viewing skills while providing them with a historical context for the media that they consume on a regular basis. All sections integrate lectures and readings with viewing feature films during the weekly practicum period. Many sections also incorporate slides and film or video clips during the lecture periods to allow students to exercise their critical viewing skills regarding certain teaching points. Students prepare for film screenings by reading, listening to lectures, and analyzing examples of relevant works. Introductory lectures seek to provide a critical and historical context for each week's screening; follow-up lectures offer critical analysis and examinations reward close viewing. The core purpose of the course, therefore, is to make film viewing a conscious, critical and analytic activity.
ENGLISH
ENGL 50 (GA) Introduction to Creative Writing
If you enjoy writing to express yourself creatively - you will be at home in this course. You will also be at home here if you are an avid reader of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, but have never tried your hand at writing it. In ENGL 50 you will explore the genres of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry by reading published essays, short stories, and poems and by writing personal essays, sketches, scenes, and poems. We'll discuss the relationship between the genres and also discuss what makes each a distinct art form. You'll hand in regular writing assignments in addition to completing longer writing projects. You'll share some of your creative work to discuss in class.
ENGL 212 (GA) Introduction to Fiction Writing
English 212 is a course for students who want to try writing fiction for the first time and for more seasoned writers who are ready to develop greater courage for expression, complexity of craft, and skills for analysis and revision. You will find new sources of inspiration and sharpen your senses for observation. You will master the core components of fiction, such as character, setting, point of view, dialogue, and plot, and you will learn to improve your writing by sharing and reworking it. The course typically involves short exercises designed to help you strengthen key areas of your writing; analysis of published short stories and essays for examples and advice; and, centrally, workshop settings, where you will gain experience giving and receiving generous, useful criticism. You will complete at least one longer, cohesive work of fiction, such as a short story or section of a novel. You will learn to take up the writing life with a spirit of adventure and play, even as you get serious about the disciplined work and vital stakes of making fiction. By inspiring the production, analysis, and appreciation of creative arts, this course satisfies Bachelor of Arts and General Education requirements for Arts.
GAMING
GAME 160N (GA) (GH) (INTER-D) Introduction to Video Game Culture
This course is a comparative introduction to the nature and history of video games as cultural artifacts, from Pong to online role-playing. It introduces students to academic discussion on and creative work in new digital forms including hypertexts, video games, cell phone novels, machinima, and more. Students will survey major debates over the meaning and value of video games, and study some of the major theoretical terms and perspectives developed to elaborate the cultural and sociological value of video games. The course extends students' skills in literary interpretation to a variety of new objects, and makes them aware of the role medium plays in aesthetic development and production. Students will leave with a far sharper understanding of how the interpretive tools used in the humanities can be extended to include new media, and with a sense of the historical role video games have played and will continue to play in global cultural production. Because the course is historically focused, it will spend significant time looking at the differential development of video games in three major regions: the United States, Europe, and East Asia (especially Japan).
INTEGRATED ARTS
The Arts is a course designed to give students an integrative experience of the themes and purposes common among the arts, visual, performing, and literary. Students are given the opportunity to view and discuss many forms of art, learning a specific vocabulary for discussing each artistic form and arriving at an answer to the question "what is art?" The goal of the course is to enhance aesthetic perception by examining works of art, by discerning what can be seen and heard in them, by understanding what those elements are called, and by determining how the artwork creates a response in the viewer or listener.
MUSIC
MUSIC 5 (GA) An Introduction to Western Music
A general survey of art music in western society, highlighting important composers and stylistic developments.
MUSIC 9 (GA) Introduction to World Music (Music, Conflict, and Peace Building)
This course surveys ways in which music is involved in conflict and conflict resolution. Topics include African war drumming; musical revitalization in Cambodia after war and the Khmer Rouge genocide; drumming in Caribbean anti-colonial uprisings; American popular music and the civil rights movement; and heavy metal in Nepal, Israel, and Serbia. How does music strengthen division or galvanize a people for war? How does music reconcile, voice concerns, or (re-) build identity? How might music be a vehicle of peace building and resolution? Other topics include: music and gender, intellectual property, intangible cultural heritage, and the politics of representation.
THEATRE
THEA 105 (GA) Introduction to Theatre: How Theatre Happens
We sit in a darkened room and while actors share stories, expressing dreams and fears, we recognize ourselves. When we leave, we have made a connection to our world, for good or ill, which is profoundly personal. Theater is a vital part of the cultural landscape in which it is created, a way of understanding our world and ourselves in real time, live, and in person. In this course, we examine the elements of the theatrical production process as a means of both understanding how and why theater works and developing a greater appreciation of the art and the craft of theater. We’ll explore the historical, analytical, and practical aspects of the Western theatrical tradition, through production videos, lecture, and in-class activities.
THEA 208 (GA) Workshop: Theatre in Diverse Culture
A performance-oriented class which explores the historic and contemporary theatrical works of various culturally diverse peoples. THEA 208 / AFAM 208 Theatre Workshop in Diverse Cultures (3) (GA;US;IL) (BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Theatre Workshop in Diverse Cultures is a performance-oriented class that aims to introduce students to the broad cultural diversity that exists in artistic expression. The class will focus on several plays throughout the semester that will represent cultural, ethnic, and gender diversity as well as different literary styles. Students will be exposed to various cultures by working on plays created by artists from those cultures. The course will concentrate on a specific playwright, culture, or region, such as plays from the Caribbean. Students will be required to read, study, analyze, and perform plays from the genre. For example, the class may focus on the works, life, and philosophy of August Wilson and read Joe Tumer's Come and Gone, Seven Guitars, Piano Lesson, and Fences. The class may explore Asian styles such as Noh Theatre and Asian American works by D. H. Hwang or work by Nigerian playwright and Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka. The presentation of these plays will be a principle part of the class, but the reading and discussion of the material will be as important. Students will participate in some capacity with the production of these plays in areas such as stage management, dramaturgy, sets and props, lights, sound, costumes, house management, publicity, and acting. These pieces will be performed in class, in workshop, and occasionally for the general public. Students will work as an ensemble and become acquainted with basic acting and theatre techniques The course objectives are: 1) to develop and enhance students' appreciation for the discipline and commitment required for multicultural theatrical presentations 2) to help to sensitize all students to the broad cultural diversity in artistic expression 3) to provide students with an introductory engagement with drama. THEA 208 / AFAM 208 serves as a primary selection for students pursuing the Theatre minor.
WOMEN'S STUDIES
WMNST 106N (GA) (GH) (INTER-D) Representing Women & Gender in Literature, Art & Popular Cultures
Interdisciplinary consideration of primary works and scholarship pertaining to women in the humanities and the arts. WMNST 106N Representing Women and Gender in Literature, Art and Popular Cultures (3) (GA;GH;US;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This is an introductory survey course that fulfills General Education Integrative Studies requirements in humanities and arts, and also fulfills United States and International Cultures requirements. The course is a prerequisite for upper level women's studies courses. WMNST 106N is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, with an emphasis on the experiences, achievements, and status of women in the arts and humanities in the U.S. and global context. While providing a broad overview of scholarly research and theory pertaining to women and gender, students will also see many examples of contemporary women's creative practice through the visual arts, media, and popular culture. Students will learn about the challenges women artists have faced in making their way in a male-dominated arts and media industry; they will learn how these artists sought and continue to seek new languages and forms, whether in paint, words, film, music, crafts, to reassess and re-imagine notions of sex and sexuality, gender, race and ethnicity that underlie many forms of social injustice. Depending on the location where the course is taught, class meetings may be a mixture of lectures, group discussions, individual and group exercises, films, and guest speakers. Assigned readings and class meetings may be designed to help students reassess predominant modes of thought and to give students tools to appreciate the creative work of highly diverse women. Depending again upon location, evaluation methods will include a balanced selection from among short papers, longer research papers, journals, book reviews, quizzes, exams, group assignments and other creative activities.