Fall 1999 course enactment
In the fall of 1999, I began my research into the scholarship interdisciplinary teaching and learning in the IDST 2310 Fine and Applied Arts in Civilization course. As stated in the course design section of this portfolio, this section of the course was the first to emphasize the theme of "What is Art?" as a unifying factor. One of William Newell's criteria for a well-designed interdisciplinary course in his Guide to Interdisciplinary Syllabus Preparation is whether the course is issue-based, and this question poses one of the fundamental problems in the study of the arts. The question is a very broad one, in that one discipline alone cannot adequately respond to the question. The perspective of music, for example, often differs from that of the visual arts on this question. While realism is an important aesthetic school for the visual arts and for drama, for example, musicians have argued that music stands alone as an art form, and is independent of outside intellectual forces or the world itself. The course is organized around four broad aesthetic schools of thought (see course design section), and provides specific examples and applications of these ideas in each unit.
In this particular semester, I taught the course with a colleague in the Art department, Dr. Roxanne Farrar. Dr. Farrar's course load that term required her to "float" between several sections of this course, and so she was not available to team-teach the course on a regular basis. Rather, she gave occassional guest lectures and coordinated several of the active learning workshops. We were, therefore, not able to enact the model of team-teaching Newell alludes to as indicative of true interdisciplinarity. On the other hand, Newell and other interdisciplinarians accept the fact that a single instructor can offer a thoroughly interdisciplinary course. Although I was for the most part alone in the classroom and relied upon a disciplinarian in an outside field, there were many ways in which this course did fulfill Newell's critera for interdisciplinarity. As will be seen below, there was integration from day to day in the course of diverse disciplinary materials,as well as integration across modules and units toward the grand synthesis during finals week. Dr. Farrar's presence as guest facilitator for workshops helped to enhance many aspects of the course and to introduce materials which would otherwise not have been represented. Further, as will be seen in my reflection on fall 1999, her approach diffrered from mine and did enable the students to more easily differentiate the disciplinary perspectives we each modeled. Despite the relative success of this course as a model of interdisicplinarity in some contexts, my research into student learning in the fall of 1999 highlighted for me some of the ways in which the interdisciplinary approach of the course needed to be enhanced; my revisions to this course continue to the present day.
Chronicle of the Unfolding of the Course
A quick look at the unfolding of the course from unit to unit shows the basic design of the course and also some of the disciplinary resources used to explore the overall theme. To view the syllabus in its entirety along with hypertext links to the course chapters the participating faculty wrote, please click here. The course chapters provide documentation of our approach to teaching these topics and some insight into the interdisciplinary design of each unit. The hyperlinks below open a view of that particular unit in the syllabus; there are also links which take one directly to the multimedia chapter in question. I have tried to indicate clearly to viewers the links to course chapters, whereas the links to the syllabus units appear as simple hypertext without any explanation. Viewers will also find links to our course handouts, exams and other materials.
Course introduction | Weeks I-II: Survey of the Elements of Art | Weeks III-X: The Aesthetic of Functionalism | Week XI: The Aesthetics of Realism and Idealism | Weeks XII-XIV: The Aesthetic of Formalism | Weeks XV-XVI: The Aesthetic of Expressionism | Final Synthesis | Reflection on Fall outcomes
Course Introduction
The course begins with a "hook" or "grabber," according to Newell's terminology. On the opening day, I distribute a handout which asks students to respond to the question of "What is Art?" (in subsequent terms I required students to do a bulletin board posting on this question). I then show a 60 minutes video expose on the modern art world, "Yes, but is it Art?". This video generated tremendous controversy in the art world when it was first aired, and explores several examples of modern art and interviews some well-known critics who either support or do not support the artistic merits of these works. Included in the segment are examples such as the three urinals along a wall, basketball immersed in plastic, graffiti art, and other works which some critics and many modern laymen have trouble appreciating as art. The video raises numerous issues about what criteria delineate a work of art from a piece of junk or a simple functional object without artistic merit. Among the issues it raises are:
*Is the level of skill of the creator relevant to deciding whether something is a work of art or not?
*Is the intent of the creator relevant to whether something should be considered a work of art?
*Is the meaning of the work relevant? Are things whose symbolism complex more meritorious from an artistic point of view than those whose symbolism is simple and transparent?
*If the meaning of a work requires explication by a "critic" and does not speak to the general audience, does this affect its value as a work of art?
*Must a work of art have meaning that endures beyond the immediate context?
*What is the role of beauty in deciding whether something is or is not to be considered art?
*Is the purpose for which the work was designed and how well it fulfills that purpose relevant in determining whether it has artistic merit?
Following our discussion, I ask students to respond to the question again; often their responses indicate some perplexity and a willingness now to consider almost anything as a work of art as long as someone either intends it to be art or interprets it as art. During the course of the rest of the semester, we continue to explore these issues with hopes that the students will refine their responses to this question on the first day of class. The final exam, in fact, presents students with their last opportunity to respond to this question.
The framing of the course around this question creates a unity to the course which was not present in earlier iterations of the course (see fall 1998 and spring 1999). The integration of the various units and disciplinary resources is centered around this question throughout the course; each unit considers a different possible perspective on the question. Further, each unit is designed to build on the others, and from that point of view, fulfills Newell's demand for continuous integration of resources.
Weeks I-II: The Elements of Art
In fall 1999, the "What is Art?" module was followed by a short unit on the elements of art, which included a survey of various uses of shapes and lines in the visual arts by Dr. Farrar and a discussion of cross-cultural color aesthetics. Students explored Yoruba color chromatics with Dr. Farrar and the medieval illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen with Dr. Vess. A major aspect of the course is its global dimension, and in these introductory units, African, western medieval, Asian (in the shape and line discussion), and many other perspectives were introduced. Further, students were exposed to modern art in Dr. Farrar's survey of shape and line in the visual arts, and to medieval and early modern perspectives in the unit on color. The use of multiple perspectives generated several conflicting interpretations, which we continued to explore throughout the rest of the semester. As I discuss in my reflection on the outcomes of the fall 1999 course, the results of the student surveys, projects, standardized instruments, and exams highlighted for me the need to make this and other units more thoroughly interdisciplinary. I revised this unit considerably during the spring and fall 2000, and spring 2001.
In this unit students completed a preferential shapes assignment, in which they were required to order their preference of the circle, square, spiral, triangle, and equidistant cross. Students were to then design a mobile which clearly displayed their order of preference. Students also completed a active learning workshop, in which they created a self-portrait in the form of a ring using Yoruba color chromatics.
Sample Course Materials:
Class Handout on Hildegard and multimedia
course chapter
Multimedia
course chapter on the elements of art
Class Handout on Yoruba Color Chromatics
(Dr. Farrar) and multimedia
course chapter
Weeks III-X Functionalism
Following these introductory discussions, students enter a major unit on Functionalism, a theory of art widely held in antiquity and the Middle Ages. We begin this unit by discussing the aesthetic of functionalism. Students then explore various examples of art which would be interpreted according to this framework, including Paleolithic Cave Art, a unit on Houses of Prayer (see the chapters from the multimedia text on Pyramids, Mosques, Medieval Cathedrals), and a unit on Art and the State (see the chapters from the multimedia text on West African Art of Benin, art and architecture of imperial China, and the art, music, and philosophy of the French Revolution).
In each of these units, diverse disciplinary resources are employed. For example, Houses of Prayer includes a discussion of various architectural structures used in various religions of the world. In the module on pyramids, resources from Egyptian mythology, archaeology, historical accounts, and even geology are examined in an effort to examine the function of the pyramids and to what extent they can be considered art (see course chapter). In the module on mosques, historical, theological, architectural resources are examined, as well as materials from the applied arts. This material is integrated in a discussion of the role and function of art in Islam (see course chapter). In the module on cathedrals, resources from numerology, theology, color aesthetics, architecture, and history are integrated in an attempt to understand the role of art in medieval society (see course chapter). During this particular semester, students also attended the Medieval Festival on campus, and heard a performance of Beowulf by visiting artist Chris Vinsonhaler. This performance and the artist's subsequent class visit helped students to understand the role of storytelling in the Middle Ages. Students also surveyed Hindu temples and African religious practices.
A similar pattern is evident in the unit on Art and the State: The module on the west African art of Benin explores African mythology, European historical records, and African art as an Afro-centric historical record of the Age of Exploration (see the course chapter). The module on China explores Chinese philosophy, architecture, art, historic records, and numismatics in an effort to elucidate the ways in which art contributed to the image of emperor and empire (see the course chapter). The module on the French Revolution incorporates painting, architecture, philosophical and political texts, music, and film in an attempt to explore how art expressed the ideals of the French Revolution (see the course chapter).
Students in this term also explore a module entitled, "Threads of Life: The Textile Arts" (see course chapter); the module included cross-cultural discussion of the textile arts and the use of metaphors from the textile arts in literature and mythology.
In this unit, students completed an active learning workshop on Islamic art and created their own Hand of Fatima; students completed a Qur'an word search on "images" and "idols" to determine the impact of Islamic theology on Islamic art. Students also attended a Gallery exhibit on campus, "Pressed and Pulled," which explored various elements of printmaking.
In my reflection on course outcomes, student surveys and the results of standardized instruments, I point out that this unit of the course and its various modules fall more into the category of cross-disciplinary work rather than interdisciplinary work. In the Houses of Prayer modules in particular, resources from various disciplines are borrowed in order to more effectively decipher the function and purposes for which the architectural structures were built. The student surveys, projects, and exams helped to highlight for me the ways in which this and other units could be more thoroughly interdisciplinary. The unit on the French Revolution comes closer to full interdisciplinarity, as does the unit on the textile arts.
Sample course materials:
Class handout on cave art and course
chapter
Class Handout on the pyramids and multimedia
course chapter
Class Handout on the
Acropolis and multimedia
course chapter
Dr. Farrar's Class handout on Hindu
temples
Class handout on
mosques and multimedia
course chapter
Dr. Farrar's
handout on labyrinths
Class handout
on Chartres cathedral and multimedia
course chapter
Class handout on the art of Benin
and multimedia
course chapter on Benin
Class handout on
Art and the State: China and multimedia
course chapters
Class handout on the French Revolution
and multimedia
course chapter
Midterm
Exam I: covers course materials through Art and the State
Sample student responses
to Exam I
Gallery
Exhibit writing assignment
Sample student
responses to the Gallery assignment
Week XI: Art as Mirror of Reality
In this unit, we explore the aesthetics of realism and idealism. In the realism module, the focus in fall 1999 was on the paintings and notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci; in the idealism module, the focus was on Michelangelo. This module incorporated a discussion of Neoplatonism in the context of the painting and statuary of Michelangelo (see the course chapter and slides). We attempt to compare and contrast the aesthetics of realism and idealism with functionalism and to determine the best arguments for each, as well as things which we might want to consider art but which cannot be subsumed under any of these aesthetic schools. As I mention in my reflection on this semester's outcomes, the results of the student surveys, projects, and exams helped to highlight for me the need to make this and other units more thoroughly interdisciplinary.
Viewers may want to explore the following course materials:
Film guide to A&E
Biography: da Vinci
Class handout on Michelangelo and multimedia
course chapter
Midterm Exam II: covers Art and
the State, realism and idealism
Weeks XII-XIV: Art and the Ordered Cosmos
In this unit, we explore the ways in which art reflects a particular culture's view of the cosmos, and especially the way art portrays nature. In the unit we explore the aesthetic of formalism, compare and contrast it with previously studies aesthetic schools, and attempt to determine the best arguments for each as well as whether any of these schools adequately explains all our various notions of what might be called art. The unit includes modules on China, Japan, and European culture in the 18th century. Each module incorporates an array of disciplinary resources.
*The module on China begins with an exploration of Taoism (see the course chapter). In addition to the primary source texts from antiquity, students read the Tao of Pooh and then study Taoism in poetry and Chinese landscape art (see the course chapter).
*The module on Japan explores Japanese concepts of the ordered universe, and includes a study of Zen Buddhism, Shinto, the Samurai code of Bushido, the making of the Samurai sword, Japanese architecture, the Japanese Tea Ceremony, Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (The Peach Orchard; see handout), and Japanese landscape art, especially Hokusai's View of Mount Fuji (see the course chapter).
*The module on The European Mechanistic Universe includes a discussion of rationalism in the eighteenth century in Europe, and discusses the scientific revolution, the Newtonian universe, the philosophy of Descartes and others, the political philosophy of John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau, and new views of nature as reflected in the works of Alexander Pope, eighteenth-century landscape gardens, and the music of Mozart and others (see the course chapter).
In this unit, students completed an interactive module on Taoism written by me for the course, an active learning workshop on Zen gardens and Haiku, and a written assignment in which they explained how their gardens and Haiku exemplified the tenets of Zen Buddhism. Students also attended an all-Beethoven recital by Dr. Greg Pepetone, Department of Music and Theatre, GC&SU. In my reflection on course outcomes, I argue that this unit exemplifies some of the strongest principles of interdisciplinarity.
In addition to the links to the multimedia chapters above, viewers may want to explore the following course materials:
Class handout
on Asian Views of Nature: China and multimedia
course chapter
Class handout on Asian Views of Nature:
Japan and course chapter
Class handout on the
European Mechanistic Universe and multimedia
course chapter
Dr.
Pepetone's chapter on classical music
Performance
critique: Beethoven recital
Sample student responses to Haiku/garden assignment
Weeks XV-XVI: Art as Self-Expression
This is the final unit in the course, and explores the aesthetic of expressionism; the notion of the self in psychology, literature and religious traditions; and the self-portrait in art (see the course chapter). The unit culminates with the creation of the students' own self-portraits. In my reflection on course outcomes, I argue that this unit exemplifies some of the strongest principles of interdisciplinarity.
In addition to the links to the multimedia chapters above, viewers may want to explore the following course materials:
Dr. Farrar's Class handout on self-portraits
Codified Forms of
Self-Expression: Japanese Drama
Film guide to
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams: The Peach Orchard
Multimedia
course chapter on Jung by Dr. Lee Gillis, Department of Psychology,
GC&SU
Sample student self-portraits
and responses to the online survey
The End-of-the-course: Final Synthesis
The fall 1999 course culminated with an essay on "What is Art," in which students were required to integrate all of the aesthetic schools of thought as well as multiple disciplinary resources. Click here to view sample student responses on the final exam.
While I believe that the overall structure of the course in the fall 1999 was sound, the responses of the students to the course surveys in combination with the results of the standardized instruments and an analysis of student work highlighted for me the ways in which the fall 1999 version of the course needed to be improved, especially from the point of view of its interdisciplinarity.
For a discussion of student responses to my survey questions, results of standardized instruments, student learning, and the ways in which I modified the course in response, please continue on to my reflection on the fall of 1999.