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Syllabus
IDST 2310
The Fine and Applied Arts in Civilization
Spring 1999
A&S 3-66
Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00-12:15
Dr. Deborah Vess (primary instuctor)
e-mail: dvess@mail.gcsu.edu
Dr. Roxanne Farrar (workshop clinician)
e-mail: rfarrar@mail.gcsu.edu
OFFICE HOURS:
Dr. Vess's office hours for spring semester are 9:30-10:45
on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 1:00-2:00 on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays. If it is not possible for you to
see Dr. Vess during these times, you may make an
appointment. Her office is located in A&S 2-50A, and her
phone number is x4441. We look forward to teaching you;
please stop by our offices to personally introduce
yourself.
Dr. Roxanne Farrar will be visiting the class frequently
and will conduct special workshops and other class sessions.
Her office is located in Mayfair Hall 207. Her phone number
is: x1188. Her office hours for IDST students are: M
10:00-11:00.
PERSONAL SAFETY: In the event of a fire alarm
signal students should exit the building in a quick and
orderly manner through the nearest hallway exit. First and
Second floor classes should exit through ground level exits;
Third floor classes through nearest stairwell to a ground
level exit. Do not use elevator. Third floor stairwells are
areas where disabled people may communicate with rescue
workers. Be familiar with the floor plan and exits of this
building.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS:
*The Norton Anthology of World Literature expanded edition
in one volume.
*Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
You can find these books at the university bookstore.
OTHER READINGS:
Students will also be required to read materials on reserve
at the library and on the Internet.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will develop your
appreciation of the fine and applied arts in the various
cultures of the world. It will introduce you to
representative theories of aesthetics, and to the
contributions of the world's cultures to the fine and
applied arts. You will explore various works from the fine
and applied arts, music, literature, and philosophy within
the context of other contemporary trends within the
humanities, sciences, and society. This course will develop
your appreciation of the role of the arts and of the artist
within the world's societies. An important aspect of the
course will be the integration of several units with
on-campus events and gallery exhibits, as well as several
creative activities in which you will create your own
self-portrait from found objects, and design and implement a
Zen garden.
GRADING POLICY/COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Workshops/Creative projects:
There will be two projects assigned and a variety of
in-class workshops. These include a self-portrait and a Zen
garden/haiku project. D r. Farrar will conduct several
hands-on workshops for us this semester; participation is
mandatory and will count as 10 percent of your overall
grade. No late projects accepted.
Quizzes:
There will be several quizzes on the readings and course
content. These quizzes will begin during the first full week
of class, and will be conducted on-line in the computer
labs. Students will take the quizzes on their own time.
These quizzes will consist of fill-in-the-blank, short
answer, visual identification of art masterworks, and
multiple choice questions. The quiz grades will be averaged,
and will count as 30 percent of your grade. NO LATE QUIZZES
ACCEPTED. MUST BE COMPLETED BY DUE DATES.
Discussion sessions on Web Crossing:
Students will regularly participate in discussion session on
the university's Web Crossing forum. Participation is
mandatory. Your Web Crossing Participation and your in class
participation will will count as 10 percent of your total
grade. Students will log on and post when assigned to
receive credit. Discussions will concern the topics studies
in the course as well as assigned readings. NO CREDIT FOR
LATE PARTICIPATION.
Gallery and performance critiques:
Students will attend one gallery exhibit, a theater
production, and at least one music recital or other
performance-related event during the semester. A gallery
critique, in a format to be handed out later, and a
performance review will be handed in during the course of
the semester. These will count as 10 percent of your
grade.
Exams:
In addition, there will be two major exams in the course: a
midterm and a comprehensive final. The midterm exam will
count as 20 percent of your grade. The final exam will count
as 20 peercent of your overall grade. The exams will be
composed primarily of essay questions, with some short
identifications as well.
MAKEUPS: The TENTATIVE date for each exam is
listed on the syllabus. Makeups for exams will be
administered only in the most extreme circumstances and will
consist entirely of essay questions. If you must miss an
exam, you must contact Dr. Vess PRIOR to the exam and
arrange a makeup time if you are permitted an excused
absence. If you do not contact Dr. Vess, you will NOT be
allowed to makeup the exam, and will receive a "zero" for
that unit. In the event that you are permitted to make up
the exam, the make-up will be administered on the make up
exam day, May 7, 1999. The professor assumes no
responsibility for scheduling makeups. You are responsible
for scheduling your makeup exam for the makeup exam day, May
7, 1999. No more than one missed exam will be made up UNDER
ANY CIRCUMSTANCES; if you miss more than one exam, you will
receive a zero for that grade. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE TO
THIS POLICY. PLEASE DO NOT ASK THAT AN EXCEPTION BE MADE IN
YOUR CASE.
ELECTRONIC/COMPUTER RESOURCES:
Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library
(http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/dvess.htm). This is
my home page for all the courses I teach; you will find a
link there for this course. We will use it this semester for
various assignments, and you may use it to further explore
many of the topics we will discuss. It can be accessed from
any terminal at the College or from your home. Included in
these files are some reference materials and virtual tours
for some of the topics we will study.
Dr. Vess's World Civilization Interactive Journey. This is a
series of interactive computer programs especially written
for Dr. Vess's courses. You will be able to access this
program only in the A&S lab room 2-71. Click on the
world civ icon on the Windows screen. We will be working
through several of these modules during the course of the
quarter, particularly in conjunction with the units on Asian
culture. You will need to acquire a 3 ½ floppy disk
(IBM format) to record your work. Make sure your disk is
formatted.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: You are responsible for all
material presented in class lectures and discussions, and
from films, transparencies and other media resources; please
be aware that this sort of material is difficult, if not
impossible, to make up. This syllabus contains only a
partial listing of classroom resources which will be used.
The instructors assume NO RESPONSIBILITY whatsoever for
providing you with missed notes, etc. Please DO NOT call or
come by and expect us to teach you the material you missed
or to show you a film you missed. The syllabus provides you
with information as to topics covered. If you are not
present we cannot teach you, and since we will often be
exchanging ideas in discussion, the class will be deprived
of your input. PLEASE attend regularly. Students who
accumulate more than four absences in this course prior to
midterm of the course will be dropped from the roll by the
instructor. After midterm, March 1, you will receive an "F"
for more than five total absences during the semester. There
will be NO EXCEPTIONS to this policy, regardless of the
reason for the absences. If you have missed five times, you
have missed over two weeks of the course. In my estimation,
missing this much of the course of the course would
naturally entail failure, so please abide by this
policy.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Cheating and plagiarism will not
be tolerated. Any attempt to present ideas from a textbook
or other source as one's own, such as copying answers during
exams or using unattributed information in a paper, is
considered cheating. If caught cheating, you will receive a
"O" the first time and an "F" in the course and referral to
the Dean of Arts and Sciences for further offenses. There
will be no exceptions to this policy.
The outline which follows is a TENTATIVE outline only. We
may at times, move ahead or fall behind our schedule. For
this reason, it is crucial that you attend regularly. It is
YOUR responsibility to know where we are in the course.
Regular attendance and participation in the discussions,
lectures and completing the readings are a must for success
in this course.
THE LAST DAY TO DROP THE COURSE WITHOUT ACADEMIC PENALTY IS
MARCH 3, 1999.
COURSE OUTLINE
January 7: First day of class. Course introduction by Dr.
Farrar: What is art?
THE ARTIST AS CRAFTSPERSON: ART AND ITS FUNCTIONS
This unit will explore functionalism, the idea that the success or lack thereof of a work of art is to be evaluated and appreciated in terms of its fullfilment of the function for which it was designed. This view of art was widely held during ancient Greece.
January 12: Cave Art: The World of Being and Becoming
Explore Cave Art of Lascaux and other pre-historic caves on
the Internet. See Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual
Library (address above), follow the link for your
course.
Readings: excerpts from Joseph Campbell's The Faces God on
reserve at the library
*on reserve: Prehistory and the birth of civilization
*workshop: clay goddess
January 14 ."Threads of Life: The Textile Arts" (Dr.
Farrar)
Readings:
Class handouts: myths from China, Africa, and Greece
*workshop: Mexican Star Weaving
*orientation in the computer lab.
January 19 Houses of Prayer
The Pyramids
Readings:
Egyptian poetry in the Norton Anthology, 42-48
Handout from the Book of the Dead
*on reserve: "Ancient Civilizations"
Assignment: Take the web quiz over the pyramids, Egypt, cave
art and textiles by the next class period.
January 21 Houses of Prayer: The Acropolis
The three orders of Greek architecture; Greek mythology
Readings:
To be distributed; excerpts from Plato on the role of the
arts and of artists in society
*on reserve: "The Classical Legacy"
Assignment: Participate in Web Crossing question for this
unit by next class period.
January 26 Houses of Prayer: The Mosque
Discussion of the major tenets of Islam as they are
expressed in mosques throughout the Islamic world and in
Islamic Art
Readings:
The Qur'an, p. 868-888 in the Norton Anthology
Architecture of Isfahan, Internet site accessed through
class web site.
*on reserve: "The Islamic world"
*Workshop: Hands of Fatima (Dr. Farrar)
*Assignment: take the web quiz over Mosques and Islam by the
next class period.
January 28 Houses of Prayer: The medieval cathedral
Readings:
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, prologue, p. 1171 Norton
Anthology
*on reserve: "The Shaping of the Middle Ages"
Optional Reference material: Henry Adams, Mont St. Michel
and Chartres, "The 12th-Century Windows" on reserve
*web materials under your course link: review the
windows
*Workshop: Labyrinth (Dr. Farrar)
Assignment: Take the Web quiz over Chartres by next class
period.
February 2 Art and the State
African Art: The Art of Benin
Readings:
Deborah Vess, "The Mudfish and the European: An African
Account of the Age of Discovery" on reserve at the
library
Art discussed in class may be reviewed through Dr. Vess's
Home Page; follow the link on your course page.
*Workshop: African mask making (Dr. Farrar)
*take the Web quiz by next class period
February 4 Art and the State
China: The Forbidden City
Readings: Web site chapter, Dr. Vess's World Civ Virtual
Library.
*on reserve: "The Aristocratic style in the Ming and Ching
dynasties"
February 9: Art and the State
The French Revolution: The Art of D avid and Music of
Beethoven and Tchaikovsky
Readings:
Excerpts from Schindler's Beethoven as I Knew Him
Other readings on reserve
*Web Chapter, Virtual Library
*Assignment: participate in Web Crossing Discussion by the
next class period
February 11 EXAM I
In this unit, we will explore Realism and Idealism. Realism is a style of art which attempts to produce reality as it truly is. Idealism is realted to realism in that it attempts to produce the world, but the world as it ideally ought to be, or as it is thought to be.
February 16 Art as Mirror of Reality: Realism Giotto and
DaVinci
Readings:
Vasari's Life of DaVinci on reserve at the library
*on reserve: "Classical Humanism" and "Renaissance
Artists"
*Assignment: Take the Web Quiz by next class period
February 18 Art as Mirror of Reality: Idealism
Michelangelo
Readings:
Excerpts from the poetry of Michelangelo on reserve
*Assignment: Take Web Quiz by the next class period
In this unit, we will study differing views of the nature of the cosmos, and of its structure.
February 23 The Tao of Nature: Asia
China: Taoism
Readings:
The Tao of Pooh
Dr. Vess's world civ Interactive Journey, Computer lab A*S
2-71. Unit on China, Taoism. Complete readings and quiz.
Bring a floppy disk, IBM formatted. Due today.
February 25 The Tao of Nature: Asia Chinese Art Readings:
Web chapter in class web site Poetry of Li Po, Norton pp.
829-834. March 2: The Tao of Nature: Asia Japan: Haiku, Zen
Gardens, and the Tea ceremony
Readings:
Norton, Haiku of Basho, p. 2108-2137
Assignment: students will write a haiku poem, a commentary
which explains the design of the Zen garden, and how the
haiku poem captures Japanese cultural ideals. Due on March
4th. To be shared with the class. Post on Web Crossing.
MARCH 3: LAST DAY TO DROP WITH A "W"
March 4 Art and the Ordered Cosmos: The European
Mechanistic Universe Europeam Rationalism and European
Gardens of the 18th century Readings:
Alexander Pope, Essay on Man on reserve
*on reserve: "The Promise of Reason"
*Assignment: Take the Web Quiz over the readings before
class today.
March 9: Study of classical music of Mozart, Haydn and
early Beethoven
*On reserve: selections on Classical Music
In this unit we will explore art as a form of
self-expression. We will study various concepts of the self
from Asia and the western traditions, along with
representative examples of art. We will also look at the
ways in which socieites have used art to express their
notions of self.
March 11 Codified forms of expression in the arts:
Japanese Drama
Readings:
Norton Anthology, p. 1400-1411
March 16 Codified forms of expression in the arts:
*preferential shapes assignment (Dr. Farrar). Due on the
30th.
March 18
*discussion of preferential shapes project.
*orientation in the computer lab.
March 22-26 Spring Break
March 30 Color and the aesthetics of self-expression in
art:
*general remarks on color
*Art of India: read and click/explore materials on the class
web site under color aesthetics. Complete Web quiz by
January 26th.
*Assignment: participation in Web Crossing discussion on
color required. Question posted today; please complete your
postings by April 6.
April 1 Color and the aesthetics of self-expression in
art:
Yoruba color aesthetics
*bead project (Dr. Farrar)
April 6 Color and the aesthetics of self-expression in
music:
Scriabin, Debussy, and other examples
*please read and click/explore/listen to the materials on
the class web site under color aesthetics: music for this
course.
*complete Web quiz on this material by April 8.
April 8: What is the Self? The Self in Literature and in
art
Readings:
Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground, Norton Anthology, p.
2363ff
Rilke, "Faces," to be distributed
Freud, excerpts to be distributed
*complete Web quiz on the readings prior to coming to class
on April 8.
*Participate in Web Crossing Discussion. Respond by April
15th.
April 13: What is the Self? The Self in Literature and in
art
The Inner vs. The Outer Self in literature and art Readings:
Norton, Kafka, Metamorphosis, pp. 2746-2784. *complete web
quiz over the reading prior to coming to class today, April
13.
*Reminder: participate in Web Crossing Discussion by April
15th.
April 15: What is the Self? The Self in literature and
art
The Self-Portraits: use of color, line, and other design
elements in self-expression
Self-portraits of Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Durer, Van Gogh,
Picasso and other artists
*Assignment: students will work on self-portrait project,
possibly with Professor Susan Wylly. Students should write a
brief commentary on the portrait, making use of ideas and
materials from the readings. Due on April 29th.
April 22 What is the Self? The Self in art and
literature:
Hindu and Buddhist views of the Self and the impact on
art
Readings: Norton, Bhagavad Gita, pp. 612-627.
*Web Site materials under Hindu and Buddhist views of self
(review the art and my commentary)
*Assignment: read and complete the unit on Hinduism in Dr.
Vess's World Civilization Interactive Journey, found in the
computer lab in A&S 2-71. You will need to bring a 31/2
IBM formatted floppy disk to complete your work. Read the
Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, then complete the quiz. Due
today, April 22. No late discs accepted.
April 27 What is the Self? The Self in art and
literature:
American Transcendentalists in art and literature
Readings: Norton, Walt Whitman "Song of Myself", pp.
2305-2313
April 29 presentation of self-portraits to the class. No
late projects accepted. No exceptions. Projects not
presented will not be graded.
Final Exam: 11:00-1:45 Thursday May 6