Cultural Studies: Intro to Humanities
Dr. Les Wright Introduction to the Humanities Fall 2001
Office: ATC 240 (617) 928-7314 lwright@mountida.edu
HT 301 Introduction to the Humanities 3 credits
Course Description
This course will provide a broad view of some of the forms and methods of humanistic studies. By considering major created works, from the early Renaissance to the end of the twentieth century, we will work toward and understanding of the humanities as a way of knowing ourselves and the world. We will also consider how wisdom, as articulated in the humanities, differs from the knowledge presented in the social and natural sciences.
Prerequisites: EN 101 and EN 102, and senior college standing
Required Texts:
Berger, John, Ways of Seeing Plath, Sylvia, The Bell Jar
MFA Guide to the Collection Plath, Sylvia, The Collected Poetry
Criticizing Photographs Kafka, The Metamorphosis
Southworth, Susan and Michael, AIA Guide to Boston Emerson, Self-Reliance
Brecht, Bertolt, Three-Penny Opera Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
Miller, The Crucible McGrath/Thoreau, Walden Pond
Attendance at off-campus events will be at the student’s own expense. The MFA is free of charge if you present your Mount Ida student ID.
Topics
Introduction to the humanistic genres‑performing arts (dance, drama, music, opera, film), visual arts (painting, photography, sculpture, architecture), and verbal arts (poetry, fiction, biography, essays). Course draws upon currently available arts .in the Boston area, within the Mount Ida community, and available on videotape and other retrievable media.
Teaching Procedures
Background lectures by instructor will create contexts for and be followed up with direct on-site and in-class experience and analysis of the sampled arts.
Instructional Objectives
To introduce the student to the historical development of cultural standards, critical thought, and social values which have significantly contributed to creating the society we live in today. To increase the student’s ability to communicate clearly and effectively, to access relevant information, to work independently and in a group, and to instill leadership skills through classroom involvement. To bring the student to infer, deduce, extrapolate, and otherwise draw complex connections between the student’s world, society, and the realm of humanities scholarship.
Grading and Attendance
Student grades will be based on the following: weekly journal assignments (10%), 3 brief papers (3-5 pages) (3×10%), two off-campus projects (MFA and Boston architecture) (20%), and a midterm and final exam (2 x 20%).Students are required to attend all classes. Two absences are permitted. Upon the fourth absence, the student will receive an irrevocable grade of F.
Dr. Les Wright Introduction to the Humanities Fall 2001
Office: ATC 240 (617) 928-7314 lwright@mountida.edu
HT 301 Introduction to the Humanities 3 credits
SYLLABUS
VISUAL ARTS
WEEK 1 Introduction: High, Pop & Mass Culture; Ways of Seeing
WEEK 2 Perspective Painting I art history slide show
MFA off-campus assignment handed out
WEEK 3 Perspective Painting II
WEEK 4 Photography Criticizing Photography;
A Moment in Time
WEEK 5 MFA Project due (in class discussion) The Way We Were
Architecture Cologne Cathedral
Boston Architecture off-campus assignment handed out Empire State Building
Midterm Test handed out
PERFORMING ARTS
WEEK 6 Drama The Crucible
Paper 1 (Visual Arts) due
WEEK 7 Musical Drama Three-Penny Opera
WEEK 8 Dance & Film Strictly Ballroom
Midterm Test due
WEEK 9 Music Theremin, et alia
WEEK 10 Boston Architecture Project due (in class discussion)
VERBAL ARTS
WEEK 11 Philosophy (Emerson/Thoreau) Self-Reliance; Walden Pond
Paper 2 (Performing Arts) due Civil Disobedience,
WEEK 12 Autobiography The Bell Jar
WEEK 13 Poetry Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath
WEEK 14 Fiction (short) Metamorphosis
WEEK 15 Fiction (novel) & Film The Bostonians
Paper 3 (Verbal Arts) due / Final Exam (take home) handed out
Final Exam due by scheduled exam period
