core 220 syllabus fall 2014

8/11/2019 CORE 220 Syllabus Fall 2014

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What is Art?

The dictionary defines “art”as “the expression or applicationof human creative skill andimagination, typically in a visualform such as painting orsculpture, producing works to beappreciated primarily for theirbeauty or emotional power.” Butis it more than this?

This course aims to get at theheart of the question posedabove. But more than definingart, this class is about exploringwhat makes painting, film, musicand literature such potent forcesin our lives.

While the role of the artist haschanged throughout history, artcontinues to matter to people

individually and culturally. Inthis class, we’ll trace both ofthese things: why art matters tous and to others.

Along the way, we’ll look atart through the lens of race, classand gender, learn ways toana lyze and re spond toaesthetics, and—ultimately— learn why art matters.

Because it does.Core 220 is one of six second-

ye ar courses that exploreWestern traditions of thought. Inexploring the ideas that formedthe philosophical underpinningsof art, science, religion, politicsand more, we’ll see how newideas are formed, how old ideas

break down, and sometimescome back to us.

Understanding how ideasform and transform is akin tolearning what it means to thinkdifferently and to open up tonew ideas. Ultimately, this class iabout more than talking abouart—it’s about giving you afoundation for exploring newideas in later classes and in life.

To put it succinctly, here’scatalog description of thiscourse:

Why do the arts matter?

Thicourse will explore the literary, performing, and visual arts in thWestern tradition.

By formallyanalyzing works of art both past andcontemporary, by situating them intheir historical and cultural contexts,and by examining them through theinterpretive lenses of race, class, and gender, students will formulate andarticulate theoretically-informedconclusions about the roles of the artin Western society and in their lives.

CORE 220

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What is Art?

Nitty-Gritty

Details

Grade

Breakdown

WritingResources

Course Calendar

questions?

concerns?

contact me

here: >>>

email: [email protected]

phone/text: 715.937.0507

office/office hours: Aiken100/TBA

Course Website: We’ll useCanvas LMS. Find it under“Current Students.”

An Overview of the Course, Expectations, Assignments, and Objectives

Your Instructor:

Brett Sigurdson

Textbooks: The Story of Art. 16th ed., by E. H.

GombrichISBN: 9780714832470

Champlain College

But is it Art? byCynthia Freeland

ISBN:9780192853677

“Western Aesthetics: AQuartet of Traditions,”

by Richard L. Anderson

Distributed in Class

On the Road byJack Kerouac

ISBN:9780140283297

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Everything that youneed to succeed in thiscourse

AttendanceAs a student in this class, you areexpected to contribute to your fellow

students’ edification and growth. Assuch, a certain level of decorum must bemaintained so that we may all benefitfrom each other’s experiences, opinions,and perspectives. That means you needto be in class.

To that end, repeated absences willnegatively affect your grade. You maymiss a maximum of six class periods.More than six absences will lead toautomatic failure. Keep in mind, I donot distinguish between excused andunexcused absences—if you miss,

you’re absent . However, i f an

emergency will keep you from attendingclass for multiple days, please reach outto me and let me know. Should you evermiss class, need more information, orneed a workshop partner, please reachout to someone in class for help.

Class ParticipationWe’re going to talk about art. A lot.Because responding to art is first apersonal reaction, I want to know yourperspec t ive , your ta s te s , yourinterpretations, your ideas. You should

want the same from your classmates.So, please show up for class ready totalk and discuss. Part of your grade willdepend on your participation in class,which I will note for grade purposes

during each session. Each time youshare something in class I will note it.Your final participation grade will bedetermined in points as a percentageof your sharing throughout thesemester.

Please know our classroom is a safeplace. You should feel comfortablesharing your ideas without feeling

judged.

AssignmentsThis class will consist of ten shortwriting assignments and four medium-sized papers. They former will beworth 25 points each and will mostlyconsist of discussion posts andresponses on our class Canvas page.The latter will be worth about 100points each. In total, we’ll have at least800 points for this class. Aside fromclass participation, other graded workwill include writing workshops and

writing notebooks (more on thosebelow).To keep up with things, please

check Canvas daily. There you will findinformation on the class, includingdigital copies of all assignments, yourgrades, links to important websites, andpostings concerning class discussionsand topics of interest to our work.

Writing NotebookPlease bring a notebook solely for fast-writing assignments beginning thesecond day of class and continuing until

the end of the semester. Your notebookwill be the place where you explore yourideas, doodle, react to writing prompts,and hopefully plant the seeds of ideasfor future writing projects. The type of

notebook that you provide is of littlsignificance. What matters is that you’rcomfortable writing in it and that youse it only for this class.

I will require you to turn in youwriting notebooks at least twicthroughout the semester. I have a stricdeadline for notebooks. If I leavcampus without your writing notebook

you will not receive points for thassignment. If you will be away fromclass, you can send it to class withsomeone.

Information LiteracyWe’re not big fans of tests in classes likthis, but every section of COR 220 irequired to include an informatioliteracy session. Information Literacy iFall COR 200-level classes explores ththeme of ethical use of informationThe IL session for COR 220 explorenew information formats in digitamusic and art—for example, the ethicand merits of song mash-ups.

The COR 220 IL session is delivereonline via Canvas. This is a self-pacedself-directed online lesson that you’

take on your own time betweeSeptember 28 and October 19. Thonline IL lesson has a number ocomponents. The first aspect of thlesson includes a short video for studentto watch. This is followed by a shorinteractive survey, followed by twseparate zero-grade discussions.

The lesson should take no longethan 30-40 minutes to complete.

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‘Art is either plagiarism or

revolution’

Paul Gaugin

In addition to skills and knowledge,

Champlain College aims to teach

students appropriate Ethical and

Professional Standards of Conduct.

The Academic Honesty Policy

exists to inform students and

Faculty of their obligations in

upholding the highest standards of

professional and ethical integrity.

All student work is subject to the

A c a d e m i c H o n e s t y P o l i c y .

Professional and Academic practice

provides guidance about how to

properly cite, reference, and attribute the

intellectual property of others. Any

attempt to deceive a faculty member or to

help another student to do so will be

considered a violation of this standard.

The penalty for plagiarism in this course

may include, but is not limited to, failure of

English 112. For questions or concerns, I

encourage you to consult a reputable

source, the Writing Center, or me.

AcademicIntegrity

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Everything that youneed to succeed in thiscourse

Final AssignmentWe’ll talk about the specifics of the finalassignment in class, but know that, as partof the stipulations for this course laid outby Champlain College, you’re required toupload your final paper to Chalk & Wireportfolio rather than Canvas, where you’llupload all of your other assignments. Thisis a mandatory part of the course. If youdon’t upload it here during the deadlinethe final week of class, you will fail theassignment and possibly the course. Aswith every other assignment, I’ll respondto and grade your work there.

Students RequiringAccommodations

If you believe that you requireaccommodations in this class, pleasecontact Counseling and AccommodationServices as soon as possible. You will beable to schedule a meeting with DeniseMyers and have your documentationreviewed. During that meeting, Denisewill provide you with letters for yourfaculty, which will detail your neededaccommodations. It is the student'sresponsibility to seek and secureaccommodations prior to the start of atest or project.

Contact: Denise Myers, Counseling

and Accommodation Services, via phone( 8 0 2 . 8 6 5 . 5 4 8 4 ) o r e m a i l([email protected]). Her office islocated in Skiff Hall, room 100.

Class PhilosophiesThis is not a difficult class, though it’s noteasy either. The most successful studentsin my courses aren’t necessarily the bestwriters or talkers; rather, the mostsuccessful students simply do the work.To succeed in this class, you simply needto show up, do each assignment, push

yourself to create your best work, andrevise, revise, revise. While the quality of

your wo rk ta kes pr ec ed en ce overanything else in terms of your grade, theabove-mentioned things will lead toquality work.

Here, in no particular order, aresome other things to keep in mind:

1. No matter what, you each havesomething to gain from this class. Iexpect everyone to push themselves.2. If you tell me before, it’s anexplanation. If you tell me after, it’san excuse.3. At an y po i n t dur i n g t h esemester, I will be happy to respondto questions or concerns regardingthis course. Please feel free to visitme during my office hours or tomake an appointment.4. I reserve the right to changeassignments, due dates, etc. on the

syllabus. However, I will attempt toprovide you with any pertinentchanges at minimum a week beforesaid change is going to occur.5. You have a number of ways tocontact me. I expect you to work

with me if you are having problemwith your work or the course. Pleasedon’t wait until the end-of-courseevaluations to share your issues orstruggles with this class.6. Finally, let’s face it: technologybreaks. servers go down, transferstime out, files become corrupt. Thelist goes on and on. These are notconsidered emergencies. They arepart of the normal production

process. An issue you may have withtechnology is no excuse for late workYou need to protect yourself bymanaging your time and backing up

your work.

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WORKSHOPSWhile this isn’t a writing class per se, you’ll be writing a lot

in this class, and I’ll expect to receive top-notch papers from

you. The best way to find out if your paper is successful is to

get feedback from other people. To that end, we’ll spend a

number of class sessions doing workshops throughout the

semester.Though you’ll participate in a few kinds of workshops,

you’ll always do the same three things:

1. Read and respond to line-level things such as

misspellings, inconsistencies, etc.

2. Write a few sentences about at least one thing that is

working at the end. Write a few sentences about one thing

that could be better.

3. Go over feedback with partner. Ask writer if he/she

has questions.

We will spend one class period during week three going

through how to workshop effectively.While many of you may be

against letting peers read your work, this is a required part of

my class and one that you’ll soon come to see has enormous

value to you.

Each workshop will be worth 10 points. If you miss a

workshop due to absence, you can still get the points by finding

a partner with whom to exchange papers. You must read a

paper as well as exchange your own. Each partner must verify

he or she workshopped in order to get the points.

If you don’t have a paper to share, don’t come to class. Usethe time to work on your paper.

I expect you to take workshops seriously. They aren’t a

time to talk or do work for other classes. In order to realize the

true value of workshops, you’ve got to come prepared each

time ready to talk about your revised work

Ultimately, it’s up to you to take advantage of the

workshop experience. You must come to class ready to get good

feedback and offer it to your partner. Simply participating in

workshops doesn’t guarantee your paper will improve. You’ve

got to be an active participant in the workshop process. Ask

questions. Listen. Ask more questions. Do this until there are

no more questions

The function of art is to disturb.

Science reassures.

~George Braque

‘Interpretation is the

revenge of the

intellect upon art.’

Susan Sontag

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mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



Writing CenterMIC 218

course calendar...

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Week One [8/25–8/29]

Art and the Self

Read Syllabus, Bring Writing

notebook

Week Two [9/1–9/5]

Responding to Art

First Short Writing Assignment

due September 5

Week Three [9/8–9/12]

Responding to ArtSecond Short Writing Assignment

Due September 12

Week Four [9/15–9/19]

Race, Class, Gender

Third Short Writing Assignment

Due September 12

Week Five [9/22–9/26]

The Enlightenment

Art Manifesto Due September 24

@ midnight

Week Six [9/29–10/3]Romanticism

Fourth Short Writing Assignment

Due October 3

Week Seven [10/6–10/10]

Romanticism, Part Deux

Fifth Short Writing Assignment

Due October 10

Week Eight [10/13–10/17]

Modernism

Sixth Short Writing Assignment

Due October 17

Week Nine [10/20–10/24]

Modernism, Continued

iRoica Assignment due October 22

@ midnight

Week Ten [10/27–10/31]

Contemporary Art/the Beat

Generation

Seventh Short Writing

Assignment Due October 31

Week Eleven [11/3–11/7]Contemporary Art/the Beat

Generation

Eighth Short Writing Assignment

Due November 7

Week Twelve [11/10–11/14]

Contemporary Art/the Beat

Generation

Ninth Short Writing Assignment

Due November 14

Week Thirteen [11/17–11/21]

Contemporary Art/the 60s and

70sOn the Road Assignment Due

November 19 @ midnight

Week Fourteen [11/24–11/28]

Contemporary Art/the 60s and

70s

Tenth Short Writing Assignment

Due November 28

Week Fifteen [12/1–12/5]

Class Wrap-Up

Final Portfolio Due Friday, Dec. 12

This is a broad overview of this course’s trajectory. This will most likely evolve

and change as we progress and figure out where we need to spend more or less time.

Homework will be given each day in class and on Canvas.

Though the plethora of portable de(laptops, tablets, smart phones, etc.) availabus can make our lives easier and enjoyable, they are of limited application classroom.

I have no patience for cell phones iclassroom.This is disrespectful to me andclassmates. If I see you using a cell phonuse other than recording homework oappointment, you will be given an absen

you must text or call someone during simply let me know and step outsideclassroom.

several words on...

The Writing Center offers one-onconsultations with peer tutors who astudents with writing assignments of

type. Consultants will help you developstructure your ideas and thing through

you’re trying to say. Please note, they wi

dictate content, edit, proofread, or co-austudent papers, and they won’t predickind of grade you might earn onassignment might earn.

You can find all kinds of heresources in the Writing Center on a wa

basis. For a one-on-one consultation

tutors, you should make an appointmenget further information on all that

Writing Center offers, visit its website.

The Writing Center is located onsecond floor of Miller InformaCommons, room 228, and is open Mo

through Thursday from 11 a.m.–4 p.mFriday from 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

Champlain College is taking precautionary measures to ensure that this class can continue in a"virtual environment" even during an extended emergency such as severe weather, contagious disease,

physical infrastructure failure, campus closure, or similar incident. This course will continue eitheronline through a college-provided learning management system (Canvas), or through some other

process unless cancelled. In the event of such an emergency, students are expected to continue instructor-designated class

activities, as directed by the instructor. Due to the nature of the "virtual environment" learning activitiesmay differ slightly from the on-campus course. In order for this emergency preparedness plan to beeffective, you are asked to ensure that you will have a computer and internet access at the location in

which you will reside during an extended campus closure, prepare yourself with the basic skills of logging into Canvas via the dashboard, finding your course(s) and entering them, and participate in a"warm up" online activity in the "virtual environment" when directed to do so by your instructor.

Business Continuity

technology

! Evaluate works of art using the

vocabulary, categories, and

theories of aesthetic criticism.

! Situate works of art in the

historical and cultural context

in which they were created.

! Articulate theoretically-

informed conclusions about the

role of the arts in Western

society and in their lives.

! Evaluate works of art through

the interpretive lenses of race

class, and gender.

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Submitting Assignments C O R E

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Helpful Words >>>

‘Artists must be sacrificed to their art. Like bees, they

must put their lives into the sting they give.’

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘Children, like animals, use all their senses to discover

the world. then artists come along and discover it the

same way again.’

—Eudora Welty

Major

Assignments

>>>>>

Paper Two: iRoica. This assignment asks you to compose a

symphony like Beethoven. Seriously. Well, kind of. After analyzing his

Eroica, you’ll compose your own musical statement about a time and

place using the music of others. The goal of this assignment is to

produce a symphony that follows Beethoven’s Eroica in mood while

creating a playlist and paper that says something about your life. 100

Points

Paper Three: On the Road, On the Page. Truman Capote once said ofJack Kerouac’s oevure, “That’s not writing, that’s typing.” The knock

against the Beat Generation writers’ work has always been that it’s

undisciplined and sloppy. Others, however, claim it’s Kerouac’s

spontaneous prose style that makes him an original and important

artist. In this paper, you’ll argue for one side or the other after reading

the writer’s masterpiece, On the Road, as well as other selected pieces.

100 Points

Paper Four: Art Review. This paper will ask you to analyze a work

of art created or displayed locally, or one that you create, using the

critical theories and approaches we talk about throughout the semester.

You’ll also be asked to write a narrative of experiencing it. 150 Points

Paper One: Art Manifesto. We’re studying art

movements in this class, all of them born from some

sort of idea about what art is, isn’t, and should be. For

this assignment, you’re going to write a paper detailing

your own art manifesto. You’ll also share it with the

class 100 points.

You will submit all assignments to me via Canvas, where I will grade themand return them to you via the samemanner with feedback and a rubric.

If you’re unsure how this works,don’t worry—check out the video onour Canvas course page. We’ll goover it in class, too.

IMPORTANT: COR 220 is offered in partial fulfillment ofthe New England Association ofS c h o o l s a n d C o l l e g e ’ s

requirement that one-third of a student’seducation at a NEASC-accredited institutionbe comprised of general education courses. According to NEASC, which is ChamplainCollege’s accrediting body, “The generaleducation requirement . . . ensures adequatebreadth for all degree-seeking students by

showing a balanced regard for what aretraditionally referred to as the arts andhumanit ies ; the sc ien ces inc ludingmathematics; and the social sciences. Generaleducation requirements include offerings thatf o c u s o n t he s ub jec t ma t t e r andmethodologies of these three primarydomains of knowledge as well as theirrelationships to one another.”

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Grade Scale ! 100=A+

93–99=A

90–92=A-

87–89=B+

83–86=B

80–82=B-

77–79=C+

73–76=C

70–72=C-

63–69=D

0–59=F

Note: The content of these

assignments, the point values,

and even the assignments

themselves may change as we go

through the semester.

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core 220 syllabus fall 2014

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