| Phil 320/Art
320 -- Philosophy of the Arts Fall 2009 Mondays 6:30 p.m. in CA 165 Office: Bridges
359B Office telephone (with voice mail): 477-4089
This course is an extended examination of the nature and value of art and artistic activity. The only prerequisite is an active interest in one or more art forms. The course examines the main theories of what art is, what artists are, and whether art and artistic creativity are human universals. As indicated by the course title, various arts will be discussed. This is not strictly a course about the visual arts. However, the visual arts and music will be the main sources for examples. REQUIRED TEXTS:
Learning Outcomes for Dragon Core (The Humanities – The Arts, Literature, and Philosophy)
This is a "middle cluster" course. It extends the writing and critical/multicultural thinking components of the "foundation four." This is a Writing Intensive Course. The quality of your formal writing will affect your course grade. Most of your course grade is based on four formal essays that you write. The first of these will be submitted as a two-page draft and will be submitted to the instructor for comments before it is completed. Only the revised version receives a grade. The course combines informal writing (short pieces of writing produced during class sessions), integrative formal writing in which you will explain, integrate, and evaluate material covered in the assigned readings (four essays), and one less formal essay (a final exam). Taken together, the integrative
formal writing must be at least a minimum of 16 pages (4800
words). Therefore each essay must be a full four pages or more. Robert Hughes, one of the most articulate and important art critics of recent years, has said this about the process of writing: “My main impulse for writing a book was to force myself to find out about things I didn't know. … Otherwise, why do it at all?” This point encapsulates my goals for having you write. Writing is a mode of exploration. There is no reason to write except to find out things you did not already know, including things about yourself, such as your own position on controversial topics. DUE DATES FOR THE FORMAL WRITING
EXPECTATIONS ABOUT STUDENT WORK This is an upper level course. I will enforce the University's policies on student conduct. I expect all essays to conform to recognized standards of presentation, originality, and documentation of sources. The University expects all students
to represent themselves in an honest fashion. In academic work, students are
expected to present original ideas and to give credit to the ideas of
others. The value of a college degree depends on the integrity of the work
completed by the student. For more information, click
here.
GRADING: Your final course grade will be calculated using the +/- system. 10% Daily Real Question 10% Final Exam (one essay question) 80% Four papers (4 or more pages each) DAILY REAL QUESTIONS At the BEGINNING of each class, you must submit one "real question." Real Questions should reflect that you are thoughtful about the material you have read. Above all, they are questions to which you genuinely do not know the answer, about something that really puzzles you. Please follow the simple guidelines below when you write your questions: DO:
DO NOT:
READING ASSIGNMENTS (These assignments are subject to change) Read the assigned texts before class on the day indicated. With the first four chapters of Carroll we are not reading the whole chapter, so pay attention to the assigned pages. Always come to class prepared and have your "Real Question."
Notice of disability services & special accommodations The Minnesota State University of Moorhead is committed to a policy of equal opportunity in education and employment and welcomes students with disabilities. We are prepared to to offer you a range of services to accommodate your needs. However, students must accept responsibility for initiating the request for services.
Students with disabilities who believe they
may need an accommodation in this class must contact Greg Toutges,
Coordinator of Disability Services at 477-2131 (Voice) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY), CMU 114 as soon as possible to ensure that accommodations are
implemented in a timely fashion. This page last updated Sept. 28, 2009 |
