1 01:050:283 Topics in American Studies: Arts Adventure 1.5 Credits Section 01 (47064) Section 2 (56100) Dr. Jonathon Appels Phone: (212) 242-1664 Sunday 11:30am and 3:00pm Murray Hall 212 Spring 2013 Course Description: Visits to museums, galleries, and arts centers in New Brunswick, Princeton, and New York City, as well as Off-Broadway theatre, dance, music, and poetry readings to experience the arts of our time. How do the aesthetic values of one art discipline (for example, painting) influence the creation of works in another artistic field (such as music or theatre)? We will examine the way current events are depicted in the arts, how the arts shape social values, and how the arts are interpreted by different social groupings. Attendance Policies: No more than one absence or you risk failing the course. Tardiness of more than half an hour counts as a full absence. Students are expected to attend all classes; if you expect to miss a class, please use the University absence reporting website https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/ to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email is automatically sent to me. Grading Criteria: All of the following assignments assume the clarification of a theoretical position. 60% Term paper and Idea Book (25 pages) 20% Class participation and attendance 20% Two oral presentations (comparing influences from at least two different artistic disciplines) Late papers will be downgraded one grade per week late. No email submissions. Multiple grammatical errors will affect the overall grade.
2 Department Learning Goals Met by this Course: Students will be able to synthesize an interdisciplinary dialogue among the different disciplinary methodologies that compose American Studies in their investigation of American culture and in relation to the history, politics, literature, and arts of the peoples of the United States, as well as the Americas. Students will be able to write and speak articulately, and think critically, analytically, and creatively. Course Objectives: To survey the many artistic disciplines in the larger metropolitan area and to examine multiple perspectives on how those art forms have been created, and for whom To understand the interconnectedness of art, language, and expression To understand the fluidity of subjective and objective references to the history of art forms and art objects To increase visual and textual literacy To gain exposure to a variety of perspectives, approaches, and methods of artistic creation To foster respect for all points of view and to promote crossdisciplinary arts dialogue To strengthen a wide spectrum of writing skills and oral presentation skills To support and diversify critical and creative thinking skills To enhance reading, comprehension, and analytic tools as part of research on the arts To enjoy the discovery of new ways of seeing and understanding art!
3 Required Books: Van Gogh The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (tr Pomerans) ISBN: 0140446745 Rumi The Soul of Rumi (tr Barks) ISBN: 9780060604523 Scarry On Beauty and Being Just ISBN: 0691089590 Stein Everybody s Autobiography ISBN: 0691089590 Oliver Dream Work ISBN: 9780871130693 Plumly The Marriage in the Trees ISBN: 9780880015462 Berger Bento s Sketchbook: How does the impulse to draw something begin? ISBN: 9780307379955 Additional books which can be used for the research paper: Berzock and Clark (eds) Representing Africa in American Art Museums: A Century of Collecting and Display Bewer A Laboratory for Art: Harvard's Fogg Museum and the Emergence of Conservation in America (1900-1950) Marstine (ed) New Museum Theory and Practice: An Introduction Corn Women Building History: Public Art at the 1893 Columbian Exposition Crimp Do Museums Still Need Objects? Levin Gender, Sexuality and Museums: A Routledge Reader Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian
4 Preliminary Course Outline: The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the syllabus. It is your responsibility to stay abreast of changes in the course schedule by attending class, and checking with other students when you must be absent. March 10 Introduction and Course Objectives, Course Requirements, Outline, and Discussion of Site Visits So vital is the part played by the great art museums in our approach to works of art to-day that it is hard for us to realize that no museums exist, none has ever existed, in lands where the civilization of modern Europe is, or was, unknown; and that, even amongst us, they have existed for less than a couple of centuries. They bulked so large in the nineteenth century and are so much a part of our lives to-day that we forget they have imposed on the spectator a wholly new attitude towards the work of art. A Romanesque crucifix was not conceived as a work of sculpture; nor Duccio s Madonna as a picture. Even Pheidias Pallas Athene was not primarily a statue. The reason why historical painting subsequently played so great a part, and it alone in eighteenth-century collections could claim, as of right, a place alongside the portrait on the line, is that the plastic arts (until the invention of photography and, later, of the cinema) were in a high degree arts of the imagination. An unreal world of history, fantasy and the sublime was quite as much the painter s province as the writer s. -Malraux Museum Without Walls, 1949 In which ways is Malraux using the terms history and historical? How could Malraux European sensibility offer insight toward our examination of artistic creation in the U.S.?
5 March 31 Art, Perception, and Beauty Read: Berger, Scarry, Rumi, Van Gogh Presentations begin April 7 American Art and World Art Read: Berger, Scarry, Rumi, Van Gogh (to be finished) April 14 Comparitive Arts Read: Oliver, Plumly Due: Idea Book (25 pages) April 21 Visual Art and Performing Art Read: Stein Due: Term Paper April 28 Artistic Responses to Art May 7 Conclusion, Wrap up, Conferences Field trips are still being planned. The following trips have been determined so far: State Theatre (19 Livingston Ave. at George Street, New Brunswick, meet at the front entrance) New York City trip Zimmerli Museum
6 *Please note: Because the course will be run as a seminar, it is expected that students will come prepared with the readings. Active participation is assumed and will be reflected in the grading. Also note: Electronics (ipods, ipads, kindles, tablets, cell phones, texting, laptops, photography, recording devices, etc.) will not be allowed during the seminar. Policy on Plagiarism: Please read carefully the Rutgers' policy regarding plagiarism. From the University s Policy on Academic Integrity for Undergraduate and Graduate Students: Plagiarism is the representation of the words or ideas of another as one's own in any academic exercise. To avoid plagiarism, every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks or by appropriate indentation and must be properly cited in the text or in a footnote. Acknowledgment is required when material from another source stored in print, electronic or other medium is paraphrased or summarized in whole or in part in one's own words. To acknowledge a paraphrase properly, one might state: "to paraphrase Plato's comment..." and conclude with a footnote identifying the exact reference. A footnote acknowledging only a directly quoted statement does not suffice to notify the reader of any preceding or succeeding paraphrased material. Information which is common knowledge such as names of leaders of prominent nations, basic scientific laws, etc, need not be footnoted; however, all facts or information obtained in reading or research that are not common knowledge among students in the course must be acknowledged. In addition to materials specifically cited in the text, only materials that contribute to one's general understanding of the subject may be acknowledged in the bibliography. Plagiarism can, in some cases, be a subtle issue. Any questions about what constitutes plagiarism should be discussed with the faculty member. The Rutgers Writing Program also maintains a website that defines and discusses plagiarism, which we encourage all students to visit. 3/8/13 RS