The Art of Listening to Jazz 3 s.h.
What is this thing called jazz, and why is it important? Despite what you’ve heard, it’s not just for grandmothers anymore! This course will serve as a guided introduction to jazz, allowing students to acquaint themselves with the anatomy of the music, explore its cultural context and develop the skills to become an informed listener. How does one tell the difference between the trumpet of Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis, or the saxophone of Charlie Parker and Kenny G? The class will cover the process of performing jazz music, the music’s connection with Black culture, and focused listening/analysis of the work of prominent jazz artists from past and present, which will include the intersection between jazz and hip hop. No formal music experience/training necessary to enroll.
Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsThemes in Global Art 3 s.h.
Themes in Global Art is designed for students with no art history background. It is a cross-cultural course that explores key themes in art from a global perspective. We will be comparing and contrasting the many ways that different nations and ethnic populations throughout history have expressed their social, political, and religious values in visual form. Some of the international themes in art that we will study include: propaganda and power, social functions of art, ritual and self-expression (such as tattoos and body mutilation), and religion and the divine realm. The course requirements include unit assessments that are partly multiple-choice and true/false questions and partly short-answer essays.
This course has online proctored exams, all of which will be administered via Proctorio, an online proctoring service. Generally, students will need: a computer with 2 GB of free RAM a reliable internet connection a webcam capable of scanning the testing environment a working microphone a quiet, private location the Google Chrome browser with the Proctorio extension installed. More information will be available on the syllabus.
Arts of Africa 3 s.h.
This is an undergraduate introduction to the visual arts of Africa. No prior study of art history is necessary. This is a one-semester study of the sculpture, pottery, weaving, architecture, and other art forms of Africa from the Sahara to the Cape of Good Hope. The focus is on arts in cultural context. That means you will learn a great deal about the lives and history of many African peoples. You will see many, many slides of objects being made and used by African peoples to understand what the objects meant to the people who created them, and how the objects mirrored their social, educational, political, and economic systems.
Requirements for the online class include written participation in discussion sections, a midterm exam, a final exam, several short quizzes and a short paper. All readings will be available on ICON. Please note: There is a lot of writing in the discussion sections, and it will be very difficult for late enrollments to catch up after the first week of classes.
International and Global Issues Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsFrom Mona Lisa to Modernism 3 s.h.
Survey of the Western world's visual arts from Renaissance (ca. 1400) to present; major movements and principal masters of Western Europe and the United States in their social and historical contexts; focus on stimulation of visual literacy and familiarity with outstanding cultural monuments.
This is the foundational course for the study of art history. No prior study of art history is necessary. The course is a survey of Western Art from the European Renaissance to the contemporary world. It introduces some of the most famous and exciting works of art produced in the West from the Renaissance to the present day, including works of painting, sculpture, architecture, prints, photography, performance and installation art. We follow artistic developments through the centuries, looking at major artists and works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, 18th and 19th-centuries, and from the world of modern and contemporary art. Art is presented in historical, cultural, and aesthetic contexts.
Historical Perspectives Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsAsian Art and Culture 3 s.h.
Organized around a series of case studies of exemplary objects, the course explores the wide range of Asian art across different times, regions, cultures, materials, and themes. Special attention will be placed on interactions and influences between different regions through religion, war, travel, and trade. Each class will start with a formal analysis exercise on the key object, followed by a lecture that contextualizes the object, and then online discussion based on required readings
Historical Perspectives Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsElements of Art 3 s.h.
A beginning-level course for nonmajors, this course is designed to encourage students who have had little or no formal studio experience. Drawing is the principal means for considering a range of expressive opportunities. Using wet (e.g., ink) and dry (e.g., charcoal) mediums, students work from the human figure (clothed and unclothed), still life, and landscape. Students are given instruction in the skills of representation and principles of abstraction as an introduction to form, creativity, and greater discrimination of the visual world.
non-art major
For non-art majors. It covers fundamental 3-D design principles and appreciation of contemporary jewelry and metal art works. Students will learn fundamental techniques and materials in jewelry and metal arts, as well as experimentation with diverse media.
non-art major
Elements of Printmaking 3 s.h.
This course provides an overview of relief and monotype printmaking. We will learn basic techniques, the operation and use of tools and materials to craft multiple and reproducible works of art. We will also discuss the history of printmaking by looking at works by professional printmakers, both historical and contemporary, for inspiration. Through the process of printmaking, we will also learn to combine the elements of design and principles of art to create successful and thoughtful compositions. There are usually 4-5 projects completed over the course of the semester and most of the work happens in a communal print studio setting.
non-art major
Elements of Sculpture 3 s.h.
non-art major
Ceramics I: Handbuilding 3 s.h.
This course serves as an introduction to the ceramic arts and focuses on hand-building techniques and surface decoration. Students will learn to create original work through five assignments. Students load and fire electric and gas kilns, with occasional wood, soda, and raku firing as time and scheduling permit. Students mix glazes and make clay throughout the semester. There are lectures on artists relevant to the field of ceramics, basic glaze and clay formulation and preparation, along with lectures on technical information and contemporary ceramics discourse. Short papers may be assigned for research. Several critiques concerning class assignments will be conducted throughout the semester.
Introduction to Film Studies 3 s.h.
Contemporary Cinema 3 s.h.
This course (General Education - Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts) provides an introductory overview of global cinema since the late 1960s. We’ll explore the sociocultural and technological changes that have impacted various film cultures around the world, as well as the ways in which mainstream, independent, and international cinemas have intersected with issues of race, gender, sexuality, national history, globalization, and new media technologies. Topics will also include introductions to genre, auteur, adaptation, and documentary theories.
Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsThis class is an introductory survey of ancient Greek literature in translation. We will survey famous works from the earliest days of archaic Greece, the rise and fall of classical Athens, and the Hellenistic kingdoms. We will read broadly, including the epic poetry of Homer, Athenian theater, the origins of western historiography and philosophy. We will explore the problems of culture and ‘culturedness’ that are tangled up in the practice of reading of these texts (that is, reception) and our class discussions will necessarily entangle contemporary and historical issues, attitudes, and politics. Through these texts we will wrestle with the problematic categories of genre, canon, value, truth, and beauty. We will examine the role of the reader in reading, consider how literature can be used, and practice the development, articulation, and examination of personal opinion and response. The student will gain a broad exposure to the literature of ancient Greece and an appreciation for why it has been (and is still) read. Lectures will include brief introductions on Greek civilization, culture, and life. Writing assignments will encourage students to develop self-awareness as readers, and to practice articulating and supporting personalized reactions to, and opinions about, literary works.
Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsClassical Mythology 3 s.h.
Hercules, Odysseus, Achilles and Oedipus all share one major characteristic: they are all heroes whose adventures and stories are chronicled in timeless Greek and Roman sacred stories, or myths. This course looks at these heroes (and more!), in addition to the gods and goddesses whom these peoples believed ruled their world. The study of Greco-Roman mythology offers an excellent window into the past by providing us with a unique opportunity to examine how the Greeks and Romans attempted to answer questions about the nature of the universe and mankind’s place in it. The myths of any people betray attitudes concerning life, death, life after death, love, hate, morality, the role of women in society, etc.; we will pay particular attention to how Greco-Roman mythology addresses these important issues.
This course is designed to offer a general introduction to the myths of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Because ancient myths have come down to us in various works of literary and physical art, this course will also introduce you to some of the most influential works produced in ancient Greece and Rome. Moreover, because the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome have exercised such an influence in the shaping of the modern western world, we will equip ourselves with the background necessary to make modern literature, philosophy, religion, and art intelligible and meaningful. By examining and scrutinizing the myths of the ancient Greeks and Romans, we will learn not only a great deal about their cultures, but we will also put ourselves in a position from which to question, criticize, and (hopefully) better understand the foundations of the world in which we find ourselves.
This course meets the Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts general education requirement, as well as the Values and Culture requirement, through its use of ancient works of art (literary and visual) and focus on the ways in which ancient Greek and Romans managed the human experience.
Exploration of creative nonfiction genres through readings, discussion, and writing exercises; introduction to workshop environment.
A course exploring genres of creative nonfiction through readings, discussions, writing exercises, and writing itself. Students experience a workshop environment in which class members read, discuss, respond to, and critique the drafts their fellow students produce. Course readings, assignments, and exercises model the many modes of nonfiction for student writers. For beginning non-English majors.
Engineering Be Creative Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsBeginning Jazz 2 s.h.
This course introduces the basic movement fundamentals, terminology, and performance skills of jazz dance. It is intended to enhance beginning student’s flexibility, strength, body alignment, coordination, balance, kinesthetic awareness, personal range of motion, and musicality through jazz technique. Class is structured around a warm-up leading to locomotion across the floor and center combinations. Content may also include the history of jazz dance. Students are graded on the basis of participation, attendance, movement exams, written exams and/or quizzes, and performance critiques.
Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts
Beginning Hip Hop Dance 2 s.h.
Beginning Ballet 2 s.h.
This course introduces the basic movement fundamentals, terminology, and performance skills of ballet. It is intended to enhance the beginning student’s flexibility, strength, body alignment, coordination, balance, kinesthetic awareness, personal range of motion, and musicality through ballet technique. Activities will include barre and center combinations. Terminology will be stressed during class, detailed in handouts, and included in exams. Content may include the history of ballet. Students are graded on the basis of participation, attendance, movement exams, written exams and/or quizzes, and performance critiques.
Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts
Beginning Modern Dance 2 s.h.
This course introduces the basic movement fundamentals, terminology, and performance skills of modern dance. It is intended to enhance the beginning student’s flexibility, strength, body alignment, coordination, balance, kinesthetic awareness, personal range of motion, and musicality through modern dance technique. Activities will include warm-up, locomotion and center combinations. Content may include the history of modern dance. Students are graded on the basis of participation, attendance, movement exams, written exams and/or quizzes, and performance critiques. Assignments are given according to the instructor’s discretion.
Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsContinuing Ballet 2 s.h.
Continuation of DANC:1030; skills necessary for technique and performance of ballet; enhancement of flexibility, strength, body alignment, coordination, balance, kinesthetic awareness, personal range of motion, and musicality; barre and center combinations; terminology; may include history of ballet.
This course is a continuation of DANC:1030, building a foundation of skills necessary for the technique and performance of ballet. It is intended to enhance the continuing student’s flexibility, strength, body alignment, coordination, balance, kinesthetic awareness, personal range of motion, and musicality through ballet technique. Class is structured around barre and center combinations. Terminology will be stressed during class, detailed in handouts, and included in exams. Content may include the history of ballet. Students are graded on the basis of participation, attendance, movement exams, written exams and/or quizzes, and performance critiques. Assignments are given according to the instructor’s discretion.
Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts
The Arts in Performance 3 s.h.
This course explores the role of the performing arts in the human experience, and examines the nature of the creative impulse in different performance media, cultures, societies and historical contexts. Much of the class work is based on attendance at live performances of theatre, music, and dance on campus and in the community. Readings, films and videos will augment live performances. Emphasis is on analyzing performance and the experience of the audience through writing and in-depth class discussions.
Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts Values and Culture Values, Society, and DiversityIntermediate Jazz 2 s.h.
Intermediate technique and performance training in jazz dance, including hip-hop; flexibility, strength, body alignment, and coordination as foundation for more advanced dance artistry, including mobility, musicality, style; warm-up, locomotion, center combinations; may include history of jazz and hip-hop dance.
Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsIntermediate Hip Hop Dance 2 s.h.
World of the Beatles 3 s.h.
The Beatles are arguably the most influential popular music artists in history. In many ways, their careers reflected and shaped the culture of their time. In this course students will explore the impact influences such as rock ‘n’ roll, gigs in Hamburg, world tours, the drug culture, the Avant Garde, non-western instruments and philosophy, anti-war sentiments, and world politics had on the Beatles’ music. We will examine the development, maturation, and demise of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership as well as the role George Martin and his engineers played in turning the Beatles’ sonic explorations into hit singles and groundbreaking records. Concurrently students will critique the impact Beatlemania had on British and American cultures as well as its role in opening up Eastern Europe to the West. Innovations made in the recording and marketing of albums and films, and the difficulties the group encountered in managing royalties, copyrights, and various business ventures are covered. Students will view several of the Beatles’ various television appearances and films and develop an in-depth understanding of their music. Students will gain knowledge of British and American cultural history through the “window” the Beatles and their music provide.
This course is open to all students; including non-music majors.
Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsTheories related to human development and visual arts; use of visual arts to make meaning out of experience; ways to integrate visual arts into everyday life; cognitive and physical processes involved in making, understanding, and looking at visual art; theories of cognitive development; role of visual art in education; introduction to art production, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics.
Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsFrench Cinema 3, 4 s.h.
This course offers an overview of French film history and culture from 1980 to the present. Along with considering developments that shaped the French film industry in this period, we will examine how leading feature and documentary filmmakers have grappled with pressing societal concerns such as modernization and the progression of consumer society, the legacy of France’s colonial empire and decolonization struggles, and the French experience during World War II. Other topics of discussions will include the “Cinéma du Look,” the heritage film (cinéma de patrimoine), and various expressions of the youth cinema (jeune cinéma) that has flourished in France since the early 1980s. We will also take up questions of a) gender and sexuality, b) trans-national cultural flows and globalized film culture, c) national cultural memory formation, d), the crisis conditions that have prompted politically and socially minded filmmakers to examine the effects of neoliberal globalization and the xenophobic nationalism to which it has given rise and d) French contributions to the global eco-cinematic activism combatting both the denial and growing perils of climate change. Directors to be studied will include: Claude Berri, Louis Malle, Claire Denis, Luc Besson, Olivier Assayas, Laurent Cantet, Nicolas Philibert, Céline Sciamma, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Olivier Nakache & Eric Tolendo, Dany Boon, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Cyril Dion & Mélanie Laurent, Lucas Belvaux and JR & Agnès Varda.
NOTE TO FRENCH MAJORS AND MINORS: French majors may take one course in English that counts for the major. If you wish to take this course as your one major course taught in English, and you wish to enroll for only 3 semester hours, this is the section in which you should enroll (FREN 4100:001). If you have already taken a course in English and wish to earn French major and minor credit for this course, including credit that meets the French major’s upper-division requirement (that is, the 2 required courses numbered “above FRENCH 4000”), you should enroll under the 4-semester hour course listing (FREN 4100:002).
Cyborgs, Monsters, and the Uncanny 3, 4 s.h.
Why are we so fond of figures of cyborgs and monsters in literature and film? And why are we drawn to stories about the fantastic, the supernatural, stories that creep up on us and make us shudder? This course examines how cyborgs and monsters challenge the boundaries of what it means to be human and what promise they hold for redefining the future. In many ways, encounters with monsters and monstrous bodies investigate our relationship with ‘the Other’—which, as it turns out, is often part of ourselves. In this course we examine some of the foundational texts that have provoked in readers and viewers the affect of the uncanny, from Kafka’s short story “Metamorphosis,” to E.T.A Hoffmann’s writings on automata and the story “The Sandman” that was the basis of Freud’s essay on the uncanny. As we trace the uncanny as an aesthetic concept that conveys eerie, creepy, unsettling and haunting feelings, we will also discuss how literary representations of the uncanny were translated in architecture, especially memorial architecture (Jewish Museum Berlin). Early representations of automata in E.T.A Hoffmann raise the question of why we find human-like robots so creepy. To explore these questions we will read short texts from Mori and Baudrillard to complement Freud’s analysis of the uncanny. We will also investigate the gendering of cyborg bodies by analyzing such classics as Lang’s Metropolis and Donna Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto. Then we will analyze how the genre of horror films evolved from early classics such as Murnau’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) and Wegener’s The Golem (1920) to the later series of Dracula and Frankenstein film by directors Whale and Branagh. Finally, we will also discuss Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) and its most recent sequel Bladerunner 2049 (2017).
Course taught in English. Students can enroll for a 4th credit hour if they are majors/minor and complete additional assignments (research paper) for the 4th credit hour. Satisfies the GE requirement in Literary, Visual and Performing Arts.
Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts
Italy is home of an estimated 60% of the world’s art treasures. It is also the 8th largest economy in the world by GDP. How are these two factors related? How do the Italian art and business spheres interact? This course will explore Italy’s centuries-old artistic tradition with a twofold purpose: first, to familiarize students with some of the most important manifestations of Italian culture; second, to help them reflect on how the arts have been informing business initiatives. By encompassing different periods and forms of expression, this course will investigate the works that have made Italy synonymous with beauty and will examine how Italy’s artistic tradition has influenced the country’s industrial and business development. Through detailed analyses of literary and visual texts, students will learn how to critically approach a work of art and will consider how arts-based inquiry can enhance value-creation capacity and business success."
No previous knowledge of art or business is required
Literary, Visual, and Performing Artsnon-music major
Since World War II, jazz has spread to every corner of the globe producing unique interpretations and practices as it interacts with local traditions. Similarly, jazz musicians in America have found musical sources for their compositions outside of the traditional jazz mainstream. This course will investigate a number of ways that jazz music is interpreted with particular attention to the contexts in which music is created, transmitted and received. Each year the class compares the American jazz tradition to a unique international region that has a strong jazz scene.
The course is for non-music majors only and consists of one half-hour weekly lesson plus a weekly seminar.
While exact requirements vary by discipline (e.g. piano, voice, cello) students should expect to rehearse a minimum of three hours a week.
For permission to register please email the Course Supervisor listed for the specific instrument of interest. Registration is under separate section numbers for bassoon, cello, clarinet, composition, euphonium, flute, horn, oboe, organ, percussion, piano, saxophone, string bass, trombone, trumpet, tuba, viola, violin and voice.
Unless noted it is the responsibility of the student to arrange lesson times with the instructor before the end of the first week of classes.
Students enrolling for Voice will be contacted by the Instructor to arrange the private lesson time no later than the first week of classes.
non-music major
This course introduces students to music history and the pleasures of active listening through the study of public concert performances. An examination of select premieres—the first concert performances of Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (From the New World), Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and Bernstein’s West Side Story among others—will better acquaint students with fundamental musical concepts (i.e., rhythm, melody, harmony, style, etc.), and underscore the changing meanings and functions of European and American “Classical” music over time. No previous musical knowledge or abilities are required. Students will complete regular reading and listening assignments, actively participate in class discussions, and work collaboratively on a final project of their own design.
Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsWorld Music 3 s.h.
History of Jazz 3 s.h.
This course is a survey of Major 20th-century styles, artists, seminal works, and recordings; developments between 1900 and today. Course materials include a written text, ICON listening list, films and live performances. Requirements include online quizzes, two exams and writing assignments.
Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts Values and Culture Values, Society, and DiversityHistory of Western Music II 3 s.h.
Undergraduate Sculpture I 3 s.h.
This course is an introduction to basic sculptural concepts and processes. Emphasis is placed on developing personal ideas, and acquiring basic skills and knowledge of materials. Each assignment builds upon the others, creating a solid conceptual/technical foundation. Instruction includes readings, discussions, demonstrations, and slide presentations. Attendance is mandatory and grades are based on personal development and class participation. This is a fundamental 3D art course that introduces students to a wide array of hands-on fabrication techniques including, wood assemblage, plaster/wax mold-making and fabricating with wire/metal.
Basic Acting 3 s.h.
This course is intended for students who are not theatre arts majors. The course is an introduction to the elements of performance, including exercises in concentration, imagination, observation, communication, relaxation, and sensory awareness. Classes are designed to promote toning the voice and body, freeing creative expression, and developing an understanding of the dramatic situation. This is primarily a lab class; appropriate casual clothing is necessary. Play attendance with written critiques, a journal, and a final performance project with written character and scene analyses are required. The course enhances interpersonal communication and presentation skills required for a successful career in occupations such as Engineering, Business, Medicine, Marketing, Mass Communications and Education to name a few.
non-theatre arts major
Representative plays as performed in social contexts of ancient Egypt; classical Greece, Rome, India, and Japan; and medieval and early modern Europe. Duplicates THTR:2410.
This course offers a fun and exciting way to learn about world history through the theatre. We study plays not just as texts on the page but as performance events that reveal a great deal about how people in different societies through time saw themselves and their world. Considering Ancient Egyptian influences and moving into Classical Greece, Rome, India, Japan, and Medieval and Renaissance Europe, we read plays–including works by Aeschylus, Shakespeare, and Aphra Behn, one of the earliest known women playwrights–that range from shocking tragedy to bawdy comedy. Course material is covered through lectures accompanied by audio/visual presentations and once-weekly discussion sections. Special attention is given to helping students improve their writing as they fulfill course requirements. Primary assignments include a mid-term and a final exam in short-answer and essay format, attendance at two University Theatre productions, and a five-page analytical paper.
Historical Perspectives Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts
Playwriting I 3 s.h.
This course provides an introduction to the craft of playwriting. Students will focus on the fundamentals of writing for the stage, including playwriting structure, creating characters, writing dialogue and building plays. Coursework includes in-class writing, regular writing assignments, and the reading of plays.
Engineering students, as well as students of other disciplines, are encouraged to enroll.
Engineering Be Creative Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsThis course examines how theater has both reflected and created social structures, perceptions, and values in ancient Egypt; classical Greece, Rome, India, and Japan; and medieval and early modern Europe. Representative plays, ranging from shocking tragedy to bawdy comedy and including works by Shakespeare and the earliest known women playwrights, are analyzed as performed events within their respective historical contexts. Course material is covered through lectures, extensive use of audio/visual presentations, and group discussions. Assignments include weekly play and text readings, a research paper, and periodic exams, including a final exam. Grading is based chiefly on the quality of papers, exams, and participation in discussion.
Historical Perspectives Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts