HUM A100: Introduction to the Humanities
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Curriculum Committee Approval Date | 02/24/2021 |
| Top Code | 150400 - Classics |
| Units | 3 Total Units |
| Hours | 54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54) |
| Total Outside of Class Hours | 0 |
| Course Credit Status | Credit: Degree Applicable (D) |
| Material Fee | No |
| Basic Skills | Not Basic Skills (N) |
| Repeatable | No |
| Grading Policy | Standard Letter (S),
|
| Associate Arts Local General Education (GE) |
|
| Associate Science Local General Education (GE) |
|
| California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) |
|
| Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) |
|
| California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth) |
|
Course Description
A survey of the European humanities (history, philosophy, literature, and the fine arts) and their contribution to artistic, cultural, and social expression in Western civilization. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)
- Evaluate the role of humanism and cultural and artistic values in the development of Western civilization.
- Identify dominant artistic and cultural matrices for each age.
- Compare and contrast differing intentions of artists and thinkers in the relevant historical periods.
Course Objectives
- 1. Identify the problems and methods of the disciplines which comprise the humanities (history, philosophy, literature, and the liberal studies of the fine arts).
- 2. Evaluate the role of humanism and cultural and artistic values in the development of Western civilization.
- 3. Justify the importance of cultural history in the development of Western humanism.
- 4. Identify the elements of cultural, artistic, and intellectual history and demonstrate their significance for the historical periods considered.
- 5. Identify dominant artistic and cultural matrices for each age.
- 6. Identify dominant intellectual movements in each age.
- 7. Demonstrate a grasp of historical continuities--and discontinuities--and their significance for the transformation of cultural, artistic, and intellectual forms.
- 8. Compare and contrast differing intentions of artists and thinkers in the relevant historical periods.
- 9. Compare and contrast causal hypotheses and theoretical models regarding the significance of the past for the present.
- 10. Evaluate the role of the self in different historical periods by examining the following: the role of the representational figure in art and culture; the rise of individualism and freedom; the role of ordinary people in society and culture; alienation; abstraction and naturalism; abstraction and technology; the changing roles of men and women.
Lecture Content
Introduction to the fields which comprise the humanities (history, philosophy, literature, fine arts). The humanities as civilizing arts, Albert Wm. Levi. History introduced (Alfred North Whitehead, Robert Daniels, Morris Cohen, Northrup Frye and other relevant theorists). Oral Tradition, Written Narrative. Examples from cultural history and literary history: Story as art and science. Illustrations from differing historical periods (ancient, medieval, modern, contemporary) and differing countries (Greece, France, etc.) Art history introduced (Rembrandt, Velasquez, etc.) Foundations of Contemporary Thought -- 19th and 20th Centuries Nineteenth Century Impressionism and its influences (Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Naturalism). Art and Architecture The Ballet in the Modern and Contemporary Periods Post-Impressionism Expressionism Modernism and Post-Modernism Philosophy introduced, with reflections on aesthetics and art evaluation. Some Nineteenth Century Thinkers: Darwin, John Stuart Mill, Freud Reflections on the Humanistic View of the Self. (This is a recurrent theme.) Literature introduced, with emphasis upon the novel: Quest Literature, The Self Literature and Film Reflections on the Self Masculine and feminine roles in earlier periods and in different cultures. Philosophical, artistic, and literary alienation in the contemporary world. Reflections on racism, sexism, religious discrimination. Foundations of the Modern Period: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Age of Reason; Age of Passion and Revolutionary Change Neoclassicism and the Establishment Revolution (1789, 1830, etc., as depicted by French and English novels) Foundations of the Medieval Period: Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals and religious architecture Philosophy and religion in the Middle Ages: monastic education The Renaissance (Trecento, Quattrocento, Cinquecentro or High Renaissance) in the North (France and some on England and Germany) and in the South (the Italian Renaissance in the South). Renaissance art and architecture Renaissance Paris, together with the Renaissance Chateau, in the Loire Valley The early Italian Renaissance in Sienna and Florence The late Italian Renaissance in Rome and Venice Dante Alighieri, of Florence, whos Divina Comedia is compared with Virgils Aeneid The Ancient World: Egypt, Greece, and Rome Egypt in the Amarna Period. Egyptian Art Classical Greek Philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) Classical Greek Tragedy (Euripides is emphasized.) Aristotles Theory of Tragedy: Mimesis Classical Sculpture and Architecture Roman Architecture
Method(s) of Instruction
- Lecture (02)
- DE Online Lecture (02X)
Instructional Techniques
1. Students will pursue text and library resources for purposes of research, discussion and writing. 2. Students will participate in analytical class discussion. 3. Students will answer “Socratic” questions requiring them to explain themes, ideas, artistic matrices and symbols, historical movements, and literary and philosophical theories. 4. Students will perform satisfactorily on objective examinations covering the texts, slide and film presentations, and other media as appropriate, together with formal lecture material. 5. Students will have the opportunity to make brief oral presentations on issues of importance to the course and as approved by the instructor. 6. Students will participate in writing assignments relevant to art works in the course.
Reading Assignments
As assigned from textbooks - 3 hours per week
Writing Assignments
Students will demonstrate critical thinking by participating in periodic writing assignments relevant to artworks in the course. Students will critique panel presentations and seminar work of fellow students as appropriate. total approximately 3 hours per week
Out-of-class Assignments
Students will demonstrate critical thinking by participating in periodic writing assignments relevant to artworks in the course. Students will pursue text and library resources for purposes of research, discussion and writing.
Demonstration of Critical Thinking
Students will pursue text and library resources for purposes of research, discussion and writing. Students will participate in analytical class discussion. Students will answer “Socratic” questions requiring them to explain themes, ideas, artistic matrices and symbols, historical movements, and literary and philosophical theories. Students will perform satisfactorily on objective examinations covering the texts, slide and film presentations, and other media as appropriate, together with formal lecture material. Students will have the opportunity to make brief oral presentations on issues of importance to the course and as approved by the instructor. Students will participate in writing assignments relevant to art works in the course.
Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration
1. Students will demonstrate critical thinking by participating in periodic writing assignments relevant to artworks in the course. 2. Students will critique panel presentations and seminar work of fellow students as appropriate.
Eligible Disciplines
Humanities: Masters degree in humanities OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.
Textbooks Resources
1. Required Wood/Coles . Art of the Western World, latest edition, paperback, ed. Summit Publishing Co., 2018 Rationale: - 2. Required Witts . The Humanities, (Brief Ed.), latest edition, paperback, ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2019 Rationale: - 3. Required Cornford, F. M.. The Republic of Plato, 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford, 1972 Rationale: A classic translation with helpful commentary for students new to Plato 4. Required Sophocles. The Three Theban Plays, 1st ed. London: Penguin Classics, 1984 Rationale: Again a classic translation of an ancient text.