Arts College Courses Fall 2011

Select from the menu of courses using the Online Residential College Request Form.

RESC 098 01 CRN: 15803
Discovery of the Expressive Self
Prof. Gary Grant, Theater & Dance

Fulfills the following requirements:
First-Year Course, Writing Level 1

Develop an experiential and theoretical understanding of performance improvisation; an appreciation of performance as a core experience in human activity; develop greater confidence and awareness of the body and voice as flexible instruments of communication; develop a facility with risk-taking in performance and small group discussion situations; develop a critical perspective on the performing arts with the ability to express this personal point of view in writing; experience in the use of historiographical concepts including chronology, cause and effect, and the evaluations of primary and secondary evidence; experience in techniques of analytical writing, oral presentation, and historical matter. What are the characteristics of a creative person? How can we develop our creative abilities? What is the relationship between creativity and knowledge? What are the differences in the creative process while working along or in collaboration with others? Centered in an experiential model of learning, this course will focus on improvisational performance as a means to find a perspective on these and other questions.

RESC 098 02 CRN: 15804
Printmaking as Social Commentary
Prof. Rosalyn Richards, Art & Art History

Fulfills the following requirements:
First-Year Course, Writing Level 1

Printmaking (etching, woodcut, silkscreen, lithography) has served as an ideal art form for social commentary and pictorial critique of social conditions throughout history. This course will expose students to important artists in art history and also contemporary artists who use printmaking as a means to disseminate ideas and commentary about culture, politics and society. The class will have the opportunity to study and research original prints in the Samek Gallery print study room and hand made books in the Special Collections area of the library. There is also an important studio component to this course, and students will be instructed in the basics of intaglio (etching) and woodblock printing. Assignments will be given that stress the creative aspects of printmaking as a means of communicating ideas, as well as the development of technical skills in printmaking as a medium. A portfolio of prints will be produced by the end of the semester, as well as a final presentation in the Samek print study room that involves individual research and collaboration with other students.

There is also an important studio component to this course, and students will be instructed in the basics of intaglio (etching) and woodblock printing. Assignments will be given that stress the creative aspects of printmaking as a means of communicating ideas, as well as the development of technical skills in printmaking as a medium. A portfolio of prints will be produced by the end of the semester, as well as a final presentation in the Samek print study room that involves individual research and collaboration with other students.

RESC 098 03 CRN: 15794
Apocalypse Now
Prof. G.C. Waldrep, English

Fulfills the following requirements:
First-Year Course, Writing Level 1

The poet T.S. Eliot proposed that Art is complete in every moment--that it absorbs each new work of art, in turn, and is in turn complete again. Three generations before, Walt Whitman argued that every reader is reborn in the experience of reading--that encountering a new work of art marks the beginning of a new life for the reader. What place, though, does Art occupy when it stands at the end of time, or when it prophecies the end of time? In this course, we'll explore five short novels from the late 20th century that consider the end of time, the world, and/or human history from a variety of perspectives: ecological, moral, psychological, spiritual, and economic. We'll also consider examples from poetry, film, and music. 

RESC 098 04 CRN: 15805
Buy, Borrow, or Steal?
Prof. Bethany Collier, Music

Fulfills the following requirements:
First-Year Course, Writing Level 1

Should commercially successful artists compensate other performers from whom they take inspiration? What if that source of "inspiration" is a sample from a copyrighted musical recording? Can one actually buy the "rights" to use an idea? In this course, we examine borrowing and appropriation in music, visual art, and American popular culture. Weighing political, legal, ethical, artistic, and economic perspectives, we explore six processes: collage and collaboration in visual art and music, fusion in music and food, sampling and covering/remaking in music, and repurposing in visual art. We extend this inquiry further, exploring how we choose, use and (perhaps) abuse the cultural products we consume.