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General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
HUMID015.
Course Title (CB02)
Discussion on the Arts
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
This is an interdisciplinary and multicultural introduction to the relationships between the arts and human experience. Painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, drama, literature, film, and photography will be explored to provide a forum for discussion on how the arts affect humanity, reflect the human spirit, touch the soul, and stimulate humankind's creativity. The focus will be on enhancing each student's ability to experience the uniqueness of each art form and to develop a depth of understanding of its expression and relevance.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course is transferable to CSU and UC, meets a general education requirement for °®¶¹´«Ã½, CSU GE, and IGETC, and is an option for students working towards the Humanities Certificate of Achievement. This course provides students with the ability to experience the uniqueness of many types and forms of multicultural performance and visual art and helps them to develop a depth of understanding of its expression and relevance to humanity.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶¹´«Ã½ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GC1°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area C1 - ArtsApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGC1CSU GE Area C1 - ArtsApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG3AIGETC Area 3A - ArtsApproved

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Discussion of assigned reading

Discussion and problem solving performed in class

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Homework and extended projects

Field observation and field trips

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Other: by video, local cable television and online.

Assignments

  1. Assigned readings from text(s)
  2. Experiential activities, such as:
    1. Direct interaction with the arts e.g. have students take photographs of unique local architecture.
    2. Site visits to examine/experience works of art. e.g. Japanese gardens, Museums (San Jose Museum of Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco), Theaters, visit unique local architecture (Heritage Bank building; downtown San Jose), or local arts festivals.
    3. Attend live performances of music, dance and/or theater.
    4. Field trips to organizations such as Precita Eyes, San Francisco (a wall mural documentation organization); San Juan Bautista to the Teatro Campesino; San Jose Center for Latino Arts; Stanford University to visit exhibits (Chinese painting) and Sculpture Garden; programs sponsoring discussions with artists.
  3. Writing
    1. Guided research project; paper and/or presentation
    2. One critical thinking essay that involves the analysis and interpretation of a performance or work of art

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Informed participation in written personal reflection, class discussion, and collaborative activities about assigned readings and experiential activities, specifically guided to generate student synthesis of materials and mastery of course objectives
  2. One midterm and one final exam consisting of both objective and essay questions evaluated for comprehension, analysis and interpretation to be evaluated based on extent of mastery of course objectives
  3. Research project evaluated for content; ability to analyze, synthesize and interpret source material; ability to communicate concepts
  4. Critical thinking essay will be evaluated for writing skills, the ability developed by the student to analyze formal artistic components of the art form, to recognize artistic choices made, to discuss relationships of form to cultural context, and offer a personal interpretation of the piece.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • None.

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
*Benton, Janetta Rebold and De Yanni,Robert, "Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities, Vol. I - 4th edition", Pearson, 2011.
Janaro, Richard Paul and Thelma C. Altshuler, "The Art of Being Human - 11th edition", Pearson Education, 2017.
*Martin, David and Lee Jacobus, "The Humanities Through the Arts - 10th edition", McGraw-Hill, 2019.
*Sporre, Dennis J., "Reality through the Arts - 8th edition", Prentice Hall, 2012.
*Sporre, Dennis J., "Perceiving the Arts: An Introduction to the Humanities, 11th Edition", Pearson, 2014.

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
Bishop, Phillip E., "Adventures in the Human Spirit - 7th edition", Prentice Hall, 2013.
Carr, Jay, editor, "The A List: The National Society of Film Critics 100 Essential Films", National Society of Film Critics, 2002.
Clay, Martin, "The Cultural Study of Music", Routledge, 2003.
Cockcroft, Eva Sperling and Holly Barnet-Sanchez, "Signs From the Heart: California Chicano Murals", University of New Mexico Press, 1990.
Dash, Julie, Bell Hooks, Toni Cade Bambara, "Daughters of the Dust: The Making of An African American Woman's Film", New Press, 1992.
Elsen, Albert, "Purposes of Art - 4th edition", Thompson International Publishing, 1997.
Ferguson, Andy, "Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings", Wisdom Publications, 2000.
Gaspar de Alba, Alicia, "Chicano Art: Inside Outside The Master's House - Cultural Politics and the CARA Exhibition", University of Texas Press 1998.
Harp, David, "Music Theory Made Easy", Musical I. Press, 1994.
Hill, Rick, Nancy Marie Mitchell, and Lloyd New, "Creativity Is Our Tradition: Three Decades of Contemporary Indian Art at the Institute of American Indian Arts", Institute of American Indian Arts, 1992.
Hill, Tom and Richard W. Hill Sr., editors, "Creation's Journey: Native American Identity and Belief", Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
Kissick, John, "Art Context and Criticism - 2nd edition", Brown and Benchmark, 1996.
Kleiner, Fred. "Gardner's Art Through The Ages - 16th edition", Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2020.
Krims, Adam, "Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity", Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Lazzari, Schlesier, "Exploring Art, A Global, Thematic Approach - 5th edition", Wadworth Thomson Learning, 2019.
Neal, Mark Anthony, "What The Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture", Routledge, 1999.
Rowley, George, "Principles of Chinese Painting", Princeton University Press, 1947.
Sayles, John, "Thinking in Pictures: The Making of The Movie Matewan", 1990.
Slatkin, Wendy, "Women Artists in History - 5th edition", Prentice Hall, 2019.
Vlach, John Michael, "By The Work of their Hands: Studies in Afro-American Folklife", University Press of Virginia 1991.
Vlach, John Michael, "Back of the Big House: The Architecture of Plantation Slavery", University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
Yorba, Jonathan, "Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum", Watson-Guptill Publications 2001.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Identify and evaluate fundamentals of the arts, including performing and visual arts, within the immense scope of humanities from a multicultural and interdisciplinary perspective.
  • Evaluate selected methods and techniques employed in the study of the humanities and fine arts.
  • Analyze and critique relationships between arts forms.
  • Analyze multiple approaches to artistic expression.
  • Evaluate impact of individual contributions and cultures on artistic expression, and the factors impacting growth and content.
  • Evaluate and critique multicultural world views that make the interpretation and experience of the arts culturally distinct and relevant. Specifics may vary. Samples are listed.

CSLOs

  • Students synthesize their critical thinking, imaginative, cooperative, and empathetic abilities as whole persons in order to contextualize knowledge and practice active agency.

Outline

  1. Identify and evaluate fundamentals of the arts, including performing and visual arts, within the immense scope of humanities from a multicultural and interdisciplinary perspective.
    1. Examine the humanities as interdisciplinary (e.g. history, anthropology, religious studies, philosophy, arts, cultural criticism).
    2. Compare the humanities to the sciences.
    3. Analyze the arts within the humanities discipline (e.g. painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, drama, literature, film and photography).
  2. Evaluate selected methods and techniques employed in the study of the humanities and fine arts.
    1. Comparison of visual, audio and kinetic elements used in the creation and presentation of western and non western art forms such as:
      1. Time, space and energy - Dance
      2. Tone (notes, scales), time (beat or no beat, tempo, rhythm), texture (timbre, dynamics) - Music
    2. Technologies for critiquing comparative aesthetics such as:
      1. Materials used/available
      2. Fabrication technologies (e.g. glazes for pottery, cast bronze, oil paints, cameras, computers, arches to architecture, etc.).
    3. Environment (e.g. effects of severe heat or cold on the arts such as those of the Eskimos and Australian aborigines)
    4. Primary source analysis in relation to social and political institutions as well as gender and class structures.
  3. Analyze and critique relationships between arts forms.
    1. Examine universal components which may include:
      1. Elements e.g. Compare and contrast elements of dance (time, space/shape and energy) to those of painting (color, space/shape, and texture/value).
      2. Subject matter
      3. Content
      4. Style
    2. When art forms are combined - eg. Western-European ballet, combining dance, music, visual arts (costumes), and theatre arts (lighting/sets/props). United States' film industry's incorporation of song and dance during the 1930's-1950's. India's Bollywood film industry of the 1960's.
    3. Relationships between art forms within a specific culture such as:
      1. Interrelationships of the arts such as Ghibert's Baptistry Doors (Florence, Italy) inspired by passages from the Bible's Old Testament.
      2. The Tjukurrpa, a creation time, it's influence on the paintings, songs and dances of the Australian aborigines and how those art forms interrelate to reinforce cultural heritage.
      3. The interrelationship of song, music, sand painting and movement in Navajo rituals.
  4. Analyze multiple approaches to artistic expression.
    1. Compare and contrast diverse treatments of a similar theme across cultures such as:
      1. Architecture - places of worship, public buildings, dwellings for the dead, living domiciles, etc.
      2. Music and Dance - Rites of passage
      3. Drama - heroes and villains
      4. Painting and Sculpture: portrait, landscape, still life, historic events, death, religion, abstract design, etc.
      5. Musical instruments - materials, craftsmanship, sound produced
    2. Examine gender, ethnicity, social and political issues within an arts forum such as:
      1. Kabuki Theatre - role of gender in its development
      2. Photography - Robert Mapplethorpe/Issues of gender
      3. Ethnicity, social and political issues of Harlem Renaissance, United States - painting, sculpture, music, dance, theater, photography, literature
      4. Modern Dance - Alvin Ailey, Katherine Dunham/ expression of black American culture, Bill T. Jones/AIDS
    3. Analyze artistic production from a cross-cultural perspective by comparing selected samples from non-Western cultures (Asia, Africa, Oceania, The Americas) and western cultures (European and/or American societies). Examples below:
      1. Asia performance -- Malaysian Puppet Theatre, Kabuki, or Balinese Legong compared with Italian Opera
      2. Basic principles of Greek art forms compared with those from Chinese or Japanese traditions
      3. Oceania performance - Maori's Guerro dance, traditional dance from Tahiti, or Hawaiian ancient hula compared with Georgian or Cossack traditional dance
      4. Australian desert painting movement (dream mapping) compared with yarn paintings of Mexico's Huichol Indians
  5. Evaluate impact of individual contributions and cultures on artistic expression, and the factors impacting growth and content.
    1. Evaluate contributions by women and minorities such as:
      1. Sculpture - Hepworth, Lewis, Savage, Catlett, Mesa-Bains, Alvarez, Teeters, Swentzell, Kenyan artist Magdalene Odundo
      2. Ballet and Modern Dance - Pavlova, Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Pina Bausch, Arthur Mitchel
      3. Painting - Morisot, Frida, Cassatt, Romaine Brooks, Pansy Napangardi, Mujeras Muralistas, Garza, Velarde, Hardin
      4. Vietnam Memorial - Maya Lin
      5. Mexican American artists - 1960's-1980's wall mural movement based on principles of the Mexican Revolution.
    2. Evaluate styles and trends that cross cultures, for example:
      1. Japanese wood block prints' (e.g. Hokusai) influence on French Impressionism
      2. African sculpture's influence on French Cubism
      3. Chinese calligraphy and painting's influence on watercolor painting in California - e.g. Dong Kingman, Chiura Obata, artists of Japantown Art and Media Workshop, and Kearney Street Workshop in San Francisco.
      4. Significant contributions of Asian American artists and architects to the arts in the United States and across Western Europe.
      5. Mexican American artists, those of the 1960's-1980's wall mural movement and modern dance choreographer, Jose Limon
    3. Compare and contrast historical climates that surround individual contributions such as:
      1. Prohibition/persecution of Dance & Theatre: Japan's ban on women in Kabuki Theatre, 1629; United States ban on theater & ballet in Massachusetts, 1750-1792; United States ban on dance by Native American Indians, 1904-1938; Hawaii's ban on hula, 1830-1892; Dutch killing of royal dancers in Indonesia before WWI; Khmer Rouge killing of 90% of Cambodia's dancers, 1970's.
      2. Philosophies on governance/Architecture: Nazi government outlaw of International Style architecture in Germany; Frank Lloyd Wright's "Usonian Democracy" in United States.
      3. American Indian Arts for the United States' art - resistance to Hollywood stereotypes
      4. Anonymity of the individual artist under Communist rule in China, and the use of art to advance its political agenda
  6. Evaluate and critique multicultural world views that make the interpretation and experience of the arts culturally distinct and relevant. Specifics may vary. Samples are listed.
    1. Experience the richness of the art form through modes of involvement as a creative participant or observer.
    2. Learn to "read" and critically examine the piece of art.
      1. Descriptive criticism
      2. Evaluative - following the artist's choices through to completion
      3. Interpretive and Creative - seeing new meanings
    3. Critique the role of the artist within his/her society.
    4. Develop individual criteria for aesthetic appreciation.
    5. Examine/compare different aesthetic values of cultures towards their art. Who funds it? Why?
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