All discussion
Week 1
The Value of the Humanities (graded)
What is the value of studying the humanities in a business or technical curriculum? How might a topic such as ancient art enhance contemporary life?
Ancient Works of Art (graded)
Choose a work of art from the reading in Chapter 1. Discuss how the work is a reflection of the ancient culture that created it. Also, did anything particularly surprise or impress you about the work of art or the ancient people who created it?
Week 2
Greek and Roman Architectural Influences (graded)
The architecture of the Greeks and Romans has influenced people for centuries. When the founding fathers of America began to design Washington, DC, how were they influenced by the Greeks and Romans?
Greek and Roman Advancements (graded)
Ancient peoples were often much more advanced than modern people understand. Choose one example of a Greek or Roman advancement that improved their societies. How did this advancement affect the culture of the Greeks or Romans? Has this advancement evolved and is it in use,in some capacity, in the modern world?
Week 3
Theater (graded)
This week, we took a brief look at Shakespeare’sThe Tempest(see the Assignments section). This five-act play opens with a storm at sea (a tempest) and throughout, Shakespeare has planted allusions to apparitions and magic, such as the character Ariel who, at times, appears to be invisible to the other characters. It is a given that the special effects, such as those often used in films, to actually give the stage the appearance of a deadly tempest or actually make Ariel an invisible presence are not achievable on the stage. To fill in this gap, audiences suspend disbelief.
In this thread, let’s discuss the power and limitations of theatrical imagination. Please feel free to draw from productions you have seen. (The old high schoolproductions count, too!) Why are we willing to suspend disbelief when we see a play, yet we demand so much more from a film production? Do you think that the limitation on special effects and alternative demand on the audience member to suspend disbelief is a weakness or a strength of the theatrical experience? Would you rather seeThe Tempeston stage or in film? Why?
Allegory and Art (graded)
This week, we are exploring the items below.
.devryu.net/ec/Courses/19090/crs-zzz-2928171/excerpt_from_beowulf.doc”>Excerpt fromBeowulf(also available as an audio in the lecture)
.devryu.net/ec/Courses/19090/crs-zzz-2928171/the_tempest.doc”>Act II Scene I from Shakespeare’sThe Tempest
This week, we have looked at several works of art that utilized allegorical themes. One of the most common uses of imagery in the medieval and Renaissance periods is allegory. What is an allegory? Describe how at least one of the examples of art in this week’s lecture or one of this week’s readings is allegorical in nature. Why, in your opinion, was allegory so prevalent during these periods? Is it still important in contemporary literature? Why or why not?
Week 4
Rubens (graded)
Line, color, hue, balance, form and perspective were some of the key concepts covered in this weeks tutorial. Use the example of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens and discuss how one or more of this weeks key concepts are featured in the painting.
Identify the painting by title, and include citations for any material youve researched.
Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution (graded)
Given the information from this week’s reading on the Enlightenment, the New Rationalism, and the Scientific Revolution, how did advancements in science and reasoning change the lives of people at this time? In addition, what effects did the Industrial Revolution have on the world?
Week 5
Photography and Art (graded)
In the 19th century, the camera was a revolutionary invention. Did the invention of the camera change the arts? Why or why not?
Is there a relationship between movements such as realism andimpressionism and the camera?
Realism and Impressionism (graded)
For this week’s discussion, chooserealism orimpressionism as a basis for your posts and discuss how your choice is manifested in any area of the humanities (i.e., painting, sculpture, literature, music, etc.), and give an example from any discipline in the humanities to illustrate howrealism or impressionism influenced the work of art. Please be sure to give an analysis of how the work of art was influenced by the movement.
Week 6
Art and Politics (graded)
This week, we looked at several examples of early modernist art such as Cubism, Fauvism,futurism, andexpressionism. Let’s discuss the relationships between these aesthetic categories and the sociopolitical climate of the period.
How did the sociopolitical climate of the time period, including the two world wars, influence artists?
Feminism and Literature (graded)
Lets connect the themes of the three readings and the lecture for this week to talk about how the ways feminist literature has influenced contemporary thinking?
In your first post, share what you see the main themes or issues that were important the writer of at least one of the following feminist works:
The Outsideby Susan Glaspell (audio available in the lecture)
A Societyby Virginia Woolf
The Solitude of Selfby Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Be sure to reference the specific elements of at least one of the readings or audio in your response. Well follow up as a class to connect these historical issues to present-day discussions of women and society.
Week 7
Controversial Art and Censorship (graded)
Although controversial art is not a topic exclusive to the 20th century, the distribution of information regarding controversial art has increased with the proliferation of media. Please discuss an example of a 20th century controversial work of art from any discipline of the humanities (music, literature, sculpture, film, etc.) and an accompanying statement from the artist(s). Based on your example, to what extent does controversial art make a social contribution? Are governments ever justified in censoring art?
Pop Art (graded)
What were some of the influences of thepopart phenomenon? Should we consider the creative elements of popular culture, which are very often mass produced works of art?
Course Project: Advancements in the Humanities
Objectives
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This course will take you through huge chunks of human history from the Paleolithic era through the Vietnam War and into our postmodern world. In Week 7, you will be asked to deliver a five- to seven-page research paper on any subject within the humanities of your choosing, providing you have cleared it with your professor. Your research paper will require a minimum of three sources and a maximum of five sources. You must document your research scrupulouslyboth in text and in a reference page as specified by the APA style sheet. Scrupulous documentation plus high originality, analysis, insight, and fresh applications of ideas are highly prized. Mere reporting, describing, and finding others ideas are discouraged, and copying and pasting is just wrong. Your paper is to be 7080% original and 2030% resourced (documented via turnitin.com).
Guidelines
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Your final grade includes points accumulated for your
outline/proposal;
discussions;
an annotated bibliography;
a Final Paper; and
a Final Exam.
The following are guidelines to assist you in completing the course successfully.
Guidelines for Discussions: Please do not merely cut, paste, and attribute in the discussions. For every idea you paraphrase or language you quote, you must have at least two lines of your own original analysis, evaluation, or personal connection. Learning the humanities is not about finding information, but it is about engaging originally and authentically with what you are reading.
Guidelines for the Outline/Proposal: An outline is a convenience to help you tack down the topics you hope to cover in a Final Paper, and a proposal is the extended and full description of your project (as best you know it at the time of writing). Understand that you are making a best effort to describe your project early on, but allow yourself to be open to growth and change as you conduct research and focus your intentions.
Guidelines for the Annotated Bibliography: Good annotations make for excellent papers. You are required to have three (but no more than five) scholarly resources. A scholarly resource is written by an academician with a Ph.D. or other terminal degree, is published in a multivolume, peer-reviewed journal, and has ample references of its own. Your annotations should succeed in the following.
1. It should establish the title, author, journal, and page numbers.
2. It should briefly summarize the article, book, or chapter.
3. It should analyze the textsay what the implications are, what assumptions are held, what historical context is represented, and the like.
4. It should locate at least one quotation to be used in your paper.
5. It should evaluatesay whether you agree, disagree, and why.
Guidelines for the Final Paper: The essay must be five to seven double-spaced pages in length (not including the title or reference pages). Include a minimum of three and a maximum of five scholarly sources. The margins should be no more than one in. (right and left). The essay should be composed in 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font. All of the sources must be documented and cited using APA format.
Milestones
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Please refer to the Guidelines above for specific details.
Annotations (150 points)
A good annotated bibliography provides the publication details, describes the key points of the source, uncovers controversies introduced by the source, and evaluates the merits of the source. Each of your three (minimal) to five (maximal) annotations should be approximately 200250 words.This is due Week 4.
Outline and Proposal (100 points)
Following the annotations, you will be ready to plan your paper. An outline (one and one half pages) and a proposal (two to three pages) of your intended project are due. Quality proposals and outlines will not merely describe or find information but will have a strong and original point of view. The highest points are conferred for originality, the locating and detailing of controversies, and for nuanced papers that sensitively explore topics with deft subtlety.This is due Week 2.
Discussions (350 points)
Each week, discussions will focus on text readings and explore the nuts and bolts of some of the major historical events, artwork, literature, political thinking, and culture of specific historical periods. Your discussions require that you NOT ever merely cut and paste someone else’s ideas with an attributesuch discussions have absolutely no value and will not be recognized. If you wish to include external source information substantively, you may do so. The rule is for each line you quote or paraphrase, you must give two lines of your own analysis. You must state why this inclusion is relevant, what we are supposed to think as a result of reading it, what controversy it raises, and why you think it’s important that we know about the source information. Additionally, when you quote something, you must offset it with quotation marks so that it is clear to your reader when you are quoting and when you are analyzing originally. The same holds true of paraphrasingplease offset the paraphrase in such a way that is clear that it is a derived idea, and then offer your analysis. Whether you quote or paraphrase, you must provide both a parenthetical in-text citation, as well as the full reference at the bottom.
In other words, the only way to be original when you are reporting information is to think about it, form an opinion about it, evaluate it, critique it, and then write it clearly. You are expected to craft six high-quality posts on three separate days each week.This is due Weeks 17.
Final Paper (200 points)
See details under the Guidelines above.This is due Week 7.
Grading Rubrics
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Course Project Final Paper Rubric
Total Points Possible200Total Points Earned0
Points PossiblePoints EarnedComments
Ideas/Content: Ideas are strong and relevant to a humanities paper. The thesis includes a clear statement of purpose and sensitively explores its subject matter. It is supported with effective, specific, and relevant details selected with a humanities audience in mind. Body of the paper is five to seven pages of text (not including the title page and references).50
Organization: It has a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. The writing is structured to enhance meaning. Transitions are used to move from point to point. Transitions provide logical sequence appropriate for the purpose. Each paragraph ends with an original statement that connects to the thesis.50
Word Choice: The language is rich, effective, natural, precise, and vivid. Words used to convey images are appropriate to the audience and purpose. Vocabulary is varied, specific, and accurate. It is appropriate for college-level writing.10
Sentence Fluency: Sentence structures vary and contain no major flows such as run-on sentences, fragments, and verb errors. Sentences add interest and flow to text. There is strong control over simple and complex sentence structures.15
Mechanics: The paper reflects correctness of expression and has been edited for spelling, style, grammar, and punctuation.25
APA Formatting: The paper is double-spaced and is in a 12-point Times Roman font. The APA title page is not required or desired. Lets be green.20
References: There is a minimum of three academic sources. The references page includes full citations, and in-text citations are included when material is used from a source. Sources do not exceed 30% of the content and are cited correctly (in text and in a full reference page).30