LIBS 320 /420C - Elective Seminars in Core C,The Arts and Human Experience

Institution:

Sonoma State University

Subject:

Description:

Through the arts and humanities we explore what and why humans create. These fields include: the broad range of experiences in literature, epics, poetry, drama, and other literary forms; the visual arts; languages; architecture; music; dance; the writings of philosophers; and the thought and literature of the world’s religions. Study in the arts and humanities explores the inner world of creativity and individual values as well as the questions about how we arrive at a sense of meaning and purpose, ethical behavior, and a sense of beauty and order in the world. The Graphic Novel: Art and Literature This class explores the genre of graphic novels (book-length comics) with special attention to art and storyline. The class will begin by looking at the genre of the graphic novel in general. Then we will read from a variety of different graphic novels, with students facilitating seminars and finding supplementary materials to accompany the stories. Themes in the class, depending on the graphic novels of choice, may include Holocaust studies, child abuse, genetic engineering, drug addiction, urban living, modern mythology, relativity theory, greenman, human vs. machine, the Vietnam War, and postmodernism. A field trip to a local comic convention may be a required part of the course. The Body in Question Our era has been called the Culture of the Body. What does this mean for our society and our sense of self? This seminar explores images, themes, and ideas about the body in the arts, media, and popular culture. After exploring the history of the nude in the visual arts, we concentrate on concepts of the body from the 19th century to the present with readings of art criticism, psychology, postmodern critical analysis, sociology, and the history of biology. Museum visits are an important component of the course, as is a visual project created by the student. The Moral Imagination Using material ranging from the ancient to the modern world, this seminar will consider some of the ways by which literature raises and examines a variety of moral issues. Particularly we will be interested in the question: What does it mean (and how is it possible) to lead a moral life? We will also consider such issues as the uses of authority, moral tradition and innovation, and the conflict or agreement between individual (or private) and social (or shared) moral conviction. Themes in the Literary Humanities This seminar investigates the way in which literary works both define the cultures they come from and express deep changes occurring in those cultures. Specific themes for the seminar are chosen each semester the seminar is offered.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.sonoma.edu

Phone Number:

(707) 664-2880

Regional Accreditation:

Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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