Humanities elective (Aesthetics) Instructor: Mr. Peter Castillo Fall Semester
Goals: -Students will attain an appreciation for the vast dimension of the artistic field in which they have chosen to pursue. -Students will increase their ability to create a structurally sound position paper utilizing APA referencing and bibliography. -Students will increase their ability to locate and utilize research data and interpret a variety of editorial and opinion information. -Students will improve their writing strategies, mechanics and presentation skills using both conventional and technological methods.
Course Overview:
Aesthetics is the study of appreciation. It is often called the Philosophy of Visual Culture. Throughout the course of this class we will focus on several topics including the historical view of the Arts, the thoughts and issues revolving around the Arts in a modern society and the interaction of all members of the class with regards to their own arts majors. This class will be a discussion group providing a venue of sharing both information and current social trends with regards to the arts. There are three main themes to this class, they are:
1) Where did it start? The historical analysis and approach to the arts, from the humble beginnings of cave drawings through the modern composite and interpretation. Topics will include man's first desire to distinguish himself, the creation of the visual self in ancient art, the incorporation of religion and the sweeping movements of the Renaissance. 2) Modern art, modern problems In this unit we will study the approaches to some ethical dilemmas artists tend to face and how one relates them to their own concept of aesthetics. Topics will include aesthetic and artistic problem scenarios, ventures into the business world of art and how the belief structure of the individual can be tried and tested and the location of pertinent resources to help artists new in the occupational world.
3) The student as teacher In this unit each class member will be responsible for a joint project-research paper utilizing APA referencing format. The project will be a presentation in one of several forms, including but not limited to, PowerPoint presentation, DVD creation, Musical compilation or overhead visual presentation.
Nuts and Bolts
Materials:
You will find that a separate notebook and several folders will be extremely helpful. You will be required to utilize materials passed out in class as sources for your paper and presentation later. Access to a computer will also be a must and several assignments will consist of visiting websites and reading articles for further discussion. It will be your responsibility to find time (either at home on your own computer or at school on one of the library's). In addition there is a text that you will receive; it will be utilized periodically in class and for homework assignments.
Grading:
Their will be four components for your final grade. They are:
Final Paper/Project 40% Aesthetics Paper 20% Class Discussion 20% Homework, Essays and Tests 20%
Subjective Assignments will be graded on a 4-trait scoring rubric with 4 levels of proficiency (1pt for below proficiency, 2pts for partial proficiency, 3pts for proficient and 4pts for advanced). All writing will be graded in this manner. The traits are as follows:
Content- This is the relevance to the writing subject. Items such as examples, supporting statements, introductions and conclusions are measured.
Fluency- This is the pace the writing follows. Items such as the flow of sentence structure and the proper usage of words and phrases are measured.
Voice- This is the style in which the writing is presented. Items such as language usage, personal input and descriptiveness are measured.
Convention- This is the grammatical aspect of writing. Items such as spelling, context, punctuation and proper sequencing are measured.