Discipline: Humanities Degree Credit  [X]
Non Credit  [ ]
Nondegree Credit  [ ]
Comm Service  [ ]
 

Riverside Community College District
Integrated Course Outline of Record

Humanities 5H


COURSE DESCRIPTION
5H Honors Arts, Ideas: Renaiss-Modern Era Units: 3.00
 
Prerequisite(s): None.

Advisory: Qualification for ENG-1A.
Limitation on Enrollment: Enrollment in Honors program.
An interdisciplinary study of the cultural movements in art, architecture, literature, music, philosophy, and religion of Western civilization. The cultural achievements of the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romantic, Modern and post-Modern periods are studied to develop an understanding of their philosophical ideas, values, cultural meaning, artistic form, and contributions to modern thought. The Honors course offers an enriched experience for accelerated students by means of limited class size, seminar format, discussions and projects generated and led by students, a focus on primary texts in translation, and the applications of higher-level thinking and writing skills—analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students may not receive credit for both HUM 5 and HUM 5H. 54 hours lecture.
 
SHORT DESCRIPTION FOR CLASS SCHEDULE
Offers students in the Honors program an enriched interdisciplinary study of the origins of movements in art, literature, music, philosophy, and religion in Western civilization from the Renaissance through the post-Modern era.
 
ADVISORY ENTRY SKILLS
Before entering the course, students will be able to:
  1. Critically discuss and analyze primary and secondary texts, recognizing key ideas and responding in both oral and written form;

  2. Analyze, synthesize, and evaluate concepts studied in primary and secondary texts using intermediate to advanced critical thinking skills;

  3. Compose developed, unified, stylistically competent writing assignments and adjust writing to the target audience with intermediate to advanced skill.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
Define and interpret key terms of artistic and intellectual movements from a culture-based perspective, providing a basis for further evaluation of these movements; Identify and appraise the various elements and movements in art, music, literature, and popular culture in each period being studied; compare trends and characteristics of two or more movements/periods; and critically assess how these movements relate to one another; Critically discuss, compare and interpret primary texts and examples of art and cultural artifacts from the time period or culture which produced them; Analyze and evaluate recurring human problems across geographical and temporal boundaries and the peculiar problems unique to particular cultures and periods; Analyze and evaluate how the Western philosophical and cultural heritage acts as a continuing influence on the arts and ideas of the present; Demonstrate, apply and synthesize understanding of fundamental problems in Western thought through analytical and critical discussion of relevant arts and ideas; Demonstrate, apply and synthesize understanding of fundamental problems in Western thought through the writing of original analytical and evaluative essays of four to six pages (a minimum of 5000 words over the course of the semester); Demonstrate the ability to think creatively, independently, and critically about the varied historical, social, and ethnic influences upon the modern Western cultural tradition.
 
COURSE CONTENT
  TOPICS
 

Coverage of topics by instructor may be thematic, text-, or genre-based, within a chronological context.  Instructors should cover all the cultures and time periods listed in italics. Listings of sub-topics, individual readings, and historical figures are provided as examples of those which might be chosen by individual instructors.

  1.   The Renaissance: Early Renaissance, High Italian Renaissance, Northern RenaissanceHistorical, social and cultural contexts: humanism, the Florentine Renaissance, trade guilds, secular vs. Christian humanism, the printing press, religious corruption and reform,the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, Age of Exploration, Council of Trent, women and the Renaissance, the growth of science and empiricismRenaissance art and architecture:  linear perspective, Roman art & architecture, high renaissance style vs. mannerism, Northern and Venetian art, secular art, portraiture,Literature and philosophy:  secular humanism, political philosophy, sonnet, Elizabethan drama, essayMusic:  motet, madrigal, sacred and secular polyphony, Venetian style, Lutheran hymnody, ayres, anthems, counterpointThe Northern Renaissance and the ReformationRepresentative figures:  Gutenberg, Mirandola, the Medici, Savonarola, Erasmus, Machiavelli, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Dufay, Palestrina, Josquin des Prez, Machaut, Julius II, Martin Luther, Henry VIII, Castiglione, Vasari, Cellini, Bramante, Raphael, Parmigianino, Titian, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Elizabeth I, More, Copernicus, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, Durer, Grunewald, Altdorfer, Holbein, Hilliard, Bosch, Breugel, Byrd, Morley, Tallis, Weelkes
  2.  The Baroque Era and Early EnlightenmentHistorical, social and cultural contexts:  the Counter-Reformation, baroque duality, divine right monarchy, growth of parliament, English constitutional government, court of Louis XIVBaroque art & architecture: characteristics of baroque art & sculpture, chiaroscuro,  sacred vs. secular art, piazza of St. Peter’s, art & architecture of Rome, France, SpainLiterature and philosophy:  epistemology, materialism, rational analysis, social contract; French baroque tragedy and comedy; birth of the novel, picaresque style, metaphysical poetry, English epic poetryMusic:  birth of opera, concerto grosso, toccata, aria, recitative, cantata, fugue, oratorio. Birth of instrumental musicThe Age of Reason and the rise of science: astronomy, utilitarianism, rationalismRepresentative figures:  Louis XIV, Donne, Cervantes, Milton, Moliere, Racine, Corneille, Crashaw, Hobbes, Descartes, Locke, Voltaire, Galileo, Harvey, El Greco, Caravaggio, Gentileschi, Hals, Rubens, Bernini, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Poussin, de la Tour, Velasquez, Peri, Monteverdi, Lully, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel
  3.  Neo-Classical and Revolutionary Periods Historical, social and cultural contexts: Enlightenment philosophy, American and French Revolutions, enlightened despots, growth of parliamentary government, rediscovery of classical antiquity, declarations of human rights, Reign of TerrorRococo and Neoclassical art & architecture:  style and characteristics, landscape painting, portraiture, mythological themes, revolutionary subjectsClassical music:  symphony, growth of the orchestra, sonata formNeo-classical literature: satire, rational humanism, philosophical cynicismRepresentative figures:  Napoleon, Frederick the Great, Pope, Swift, Voltaire, Diderot, Hume, Rousseau, Franklin, Paine, Gibbon; Hogarth, Fragonard, Watteau, Boucher, Gainsborough, David; Haydn, Mozart
  4.  Romanticism and RealismHistorical, social, cultural contexts: major characteristics of romanticism; Darwinian revolution, nationalism, self-analysis, scientific advances, Industrial RevolutionRomantic art & architecture:  Spain, England, France, Germany, romanticism vs. realism; American school of art, luminismRomantic literature & philosophy: sturm und drang movement, transcendentalism, Faustian themes, the growth of the novel, realistic poetryRomantic music: scherzo, symphonic development, nocturne, Lieder, instrumental music, age of virtuosos, bel canto opera, German opera, tone symphonyRepresentative figures: Darwin, Marx, Goya, Ingres, Delacroix, Gericault, Daumier, Constable, Turner, Friedrich, Homer, Eakins, Courbet, Beethoven, Berlioz, Chopin, Lizst, Paganini, Schubert, Verdi, Wagner, Dvorak, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Goethe, English Romantic poets, Flaubert, Balzac, American Transcendentalists, Dickinson, Whitman, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky,
  5.  Fin de Siècle and Early Modern EraHistorical, social and cultural contexts: la belle époque, social unrest, European colonialism, Victorian era, telephone & telegraph, steam, internal combustion, mass transportation, steel and coal, birth of social sciences (linguistics, sociology, anthropology, psychology) and archeological field work, artistic experimentation, rejection of tradition, changes in the role of womenArt & architecture:  Impressionism, post-Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Fauvism, Futurism; birth of photographyLiterature and Philosophy: realism and early modern unease; ennui, stream of consciousness style, psychological realism, determinism, naturalismMusic: symphonic poem, program music, tone poems, atonality, twelve-tone technique, SprechstimmeRepresentative figures:  Baudelaire, Nietzsche, Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, Rodin, van Gogh, Munch, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse; Gaudi, Sullivan; Nolde, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Strauss, Puccini, Mahler, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Ravel, Freud, Proust, Dostoevsky, Ibsen, Wilde, K. Chopin,
  6.  ModernismHistorical, social and cultural contexts: European imperialism, birth of mass culture, rise of totalitarianism, World Wars I and II; the Holocaust; the Great Depression; Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance; the Atomic Age; the Cold War; technology and science; birth control and computersArt & architecture:  futurism, Dadaism, surrealism, analytical and synthetic Cubism, primitivism; Bauhaus, International Style; abstract expressionism, pop art, minimalism, op art; mobiles and ready madesLiterature and Philosophy: stream of consciousness prose; free verse, dada, Kafkaesque writing; existentialism, structuralism; theatre of the absurd; Beat poetryMusic and Film: film as art and as propaganda; montage;  experimental music; be bop, blues, jazz, progressive jazz; photography as art and propagandaRepresentative Figures:  Freud, Jung; Yeats, T.S. Eliot, Joyce, Woolf; Kafka, Mann; Braque, Picasso, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Chagall, Magritte, Dali, Miro, Duchamps, Kahlo; Riefenstahl, Eisenstein; Sartre, Camus, Beauvoir, Albee, Brecht, Beckett, Wiesel, Faulkner; Bergman; Wright, van der Rohe, Corbusier; “Beat” poets, Arthur Miller; Ellison, Wright; Warhol, Rauschenberg, Frankenthaler, Rothko; Moore, Calder
  7.  PostmodernismHistorical, social and cultural contexts: Civil Rights and human rights movements; women’s rights and gender issues; consumerism, multiculturalism, balkanization, Electronic/Computer Age, globalism and global culture, competing social, religious and political ideologies, “What is real?”; applied technology, the Green Revolution, ecological concerns; terrorism; genetic engineering; domination of mass mediaArt & architecture:  “plastic” architecture; eclectic architecture; photo-realism, neo-realism; abstract expressionism; popular art vs. “high” or elitist art; installations, monumental art; video artLiterature and Philosophy: mixed genres; neo-realism; multiple perspectives; multicultural themes; linguistic experimentation, confessional poetry; magical realismMusic and Film: experimental film and music; avant garde vs. neo-traditional music; aleatoric music, synthetic instrumentation; multi-cultural music and use of non-Western elements; rap, hip hopRepresentative Figures:  Achebe, Soyinka, O’Brien, Lessing, Ginsberg, Marquez:; Brooks, Morrison, Rushdie; Hopper, Stella, Oldenberg, Rothko; Hanson, Segal, Christo, Moore, Smith, Lin; Venturi, Gehry, Piano, Pei; Britten, Shostakovich, Rutter, Glass, ReichHonors courses include a focus on primary or original texts in translation from the each of the major literary and philosophical traditions from the early Renaissance through the Post-Modern era, as well as active student involvement in a seminar format with student-led and student-generated discussions presentations, and projects. 

Students are also assigned reading, writing, and other outside assignments that exceed the usual equivalent of two hours per one hour of class time.

 
 
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
 Methods of instruction used to achieve student learning outcomes may include, but are not limited to:

1. Presentation of lectures and demonstrations outlining key historical and cultural movements, with examples from primary texts, as well as arts and ideas of a given period/movement, in order for students to understand the development of civilization and culture from the prehistoric period to the late medieval period
2. Class discussions about cultural issues and differing critical interpretations of a given period/movement
3. Guest writers/lecturers invited to class to discuss topics related to arts and culture during these time periods
4. Field trips to selected museums or cultural exhibits which promote and enhance understanding of the time periods being studied
5. Showing films, videos, PowerPoint presentations, distributing handouts, and/or using electronic or computer-based media in order to reinforce understanding of concepts related to the various social, cultural, artistic developments and changes in Western civilization
6. Cooperative/collaborative learning tasks and activities designed to assist students in applying concepts in the humanities and synthesizing ideas about art and culture
7. Individual conferences in order to evaluate and advise students on written work or course content
8. Computer-assisted and/or web-enhanced instruction which reinforces the course content.
 
 
METHODS OF EVALUATION
 Students will be evaluated for progress in and/or mastery of learning outcomes by methods of evaluation which may include, but are not limited to:

1. The writing of a minimum of 5000 words (approximately 20 pages) of formal interpretive/analytical prose; additional informal written assignments designed to assess “on the spot” understanding of course concepts
2. Individual and group assignments designed to demonstrate successful understanding and application of basic concepts and definitions of periods, styles, and movements in arts and ideas
3. Questions on topics and content designed to evaluate students’ understanding of the key approaches to understanding the growth of civilization and Western cultural thought
4. Quizzes/examinations designed to assess students’ ability to recall, critically analyze and apply key concepts and course content
5. Participation and regular attendance as required by instructor to ensure progress in mastering the course content and participation in collaborative learning projects
6. Final essay designed to assess students’ mastery of the essential concepts explored in the course.

The Honors class will place special attention on activities that require critical and analytical thinking; a dialectical approach to discussion; and student initiative, preparation, and participation, including class-led discussions, presentations, peer review of writing, independent research, and responsible group work.


ASSIGNMENTS

Required Reading Assignments


Required Writing Assignments


Other Outside-of-Class Assignments
 
COURSE MATERIALS
 All materials used in this course will be periodically reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for college level instruction. Possible texts include:

  • Benton, Janetta and Robert DiYanni. Arts and Culture: An Introduction to Humanities.Vol II. 2 ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.
  • Cunningham, Lawrence and John Reich. Culture and Values: A Survey of the Western Humanities. VolI. 6 ed. NY: Harcourt, 2005.
  • Matthews, Roy T. and F. DeWitt Platt. Western Humanities, Vol II. 5 ed. any: McGraw-Hill, 2005.
  • Witt, Mary Ann Frese. The Humanities: Cultural Roots and Continuities, vol II. 7 ed. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2004.
  • Primary texts:

    1. Petrarch - Sonnets
    2. More - Utopia
    3. Rabelais - Gargantua & Pantagruel
    4. Marlowe - Doctor Faustus
    5. Shakespeare - Selected play(s)
    6. Molière, Racine - selected play(s)
    7. Cervantes - Don Quixote
    8. Voltaire - Candide
    9. Defoe, Fielding - selected novel(s)
    10. Swift - Gulliver?s Travels
    11. Selections from Rousseau, Mills, Paine, Thoreau
    12. Selections from Dumas, Austen, Dickens, Douglass, Melville, Hawthorne, Pushkin
    13. Selections from Wilde, Strindberg, Shaw, Chekhov, Ibsen
    14. Selections from Hardy, Conrad, James, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Kafka
    15. Selections from Camus, Sartre, Joyce, Orwell, Woolf, Mann, Hemingway, Faulkner, Steinbeck
    16. Selections from O?Neill, Williams, Pirandello, Brecht, Beckett
    17. Selections from Durrell, Ellison, Morrison, Baldwin, Achebe, Soyinka, Wiesel, Mahfouz, Rushdie, Nabokov, Allende, Gordimer, Mishima, Lessing, or similar post-modern authors
04/06
1205