The Value of Studying the Humanities in a Business or Technical Curriculum

Subject Education

Question
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’s The 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 see The Tempeston stage or in film? Why?

Allegory and Art (graded)

This week, we are exploring the items below.

Excerpt from Beowulf(also available as an audio in the lecture)
Act II Scene I from Shakespeare’s The 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 week’s tutorial. Use the example of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens and discuss how one or more of this week’s key concepts are featured in the painting.

Identify the painting by title, and include citations for any material you’ve 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)

Let’s 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. We’ll 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?