Saturdays, Noon,  Maclean 171

This class meets Jan 23, Feb 6, Feb 20, Mar 6, Mar 27, May 1, and Final Exam on May 8

Theodore Gracyk 

Office: Bridges 359B     
Office hours: Tuesdays, Noon to 4 pm, Wednesdays, 9 am to Noon, Thursdays, Noon to 2 pm and by appointment

Office: 477-4089           

This course is an extended examination of the nature and value of art and artistic activity. The only prerequisite is an active interest in one or more art forms. The course examines the main theories of what art is, what artists are, and whether art and artistic creativity are human universals.

As indicated by the course title, various arts will be discussed. This is not strictly a course about the visual arts. However, the visual arts and music will be the main sources for examples.

• Theodore Gracyk, editor. Philosophy and the Arts: Selected Readings 
  (Course pack will be available from MSUM Bookstore)
• Noel Carroll, Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge) 

 Learning Outcomes for Dragon Core (The Humanities – The Arts, Literature, and Philosophy)

• Students demonstrate, in writing, awareness of the scope and variety of works in an area (or areas) of the arts and/or humanities.
• Students explain how those works are expressions of individual and human values within historical and social contexts.
• Analyze and/or critically evaluate works of human imagination and thought in writing.
• Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and/or humanities.
• Present informed aesthetic judgments.

This is a "middle cluster" course. It extends the writing and critical/multicultural thinking components of the "foundation four."

This is a Writing Intensive Course. The quality of your formal writing will affect your course grade. Most of your course grade is based on four formal essays that you write. The first of these four will be submitted as a two-page draft and will be submitted to the instructor for comments before it is completed. ONLY the first will use the draft-rewrite procedure.

The course combines informal writing (short pieces of writing submitted in the weeks between classes), integrative formal writing in which you will explain, integrate, and evaluate material covered in the assigned readings (four essays), and one less formal essay (a final exam). 

Taken together, the integrative formal writing must be at least a minimum of 16 pages (4800 words).

Robert Hughes, one of the most articulate and important art critics of recent years, has said this about the process of writing: “My main impulse for writing a book was to force myself to find out about things I didn't know. … Otherwise, why do it at all?” This point encapsulates my goals for having you write. Writing is a mode of exploration. There is no reason to write except to find out things you did not already know, including things about yourself, such as your own position on controversial topics. 

Writing Intensive Outcomes

• You will use a coherent writing process including invention, organization, drafting, revising, and editing to form an effective final written product. To do this, the course will combine informal and formal writing. Informal writing will be used to formulate ideas that will be important in formal writing. The first paper will require submitting a draft.
• You will consult effectively and appropriately with others to produce quality written products. To do this, the first paper will require submitting a draft.
• You will read, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and integrate appropriately and ethically both information and ideas from diverse sources or points of view in their writing. To do this, you will write essays, quizzes, and a final exam. Each will require you to integrate material from multiple sources (e.g., different books plus material presented in class).
• You will create logical, engaging, effective written products appropriate for specific audiences and purposes. Students will be provided with a rubric that clarifies this expectation.
• You will use correct grammar and mechanics in writing. Essays will not be graded unless they satisfy reasonably high standards, spelled out in the assignments.

Formatting 

All versions of all the formal writing (the four essays) must conform to basic format rules. 

• They must be typed and double-spaced. 

• Margins of an inch on the top and bottom and on the left and right sides of the page are standard. (Margins of an inch and a quarter on the sides are acceptable.) 

• Twelve point fonts are standard. 

• The essay must have a cover page. Put your name on the cover page. Do not put your name anywhere else on the essay. 

• Page numbers must be on the pages. Do not put a page number on the cover page.

Carefully proofread your papers. For the final versions of assigned papers, I will accept no more than a total sum of three grammatical errors, typos and spelling errors per page. If you exceed this number, I will return the paper to you at our next class meeting. It must then be handed in, “cleaned up,” no later than the next scheduled class meeting. Such papers will count as one day late. (Notice that if you fail to attend the class session in which I return the papers and your paper needs rewriting to meet the minimum mechanical standards, you do not receive any kind of special extension.)

If I return a paper to you to be “cleaned up” and it is not re-submitted at the next class meeting, it will receive an additional grade reduction for each day that it is not returned to me. A paper that is not “cleaned up” by the time of the final exam receives a grade of F.

If you are worried about your ability to write a paper without making excessive errors, you should bring a draft to the instructor during scheduled office hours. (If you cannot meet with the instructor during those hours, an appointment can be made for another time.)  OR visit the write site! Tutors are available.

For more information, see http://web.mnstate.edu/write/ or call 218-477-5937.

Paper Topics 

There are five units in this course, corresponding to the five chapters in Carroll’s Philosophy of Art. The initial four chapters cover the topics of representation, expression, form, and aesthetic experience. Your four formal essays will address, in order, these four chapters.

Complete instructions for the first four papers are at the back of the course packet.

THESE ARE NOT RESEARCH PAPERS. THERE IS SIMPLY NO REASON TO DO ANY ADDITIONAL RESEARCH for any of them. If you use any additional sources, you must provide a complete bibliography of those sources. The bibliography does not count toward the word/page count for the paper. If you use any outside source and fail to indicate it in the bibliography, the paper will receive a failing grade. (Exceptions to the bibliography rule: You are always free to consult the assigned readings for this course, dictionaries, writing guides, grammar books, etc.).

BY DOING THIS, YOU’LL DEMONSTRATE THAT YOU:

• correctly comprehend the issues involved.
• can reconstruct the thinking of others.
• can clearly articulate your ideas and present them in an organized way.
• can critically evaluate what others think.
• can use correct grammar and mechanics in writing.
• can argue persuasively in support of a thesis.

The fifth and last piece of writing is the final exam. It is not evaluated for writing mechanics. Questions will be given to you at the last class session before the final..

DUE DATES for formal writing:

ADDITION TO SYLLABUS 

There is some likelihood that flooding in the region will disrupt class in the near future.

Unless you are otherwise notified, we will continue to follow the syllabus.

CLASS MEETINGS

For the remainder of the semester, if there is a scheduled Saturday class that cannot be held because the physical campus is closed, students remain responsible for the material that has already been assigned. Whatever happens, we will continue to follow the syllabus, week by week.

Remember: Unless the university declares the semester over and completed, closing the campus buildings does not suspend instructional interaction for this course.

We will simply continue instructional interaction of the assigned material by interacting on our usual blog. New instructions will appear on the blog about what to do if we cannot hold class.

FINAL EXAM

If disruption of the campus is so severe that it disrupts holding the final exam, I will post a clear notice on the blog of what to do.

WHAT IF YOUR LIFE IS DISRUPTED?