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Course Syllabus CHC 1 Dr. Geoffrey Minter The Arts in New York City Office Hours: Tues. 5-6 p.m., Thurs. 5-6:15 p.m..; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:40 – 4:55 p.m. and by appointment Boylan 3411 Boylan 3149 | 718-951-5784 (during office hours only) Fall 2008 email: [email protected] // AIM: gminterbc Course website: http://www.sutropark.com/courses Click the link for “The Arts in New York City” in the left-hand column under “Fall 2008 Courses” Course Description Interdisciplinary study based on performances and exhibitions in the arts, using New York City's cultural institutions as resources for aesthetic experiences and opportunities for research, interpretation, and creative work. Intersections among cultural events in the city and academic readings and writings. The nature of narrative as it is expressed in literature as well as in various other media: opera, popular music, dance, theater, and pictorial art; high as well as folk art, classical as well as contemporary forms. Course Requirements - Students are expected to complete the required reading for each course meeting before class begins, and to arrive on time ready to participate. In general, course readings should be brought to class, including printouts of readings that have been made available online. - Please attend class regularly and on time. More than three absences will jeopardize one’s grade in the course. Three tardy attendances equal one absence. Leaving class early and leaving during the middle of class for an extended period of time also count as tardies. There will be 1/3 final grade reduction per unexcused absence beyond the allowed number of absences. (For example, a final grade of B would become B-.) Attendance is also required at the on- and off-campus performances and events that are a regular part of the class. - Please keep your own copies of all assignments submitted for course credit. In the event that a copy of an assignment is lost, you will need to provide another copy in order to receive credit. - Cell phones should not be used during class time. Please alert me before class begins if you are expecting an important call during class. Cell phones that are otherwise observed being used for conversation or text messaging may count against a student’s grade for the course, unless in the case of verifiable family emergency. Course Assignments - Graded work: (1) leading course discussion twice during the term; (2) two 250-500 word (1-2 page) discussion papers, one for each discussion you lead; (3) a 500-1000 word (2-4 page) opinion and/or creative work on an assigned topic, due Tuesday Sept. 23; (4) a 750-1250 word (3-5 page) midterm paper on an assigned topic, due Tuesday Oct. 21; a photographic and/or illustrated and/or filmed portfolio of images (“visual portfolio”) you have taken or created, based on an assigned topic, due Tuesday Nov. 25; (5) a class presentation based on a community arts project you have undertaken, and an accompanying a 1250-1750 word (5-7 page) paper that discusses the project in greater depth. - Leading course discussion. On the second day, each student will be placed into one of 6 groups (Groups A, B, C, D, E, or F). Starting at the third class meeting (Sept. 4), students from one of these 6 groups will have special responsibility for that day’s discussion, on a rotating schedule. o Each member of the group will prepare a question related to the day’s assigned reading and/or discussion topic. For example, on Sept. 16, students in Group C will each prepare a question related either to Chapters 2 and 3 of Culture and Anarchy, or one of the assigned chapters from Opera: The Basics. Obviously, students who are not in a day’s group must still read the assigned material and be prepared to discuss it. Members of a group are not required to consult one another about their topics, but can do so if they wish; however, each member of the group must still present his/her own passage and question. The Arts in New York City – Fall 2008 Page 1 of 4 o Your question should be focused around a specific passage (or passages) from the day’s reading, or a specific moment from the event/performance under consideration. Each student in the group will be asked to recite the question and then lead discussion related to it. Questions should allow for open-ended responses, but should also be specific. A broad question along the lines of “What does everyone think about what we read today?” will not get very far. At the beginning of class, I will ask each member of the group to give a brief one sentence summary of the question she or he will be presenting to the class. Please contact me by email by 8 p.m. the evening before your question is due, or visit me during office hours, if you wish to discuss it with me in advance. Evaluation of this assignment will be based both on the paper and the class presentation. - 250-500 word discussion papers. A week following the presentation of your discussion questions, you will need to submit a 250-500 word paper that brings closure to the question that you presented. You can incorporate points made by others during the class discussion, but are not required to do so. Think of the paper as your final argument about the question. After considering it for a few days, what is the best answer that you can make about it? - 500-1000 word opinion and/or creative paper. The paper will be due on Tuesday, September 23. Information about this assignment will be given in the second week of class. - Midterm Paper (750-1250 words, 3-5 pages) on an assigned topic. The paper will be due at the October 21 class, and the topic will be given at least two weeks before the assignment is due. - Visual Portfolio based on an assigned topic. The assignment will be due for presentation and submission at the November 25 class; the topic will be given early in the term. - Community Arts Project. The work for this assignment may be done individually or in a group, but each student must submit his or her own final paper for the project. Preliminary overview: You will be asked to select a neighborhood in New York City (for example: Williamsburg, Brighton Beach, Harlem, Borough Park, Chinatown, SoHo, Astoria) and/or a cultural community in New York City (for example: Cuban-American, Italian-American, Hasidic, Caribbean, Russian, Greek, etc.). Explore the relationship of this neighborhood and/or community to art, and its expression of art (for example: museums, performance arts, music, exhibits, rituals, and crafts; these may include food, fairs, parades, and other acts of creativity). Your report may take many forms, but must include a presentation and a written paper. Previous community arts projects have included: subway arts; Caribbean costume and step-dancing, Greek folk dance; Indian dances, food, and dress; orthodox Jewish ritual, music, and food; Chinatown art; SoHo street artists; arts and the homeless; jazz culture in New York City; Staten Island architecture; and a comparative look at Catholic, Indian, and Jewish weddings. Course Books: The following books have been ordered for purchase at Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. Michener, Tales of the South Pacific [distributed to students] Spiegelman, In the Shadow of No Towers (Pantheon) -- ISBN 0375423079 Arnold, Culture and Anarchy (Oxford) -- ISBN 0192805118 Bussell, The Ballet Book (Dorling Kindersley) -- ISBN 140531477X Gallo, Opera: The Basics (Routledge) -- ISBN 0415970725 Spiegelman, Maus [Box Set, Complete] (Pantheon) -- ISBN 0679748407 Barthes, Camera Lucida (Hill and Wang) -- ISBN 0374521344 Ihimaera, The Whale Rider (Harcourt) -- ISBN 0152050167 Sis, Tibet Through the Red Box (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) -- ISBN 0374375526 The Arts in New York City – Fall 2008 Page 2 of 4 Course Reading Schedule: A few readings will be linked to the course website or distributed as a handout or available as a copy at Far Better Copy; they are indicated by [web] and [handout] and [copy]. Performance dates and class meetings taking place outside of the usual classroom are indicated by double asterisks in the middle column, as are group assignments. Some performance dates may change as all tickets have not been finalized. Class Date Groups & Texts and Events Events Thu Aug 28 Course Introduction: South Pacific and Auden, “September 1, 1939” Tue Sep 2 - Michener, Tales of the South Pacific, “The South Pacific” (pp. 9-12), “An Officer and a Gentleman” (pp. 50-68); “Fo’ Dolla’” (pp. 165-226) - Most, ‘“You've Got to Be Carefully Taught”: The Politics of Race in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific’ [web] Thu Sep 4 A - Ihimaera, “That Special Island, Where the Sky Meets the Sea” [web] - Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, Introduction and Chapter 1 Tue Sep 9 B - Spiegelman, In the Shadow of No Towers - Whitman, “The Wound-Dresser” [handout] - Texts for On the Transmigration of Souls [web] Thu Sep 11 ** CLASS MEETS IN THE WOODY TANGER AUDITORIUM, LIBRARY, FIRST FLOOR - Presentation on John Adams - Adams, On the Transmigration of Souls Tue Sep 16 C - Arnold, Culture and Anarchy, Chapters 2 and 3 - Gallo, Opera: The Basics, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 Thu Sep 18 ** CLASS MEETS IN THE WOODY TANGER AUDITORIUM, LIBRARY, FIRST FLOOR - Screening of Leoncavallo’s Pagilacci Tue Sep 23 OPINION AND/OR CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT DUE - Discussion of Pagliacci - Gallo, Opera: The Basics, Chapters 8, 9, and 10 - Bussell, The Ballet Book Wed Sep 24 ** DANCE PERFORMANCE - Fall For Dance Festival, New York City Center, 8:00 p.m.
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