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Updated 04/10/08
Humanities 156: Global Humanities
Spring 2008
MW 11:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., AH 208
This is the “official” version of the class
syllabus. It will be updated from time to time as needed
http://english2.mnsu.edu/larsson/hum156/Hum156syll.htm
Specific assignments and
your responses will usually be posted to Desire2Learn (D2L)
https://d2l.mnsu.edu/
Items highlighted
in yellow are NEW!
Upcoming International Events for Humanities Portfolio
Report
Music Department:
Andreas Guest
Artists in Theatre & Dance. These Master Classes are being taught to
Theatre & Dance students by visiting guest artists and may be open for
observation by students. You can use one of the Master Classes listed
below as an International Event. Please check with
Dr. Julie Kerr-Berry for details:
2008 ANDREAS WORLD DANCE GUEST ARTIST ROSTER
(All meetings are in PAC 126)
-
René Thompson (Cuban)
Date: Tuesday, April 22nd
COURSE INFORMATION
Professor:
Donald Larsson
Office: Armstrong Hall 301-L (facing the fountain)
Phone:
389-2368
E-Mail: donald.larsson@mnsu.edu
Office Hours: MW 10-11 a.m., 2-3 p.m.;
and by appointment
Note: Because of my duties as MSU
Mankato Faculty Association President, I may sometimes have to cancel an office
hour and I will often be in meetings on or off campus.
It’s always best to check ahead of
time if you want to meet with me. I will reply to phone messages and
emails as soon as possible.
TEXTS
Note: There will be
some additional readings linked to online sources
Alves, William. Music of
the Peoples of the World.
Fuentes, Carlos, and Julio Ortega. The Vintage Book of Latin
American Stories.
Kampen-O’Riley. Art
beyond the West.
Larson,
Charles. Under African Skies: Modern African Stories.
Paine, Ed J. The Poetry of Our
World.
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COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is
founded on the following assumptions:
· That forms of humanistic
expression--through philosophy; religion; and the visual, literary, and
performing arts--are not the exclusive province of European
and American societies
· That cultures around the world share
in a common desire to define the human condition, and do so through philosophy;
religion, and the visual, literary, and performing arts
· That forms of humanistic expression, as
well as the contents of that expression, change over time and across cultures
to respond to the different circumstances of individual cultures
· That the forms of humanistic expression,
as well as their content, underscore the beliefs, values and experiences that
both unite and divide cultures throughout history
· That we cannot understand the social or
economic or political or military role of a nation or culture without also
understanding that culture's history and forms of cultural expression
· That no citizen of an increasingly
interdependent global society can afford to remain ignorant of the many facets
of cultural expression that lie beyond the Western tradition
This course
is intended as a complement to Humanities 150 and 151: The Western Humanities.
In this class, we will attempt to survey the religions, philosophies and cultural
expressions of societies beyond Europe and North America.
Our particular emphasis will be on sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania/Pacific
cultures, and Latin America. (Humanities 155,
offered in the fall, covers cultures of the Middle
East, India, China and Japan.)
These
societies have cultural traditions that are hundreds or thousands of years old,
and we will explore some of the ways in which those traditions have been
expressed over the ages through religion, philosophy, literature, and the
visual and performing arts. But all of these societies have also had to deal
with the impact of the Western world—whether through slavery, colonialism,
economic exploitation, or just through the spread of industrialization and an
increasingly closely-linked global economy. So we will also look at ways by
which these societies have expressed acceptance of, resistance to, or
adaptation to these radical social changes. And we will see how thinkers,
writers and artists in these societies have expressed the concerns, problems
and divisions within their own cultures.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS: THE STUDENT
PORTFOLIO
Your
grade for the semester will be based on a online
portfolio of materials that you will assemble over the weeks and submit on
Desire2Learn (D2L). I will be giving you feedback on your portfolio items as
you assemble them over the course of the semester.. A
complete description of the portfolio follows, but briefly, you will be writing
several different types of assignments, each of which will be worth a certain
number of points, for a total of 1000 points. You may continually revise
the materials you put into your portfolio during the semester until the Final
Meeting date (May 9). It is the final portfolio itself that will be the basis
for the final grade. You may want or need to supplement the D2L portfolio
with some physical materials (pictures, videos, websites, etc.).
PORTFOLIO APPEARANCE STANDARDS:
· Each entry in your portfolio should
include your name, the date of the entry, and a title that indicates the type
of entry.
· Any physical items to go with your
portfolio must be clearly labeled.
PORTFOLIO GUIDELINES
|
Section
|
Possible Points*
|
|
Question of the Week (submitted on D2L each week by the
following Monday morning)
|
15 weeks @ 5 points =
75 points
|
|
Section A—Discovery Presentation and Self-Reflection
|
225 points
|
|
Section B—Weekly Response
|
15 weeks
@ 15 points =
225
points
|
|
Section C—Walker Art Center/Minneapolis Institute of Arts Report
|
125
points
|
|
Section D—International Event Report
|
125
points
|
|
Section E—Final Project: Understanding Contemporary Culture
through Tradition
|
225
points
|
|
TOTAL
|
1,000
points
|
*Points
will be assigned on the basis of how complete, accurate and insightful each
item is, as well as for the quality of the presentation (i.e., it meets the
assignment criteria; it is well-organized; it follows conventions of academic
writing; etc.).
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GRADING STANDARDS
Final Grade Breakdown, based on
total of 1,000 points
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
F
|
|
900=1,000
|
800-899
|
700-799
|
600-699
|
0-599
|
PORTFOLIO EVALUATION STANDARDS
(All materials will be submitted
online on D2L, unless they are physical supplements for the assignment.)
Question
of the Week (75 points)
Each week
following our two class meetings, you should submit a question on the material
that we read, viewed, listened to, and/or discussed that week. The
question can be a factual one or more broadly based. You can ask for
explanations or clarifications of terms or concepts, or probe more deeply
issues or elements of the assignments, but the questions should not simplyrepeat material already covered in class.
Discovery
Presentation and Self-Reflection (225
points)
Each week,
two or three students will present some piece of writing, music, art, film,
architecture, or other product of one of the cultures being studied. It
should be presented in a format that will allow the class to experience that
object (or some part of it)—a physical object, a written handout, photographs
or other graphics, a piece of music, etc. You should be prepared to
explain the following
- How did you discover this
cultural artifact? Why did you choose to present it to the class?
- How was it made or produced?
- How does it relate to the
specific culture that produced it?
- What does it illustrate in
relation to cultures and ideas that we have studied?
The
presentation itself will be worth 50 points. The other 150 points are
assigned to a Self-Reflection
Paper that you will write about your
presentation.
I encourage
you to collaborate and communicate with other students who are assigned to present
a discovery related to yours. You may even do a joint presentation with
one or more other students. However, the Self-Reflection Paper must be
your own work.
Weekly
Response (15 points per week = 225 points)
Each
Thursday, I will post a discussion prompt on D2L regarding the material we have
covered in class that week. You may choose one of those questions (or
create a question of your own) and respond to it in one to two pages (250-500
words). You may draw upon resources (including each other) beyond class notes
in forming your answer, but the wording and specific nature of the answer
should be yours alone. Any wording, phrasing or borrowing of concepts from
other sources without acknowledgement is plagiarism and will result in 0 points
for that entry. These discussions will be due by the Monday of the next
week. Assignment 15 will be due by our final meeting period.
Walker
Art Center/Minneapolis Institute of Arts Report (125 points)
Fairly early
in the semester, we will arrange for a group trip to view the art collections
from Africa, Latin America, and Oceania at the
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, one of this country’s great art museums.
You will then write a brief report about the visit. The specific report
assignment will be given later.
International
Event Report (about 4 pages: 125 points)
Attend one
of the events sponsored by a campus department, the International Student
Office, the Cultural Diversity Program, or another organization that relates to
one of the cultures that we are studying. (See the list posted
online. You may also attend an event in the Twin Cities or at another
location if you provide a copy of the program.) Then write a
report about what you saw, did, and learned at that event. Indicate the
name, date and place of the event, and who the artists or speakers or main
participants were. Attach any brochure or other material that is passed
out. Explain how that activity relates to what we have learned in class about
one or more particular cultures.
Final
Project (225 Points): Understanding Contemporary
Culture through Tradition
You may use your Discovery Presentation as a basis for this assignment or you
may do something completely different. You should take a contemporary
work of art, short story, poem, piece of music, film, or other work created
within the last century (roughly 1920 to the present) that comes from one of
the cultures that we have been studying. Your project should explain how
a reader, viewer or listener should approach this work in order to understand
it in the context of its culture. Does it draw from traditional beliefs,
practices and artistic forms? Is it attempting to preserve or revive
engendered forms of artistic expression? Does it draw from other cultures
and traditions than its own and, if so, why?
You may
complete this assignment in one of several ways:
§ a written report (about 5-7 pages,
plus notes)
§ a pictorial essay, using prints of
visual sources
§ a web site, CD-ROM, or DVD
We will
discuss your projects briefly at our Final Meeting on May 7, when the complete
Portfolio is due.
Further
guidelines for the Final Project will be available later.
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GENERAL CLASS POLICIES
Attendance:
Since
much of this course is based on your participation and collaboration with each
other, it is important for you to attend regularly. If you know that you
are likely to miss class on a particular day, please check for whatever work or
assignment will be involved on that day. If you unexpectedly miss a
class, you are still responsible for all work required for your Portfolio.
Missed
Work: You can submit missed work and revise submitted work up until
the Final Meeting period on Wednesday, May 7. After that, all scores will
be final unless you have made other arrangements with me for very special
circumstances.
Electronic Devices (cell phone, IPods,
laptops, etc.):
Unless
you have asked for and received specific permission to use an electronic device
in class, you will have to turn off and put away any such devices before class
starts each day.
Reading and Bringing Books to
Class:
You
will only need to bring books with material being discussed for that class
day. Make sure that you do bring them when needed. Do make sure
that you have done the assigned reading before each class.
Final
Note:
While I can bring a
certain level of learning and knowledge to this class, the world is a very big
place and there is far more to our subject than any individual could ever
know. I am also a learner. I look forward to hearing from you about any
knowledge or experience that you can bring to bear about our subjects. I also
look forward to learning more about you individually as we meet in class or out
of it. Always feel free to drop in during office hours, to e-mail me, or to ask
for an appointment when you cannot come to office hours. I hope that this will
be a stimulating semester for all of us as we learn more about what the phrase
"global community" really means!
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SCHEDULE
(subject to change)
In addition to the readings below, I
will be asking you to read some specific stories and poems in the literary
anthologies almost every week.
|
Week
|
Dates
|
Topics
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Readings
|
|
1
|
1/14
1/16
|
Introduction:
The Humanities, Culture, Belief and Ritual, Oral and Literate Cultures,
Tradition and Modernity, Colonialism and Post-Colonialism
|
Kampen-O’Riley, Chapter 1
|
|
|
1/18
|
Class
trip to Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Institute of Arts
|
|
2
|
1/21
1/23
|
No class
Monday--MLK Day
Art,
Music, Literature and Cultural Expression
Sub-Saharan
African Culture: Finding The Past
Native
African Religion, Islam, Christianity, etc.
|
African
Poems in The Poetry of Our World
|
|
3
|
1/28
1/29
|
Music in Africa
|
Alves, Parts 1 & 2: Introduction and
Sub-Saharan Africa
|
|
4
|
2/4
2/6
|
Art in Africa
|
Kampen-O'Riley, Chapter 7
|
|
5
|
2/11
2/13
|
NOTE: Class visit on African masks by Dr. Arnoldus
Gruter (visit cancelled!)
Art in
Africa
Ancient
Epic and Contemporary African Literature
|
Stories
in Larson
·
Tutola, ”The Complete Gentleman,” p. 3
·
Sembene, “Black Girl,” p. 40
·
Ngugi, “A Meeting in the Dark,” p. 68
·
Ogot, “Tekayo,” p. 125
·
Achebe, “Girls at War,” 153
Also read
the online summary of the oral epic Sundiata at
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2359/2359_whenyoung_sundiata.pdf
|
|
6
|
2/18
2/20
|
Africa through Film: Keita: Heritage of the Griot and Yeelen (Brightness)
|
|
|
7
|
2/25
2/27
|
Indonesia and the Pacific: Introduction
|
Kampen-O’Riley, Chapter 6
|
|
8
|
3/3
3/5
|
Music and
Culture in Indonesia
|
Alves, Part 8: Indonesia
|
|
3/10-3/14: SPRING BREAK
|
|
9
|
3/17
3/19
|
Pacific/Oceania
in Film: Whale Rider
|
|
|
10
|
3/24
3/26
|
Latin
American Culture: Pre-Columbian, Colonial, Post-Colonial
|
|
|
11
|
3/31
4/2
|
Mayan
Culture: The Popul Vuh
vs. Apocalypto?
|
The Popul Vuh (online)
Kampen-O’Riley, Chapter 8
|
|
12
|
4/7
4/9
|
Art in
Latin American Culture
|
|
|
13
|
4/14
4/16
|
Music in Latin America
|
Alves, Part 10: Latin America
|
|
14
|
4/21
4/23
|
Contemporary
Latin American Literature and Film: Magical Realism and Beyond
|
Stories
in Fuentes and Ortega
|
|
15
|
4/28
4/30
|
Food and
Love on Film: Like Water for Chocolate
|
Kampen-O’Riley, Chapter 9: Art without Boundaries
|
|
Final Exam Week
|
Final
Meeting: Wed., 5/7, 12:30-2:30
|
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GENERAL
EDUCATION COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES: CATEGORIES 6 (Humanities & the Arts)
and 8 (Global Perspective)
6a
Students
demonstrate awareness of scope and variety of works of literature, art, music, theater,
philosophy, and religious expression from ancient times to the present, in
cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, the Oceania/Pacific region, and Latin America.
6b
Students
demonstrate understanding of individual and cultural values expressed by
artists and writers through religion, philosophy, the arts and other forms of
cultural expression from ancient times to the present, in cultures of
sub-Saharan Africa, the Oceania/Pacific region, and Latin
America.
6c
Students
demonstrate ability to respond critically to works from cultures of t
sub-Saharan Africa, the Oceania/Pacific region, and Latin
America and to the expression of the cultural, artistic,
humanistic, social and political differences within and among those cultures
through class discussion, journals, exams and/or other formats
6d
Not usually addressed, since this is
not a studio-oriented course, but students may demonstrate their knowledge and
familiarity with one of the cultures being studied by offering a recitation,
performance or demonstration of a cultural work or ceremony.
6e
Students
demonstrate ability to articulate an informed personal response to works in the
arts and humanities from cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, the Oceania/Pacific
region, and Latin America through class
discussion, journals, exams and/or other formats.
8a
Students
demonstrate ability to describe, analyze, and evaluate humanistic, artistic and
cultural elements (within historical, social and economic contexts) which have
influenced and still influence relations of nations and peoples in sub-Saharan
Africa, the Oceania/Pacific region, and Latin America.
8b
Students
demonstrate knowledge of cultural, social, religious and linguistic differences
within and among cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, the Oceania/Pacific region, and
Latin America as expressed through works of
literature, art, music, theater, philosophy, and religious expression.
8c
Students
demonstrate awareness of humanistic, artistic and cultural elements (within
historical, social and economic contexts) that underlie specific international
problems, past and present, and which may facilitate or impede their solution,
as expressed through works of literature, art, music, theater, philosophy, and
religious expression.
8d
Students
demonstrate the understanding of and sensitivity to cultural issues of the past
and present that are a necessary component in the role of a world citizen.
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