Cañada College

MUS115 music, art & ideas SYLLABUS - FALL 2009

 

Professor: David Meckler, Ph.D.

office hrs:  Mon & Tues, 12-2, Room 3-242

Email: (start subject header with “MAI” or “AMI” to get my attention) Voice-mail: (650) 306-3439

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The course will present some European and American art & music from the past 2500 years in the historical context of related ideas, and provide a vocabulary to talk about this art and music.

 

Required book:  Philip E. Bishop, Adventures in the Human Spirit, 5th Edition, CD included.  Additional listening may also be posted on the WebAccess site (http://smccd.mrooms.net/) for this class: log in using your G number and 6-digit birth date, MMDDYY, no spaces or hyphens, or CDs will be on reserve in the Learning Center.  Plan on 30-60 minutes of listening per week & chapter.  (Earlier editions may also be used; if you do so, indicate this in your work.  Earlier editions are on reserve in the library.) 

 

Attendance is absolutely vital.  Please no late arrival, early departure, sleeping in class, cell phone interruptions, doing non-course related computer work or reading non-course related materials in class.  Be emotionally present, not just physically present!  Miss a class for a good reason?  Only WRITTEN excuses accepted.  It is your responsibility to drop the class if you miss more than 3 class meetings.

 

Grading and Assignments:  There are a total of 9 equally-weighted grades:  exams 1-3, museum and concert attendance reviews (BOTH – one concert review AND one museum review), 2 assignments; final exam, multiple choice portion; and the final exam, essay portion.  Standard grading percentages apply (A = 90%).  An art museum visit and concert attendance are required.  Details & requirements are provided on the course web site.  Exams 1-3 are primarily multiple choice, with a written response prepared in advance.

 

Extra Credit

Recognizing that life events interfere with perfect class attendance, extra credit may be earned by attending performances, lectures, exhibits, concerts, etc.  The extra credit activity must be approved by me in advance, and written & oral reports will be required, with a written & signed (by you) explanation for missing class.  Limit ONE.  Due on last regular class day, 9 Dec (NOT at the final exam).

 

Exams and Quizzes

There will be a final exam.  Exams may use Scantron forms for multiple-choice answers and may also include brief answer and essay questions.  Exams will cover material in the textbook and on the supplemental CDs, particularly the material emphasized in class lecture.

 

Academic & Personal Integrity (It is the same thing!)

You must do you own work unless specified.  Severe penalties, outlined in the Student Handbook, will be used in case of cheating or copied work without proper attribution.  Plagiarism on any assignments or exams will result in zero credit for that assignment. 

 

Schedule 

Introduction & Concepts, Greek, Roman, Early Christian (Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5)

Assignment #1 due Week 3

Assignment #2 due Week 4

EXAM #1 –  Week 5  (exams will usually be the 3rd week of each month)

Medieval, Renaissance (Chapters 6-9)

EXAM #2 – Week 7 or 8 –

Baroque, Classical, Early Romantic (Chapters 10-12)

EXAM #3 – Week 12 -- 

20th-Century, Postmodernism (Chapters 13-15)

FINAL EXAM  14 Dec 2009 8:10 a.m. NOTE THAT IT IS DIFFERENT FROM CLASS START TIME

 

Other Dates

1 Sep - Last day to ADD a semester length course

11 Sep - Last day to drop a semester length course without a “W”

18 Nov - Last day to withdraw from semester length course with a “W”

 

 

The past does not influence me, I influence it.

-- Willem DeKooning (artist)

 

Student Learning Objectives

SLO 1 - Students will be able to identify selected key works of art and music by artist, composer, period or other relevant information.

SLO 2 - Students will be able to compare works of art and music and discuss the relation of the works to ideas from their historical context.

SLO 3 - Students will be able to describe significant changes in art and music from successive stylistic periods.

 

SAMPLE POSSIBLE FINAL EXAM ESSAY QUESTIONS

(review these monthly)

 

1.  Describe your favorite work covered in this class, identifying it and associating it with a style or period.     What makes it an example (or counterexample) of its style or period?     What ideas or historical developments are connected with it?    Why do you like it? 

2.  Describe the period in which you feel art & music to be most closely related.  Contrast that with a period in which you perceive art & music to be less related to each other.  Identify and explain specific examples.

3. Identify and describe the way the notion of Classicism (Ancient Greek or Ancient Roman ideas) recurs in different historical periods (discuss two examples).  Name specific works that illustrate your point, referring to artist and title, if applicable; explain how they illustrate your point.

4.  Describe a trait of Romanticism that carries on into Modernism.  How is it changed or intensified?  Name a Romantic work and a Modernist work to support your point.

5.  Explain a key difference between Modernism and Post-Modernism, and describe specific works that illustrate your point.

6.  Describe two contrasting attitudes from history about the body, and describe works of art or music that reflect those contrasting attitudes.

7.     Which transition between two periods seems to you to be the sharpest break?  Explain your reasons for thinking so, and explain the historical factors behind the change.