SYLLABUS, SUMMER 2002

Welcome to Art Education 160 - Art and Music Since 1945.  This syllabus is your guide to the course and should be kept for reference.

Art Education 160 has been designed by people from the College of  the Arts for students who have an interest in the arts.  A background in the arts is not necessary although people with such a background are welcome.

The content we cover deals with the most current manifestations of the arts, the art of the present culture: the culture that you have grown up in and live in today.  The arts of the present are heavily influenced by major developments which began in music and the visual arts in the late 1940's and early 1950's, and for that reason, the content of the course begins at that point and continues to the present. We believe that it is important for students to be aware of contemporary art and music for them to function in contemporary society, just as an awareness of contemporary politics, philosophy, values, science, and economics, makes people better able to cope with a rapidly changing culture.

We also believe that a course such as this should involve confrontation with actual art events, rather than learning only from lectures and books.  For this reason we will ask you to attend, in addition to lectures and discussion groups, an art exhibit and a concert, and you will be expected to deal with them in a critical and analytical manner.  Lectures will help you to come to grips with the issues raised by performances and exhibits.

Among the areas to be covered are painting, sculpture, performance art, rock, jazz and experimental music.  Art Education 160 is available for meeting the Arts and Humanities requirement of the General Education Curriculum (GEC).

We would like you to attend two contemporary events during the term.  They must be events attended  during the current term, and cannot be events attended before the first meeting of this class.  One of these should be an art exhibit and one a concert.  It is very important that each of these events be contemporary (work originally produced since 1945).  If you are in doubt as to whether an event is contemporary, talk it over with your instructor.

Art:  There is an important exhibit at the Wexner Center, here on campus, until August 12.  Exhibits are also held at many locations in the area, including the Columbus Museum of Art, and many galleries in the Short North.  The Columbus Museum of Art has a small but distinguished collection of contemporary art, including works by several people covered in this course.  A list of current exhibits will be posted on the Art Education 160 web site.  This list will not be exhaustive or complete- check  local newspapers for other exhibits.

Music:  There are numerous concerts scheduled in Columbus each quarter at places like the Newport, the Ohio and Palace Theaters, Polaris, Mershon Auditorium and the Schottenstein Center and Nationwide Arena. A list of  current concerts will also be posted on the web site. This list will not be exhaustive or complete- check local newspapers for other concerts.

The dates, times and ticket information found on the website were tentative at the time the website was prepared, and as such, are subject to change.  When you purchase tickets to an event, be sure to check the time and date on the ticket.

The lectures are Monday through Friday, 9:30 - 11:18 in Sullivant 105.  A break will be given at mid-point.  Unlike many university courses, you will be experiencing visual and musical information, as well as verbal information, during the lectures.  This will take the form of slides, films, videos and audio tapes.  This information is important in understanding the arts, and can only be experienced by attending the lectures. Attendance is very important in this course, and for that reason, attendance sheets will be circulated during each lecture. Be sure to put your name on one each day.

Because of the nature of this auditorium, we ask that you not eat or drink in this room.  We also ask that you refrain from talking during the audio recordings and videos.

We have prepared a web site for Art Education 160.  The web site address is:

http://www.cgrg.ohio-state.edu/~rarnold/

The 160 site has information about exhibits and concerts, copies of the syllabus and critical essay guidelines, links to other web sites dealing with contemporary art around the world, and lists of the artists covered in each of the lectures. Most of the names on these lists are linked to web sites that provide information about the artists.

1. Attendance and active participation in class.

 

2. Exams:*  Two exams will be given.  The midterm will be on Friday, August 10 and will cover course material to that point. The final will be given during the scheduled exam time (Wednesday, August 29, 7:30-9:18 am.) and will cover material presented and assigned after the midterm. The final exam for graduating seniors will be comprehensive and will be given out in class on Tuesday, August 21. It should be returned at the beginning of class on Thursday, August 23.

   *  If you are working with Disability Services regarding your exams, paperwork should be presented by Wednesday of the second week. It is important that you do this during office hours rather than at lecture to insure that all proper arrangements are made for you to take the exams.

3. The Web Assignment:  We would like you to visit three art museums and two art galleries on the WWW that specialize in contemporary art and to write a report on the experience.  Perhaps the easiest way to do this would be to go to the Art Education 160 web site and follow some of the links available there.  In addition to the available links, we would like you to find one source on your own. This means you are reporting on a total of five sites, four from 160 links and one that you discover on your own.  The report should be descriptive and 2-3 pages in length.  This will be due on August 6.

 
4. The Critical Essays:  As you can see from the schedule, we are asking you to attend two events, an art exhibit and a concert.  We would like you to write a critical essay about each of these events.  Each critical essay should be 4-5 pages in length and typed.  Specific guidelines for the essays are attached.  It is essential that you make a copy of each essay and that you keep all papers until the end of the quarter.  The first essay will be due on August 13 and the second will be due on August 20.

You will be graded on five items:  Midterm, Final, Essay 1, Essay 2, and Participation.  They are all of equal weight in determining your final grade.    The Participation grade will consist of  the Web Assignment (50%)  and  participation in the class (50%).

Although we hope that  you are all honest people, we must mention that it is important that you do your own work.  Plagiarism of any kind (from another student, from a printed source, from a web site, etc.) is dishonest.  If you are tempted, you should know that the penalties are severe and could result in failure in the course or suspension from the university.  We have methods of detecting such practices, so be honest and do your own work.

Three textbooks are required:

Movements in Art Since 1945  by Edward Lucie-Smith

Art Since 1960  by Michael Archer

Rockin' Out  by Reebee Garofalo

The reading assignments are as follows:

Week  1 Lucie-Smith (Chapters 1, 2, 5) Garofalo (Chapter 4) Archer(Chapter 1)

Week  2 Garofalo (Chapters 5&6)  Lucie-Smith (Chapters 4& 6)

Week  3 Lucie-Smith (Chapter 7)  Archer (Chapters 2-5)

Week  4 Garofalo (Chapters 7&8)  Lucie-Smith (Chapters 8& 9)

Week  5 Lucie-Smith (Chapters 10&11)  Garofalo (Chapters 9-11)

You will notice, particularly near the end of the course, that the reading material in the books is arranged somewhat differently than the lectures.  Not every artist covered in the course is covered in the books.  Likewise, not every artist covered in the books is covered in the course. You are only responsible for knowing the material in the books for all of the artists covered in class.

In addition to keeping up with course material by the assigned reading each week, the index at the back of each book  is helpful in finding all the information in the books about artists covered in class.  You may find using the index in each book an efficient way to organize your studying for the exams.

Dr. Robert Arnold does the lectures and  is the person who takes care of administrative things.  His office is 351a Hopkins.  His phone number is 292-1230.  If he is not available, leave a message and he will return your call.  His e-mail address is arnold.1@osu.edu.  Office hours are Tuesday and Thursday 11:30 - 12:30.  Other hours by appointment.