Philosophy 1361, Philosophy and the Arts, Fall 2010 Section
28460
MW 1-2:30 AH 108
Professor Cynthia A. Freeland cfreeland@UH.edu, 713-743-3206
TA: Glenn (“Boomer”) Trujuillo, 713-743-3198
SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND
Tentative and subject to revision; check back regularly for updates and
changes.
*Designates due dates for Art Log entries and another assignments. Remember,
Art Logs are NOT accepted late!
August
M 23 Introduction, Overview of Course
Basics about Art &
Aesthetics
Begin reading Freeland Chapter 1, Blood and Beauty
*W 25 Blood and Beauty in Art (Freeland Chapter 1) Discussion
See Art Links for Chapter
1
Blood in Art (Illustrations: Goya, Botticelli, Serrano, Mapplethorpe)
Defining Art: How Philosophers Argue
*Art Log #1 Due
M 30 The "Aesthetic" and Genius (Kant
ABQ 31)
Key selections in Kant
See also the Versailles Official
Website.
September
W 1 Defining the "Aesthetic" (Stolnitz
ABQ 7) Key selections in Stolnitz
More on the "Aesthetic" (Eaton ABQ 8) Key selections in Eaton
Summary of
attempts to define art thus far
View Dr. Freeland's
"aesthetic experience" from several years ago! (Rainbow
+ Sunset in
Miscellaneous Remarks
about the Aesthetic (downloads as Word doc file)
M 6 No class/Labor Day
*W 8 Begin Freeland Chapter 2, Paradigms and
Purposes
See Art Links for Chapter
2
*Art Log #2 Due
M 13 Ancient Aesthetics and Tragedy (Sophocles ABQ 23;
videos)
Selected videos of scenes from ancient Greek tragedy
Greek Tragic Families
W 15 Ancient Tragedy (continued): Plato ABQ 18, Aristotle ABQ 24
Key points in Plato and
Aristotle
M 20 Horror Freeland ABQ 30
Recommended film (optional): Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Check out Dr. Freeland's horror movie book.
Links to Censorship and ratings system information
*W 22 Visit to
***Meeting is not in classroom today! Come to the
*Research Proposal Due
M 27 Medieval Aesthetics: Thomas Aquinas (lecture)
Video on Chartres Cathedral to be screened in class
*W 29 Nietzsche's Aesthetics introduced, ABQ 25
Nietzsche, Tragedy, Opera
Notes on
Nietzsche
*Art Log #3 Due
October
M 4 Nietzsche and Wagner
Wagner's Parsifal Music and video clips in class.
Resources on Wagner and Nietzsche (including links to Youtube video clips)
Take-Home 1 Topics Announced
W 6 Danto's "Art World" Theory and Warhol's Brillo Box, ABQ 3
See the Warhol links and Danto links on the ArtLinks2 page.
Selections from Video, The
Examined Life, to be screened.
This was produced in
Notes on Danto's article
*M 11 Begin Freeland Chapter 3 Cultural Crossings
See Art Links for Chapter
3
Richard L. Anderson, From Calliope's Sisters (on Eskimo Art), in ABQ 2.
Video selections on Inuit sculptors and printmakers in
northeastern
Essay Take-Home 1 Due (Submit on-line
via WebCT)
W 13 Open Day, TBA/Catching Up
M 18 10 D.T. Suzuki, "Zen and the Art of
Tea," Ch. 5 in ABQ
Video selection on Buddhist aesthetics in
*W 20 W. Msosa Mwale,
"Form and Style in a Likhuba Master
Dancer," in ABQ 35
Brief outline of Mwale's article
Video selection: Dance at Court, including dance in
*Research Bibliography and Report Due (Submit in-class or on-line.)
*M 25 Begin Freeland Chapter 4 Money,
Markets, Museums
See also Art Links4 page
See also Lecture Notes
for this chapter.
In class examples from Komar
and Melamid, "Most Wanted Paintings"
(Website and Book).
Hilde Hein, "Museums, From Object to
Experience", ABQ 11
More information about art and money (with links)
*Art Log #4 Due
W 27 Taste
David Hume, "Essay on Taste," ABQ 14
November
M 1 Begin Freeland Chapter 5, Gender, Genius,
and Guerilla Girls
See Art Links for Chapter
5.
Linda Nochlin, "Why Are There No Great Women
Artists?", ABQ 33
*W 3 Carol Duncan, "The MoMA's Hot
Mamas", ABQ 12
Illustrations in class: Pollock, de Kooning, Picasso
*Art Log #5 Due
M 8 Rozsika Parker and Griselda Pollock,
"Crafty Women and the Hierarchy of the Arts", ABQ 4
Outline of key points
in "Crafty Women"
Illustrations in class: Amish quilts, Women Artists, Textiles and Tapestries,
Native American women's pottery, Navajo Blankets, Huichol
art, etc.
W 10 Begin Freeland Chapter
6, Cognition and Creation
See Art Links for Chapter
6
Foucault, "What Is An Author?" ABQ 34
Illustrations and discussion of Velazquez's painting Las Meninas,
the example given by Foucault in The Order of Things
*M 15 More on Foucault; Examples of Francis Bacon's Works (See Artlinks page for more)
Video selection from Love is the Devil,, film about Francis Bacon
More discussion of interpretation in art
*Art Log #6 Due
W 17 The Brain's Role in Perceiving Art
Lecture by Dr. Freeland covering recent books and articles by neuroscientists
V.S. Ramachandran and Seymir
Zeki.
Background Reading: Dr. Freeland's essay, "Teaching
Cognitive Science and Visual Art"
See also Art and
the Mind-Brain, a course taught at Washington University, St. Louis, by
Professor Mark Rollins.
**M 22 Begin Freeland Chapter 7, Digitizing
and Dissemination
See Art Links for Chapter
7.
Research Project Due (Submit on-line on WebCT)
W 24 NO CLASS/THANKSGIVING BREAK
M 29 Post-Modern Art
Jean Baudrillard and Post-Modern Theory
Baudrillard Quotes
Also of interest: "The
Spirit of Terrorism," Baudrillard's
controversial article on the bombing of the World Trade Center
See discussion by Chris
Knipp, "The Matrix,a
French Philosopher, and the Events of September 11", from the Baltimore
Sun and Sentinel
Illustrations in class of postmodern art.
Take-Home Topics
Announced for Final (Take-Home 2) Due Dec. 9th
December
W 1 Digital Art
Examples; conclusions, review.
**Th 9
Take-Home Final Exam Essays Due (Must be submitted
on-line via WebCT)
Return to Syllabus Main Page
Last updated September 13, 2010