Tentative Syllabus for Survey of Western Art and Cultural History (Fall) Lecturer: Francis Yu-fen Kuo Notice: These are general guidelines to the course. Students will be informed of any modification.
Duration of the Course: Sep. 17, 2007- Jan. 17, 2008
Email (for students): guoyufen@yahoo.com (Junk emails are not allowed!!) Course Description:
In view of a lack of a coherent understanding of the Western cultural tradition among our students, this course is intended for establishing our English majors a more comprehensive study of the western cultural background via the portal of its art history with a survey on all the major periods marked by genres of paintings, sculptures and architecture which coincide with the vein of literary history in many aspects such as the Middle Age, Renaissance, Baroque, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, etc.
Do you like illustrations in children’s literature? Do you know the trend of
illustrations arose in the Victorian Period at which time the fairy tales such as those by Brothers Grimm inspired a lot of illustrators? Do you know the Impressionist painters’ fascination by the experiments of light on their canvas had something to do with the invention of photography in the Nineteenth Century? Are you interested in what is called the Victorian House Living or the Victorian or Gothic Fashion Design?
Would you like to know a bit more about the Victorian culture which still fascinates and inspires today’s fashion and interior designer? You might be also interested in being able to tell the different architectural forms if you should be able to visit all those grand Gothic cathedrals, Romanesque churches or Greek temples?
To learn a language, one needs to learn the culture and humanistic tradition behind it so that the study of that language can be more complete. This survey course intends to cover major cultural trends and eras ranging from the ancient Greek and Roman times till modern era. Ultimately, this course intends to guide our students to appreciate the depth and beauty of western cultural heritages and to discover its influences in everyday lives of the modern world.
Appointed Text:
Handouts
Scoring Policy : 30% Midterm ( written test ) ; 30% Final(written test); 30%
written report; 10 % In-class participation including attendance records
On Attendance: You are allowed 2 unexcused absences and one excused absence.
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However, you’ll risk the possibility of retaking the class under the following circumstances:
(1) if you miss too much in-class discussion (2) if you miss more than 3 classes.
(3) if you are chronically late Tentative Schedule:
week Course contents notes
1 Introduction 2 A film 3 Islamic Art
4 Church (12th-15th Century) 5 Church *12th- 15th Century) 6 Early 15th Century
7 Late 15th Century 8 16th Century
9 16th Century Midterm exam
week 10 17th Century
11 17th-18th Century 12 18th Century 13 19th Century 14 Modernisn 15 Post-Modernism 16 Conclusion
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