Montgomery College

HUMA 1301 -- Humanities I:  Prehistory to Gothic

Fall 2006

Instructor:                 Dr. Adele Yung          Office Phone:  936/273-7301, x 65767

Credit Hours:           3                                  Office Hours:  TTH  before and after class

Class Times:  TTH 8:30-9:20 a.m.            e-mail address:adele.f.yung@nhmccd.edu

Required Text:   Fiero, Gloria K.  The Humanistic Tradition, Fifth Edition. Volumes 1. & 2.  Boston:  McGraw Hill, 2006.

Course Description :  A study of the interpretation of human experience through an introduction to music, literature, the visual arts, history and philosophy.  Focus is on gaining practical experience in inquiry, recognition, and assessment.

Course Goals:

1.  To enhance students' appreciation of humankind’s cultural legacies.

2.  To improve skill in analysis through creative application of basic concepts.

3.  To perceive the function of primary sources [works original to the age and culture that produced them].

4.      To develop skills in responding actively to creative works through oral and written communication skills, including class discussions, small group exercises, and  developed presentations (written and oral).

5.      To view works of art in historical, philosophical, cultural, societal, and global contexts.

Learning Objectives:

Develop aesthetic responsiveness through involvement with the visual, literary, and philosophical forms of arts and creative artifacts.

d.      Explain how historical, geographical,  and formal factors shape our responses to works of architecture, art, literature, drama, music, and poetry.

e.      Connect humankind’s cultural legacy and our own responses to architecture, art, literature, drama, music, and poetry within broader contexts.

f.        Explain specific works or artifacts based on research, knowledge, and experience.

Attendance Policy:  Regular attendance is expected; penalties will be incurred after a certain number of absences.  After the third missed class, you will be dropped from the class.  You are responsible for announcements and work missed.

Academic Dishonesty:  Academic dishonesty is defined as any attempt by a student to misrepresent academic work and will result in an automatic F.

Plagiarism:  Plagiarism will result in an automatic F.  All references, quotations, citations, and borrowed ideas are to be cited in proper format.  All help from other sources, including typing, word processing, and proof-reading of papers by another person, MUST be acknowledged within the paper, by name.  Plagiarized material is not accepted in any form by this instructor or by this college.

Grading: **

            First paper (2-3 pages)                                10 %               (10 points)

            Book 1 & 2 exams    @ 10% each              20 %               (20 points)

            Second paper (2-3 pages)                          10 %               (10 points)

            Oral presentation of researched project     10 %               (10 points)

            Museum/Research Project                          20 %               (20 points)

            Final exam                                                     15 %               (15 points)

            Class discussion/in-class activities            10 %               (10 points)

            Improvement through use of vocabulary

             and understanding of concepts                     5 %              (   5 points)

            Total                                                                100 %             (100 points)

            90 - 100 = A; 80 - 89 = B; 70 - 79 = C; 60 - 69 = D; 59 and below = F

Papers

General Guidelines:

1.  Develop the thesis statement as the focus of the paper.

2.      Explain and analyze with specific examples and support. 

3.  Utilize arguments and evidence in a well-organized, coherent development of thesis.

4.  Use turnitin.com to hand in papers, presentations, and research.

Format:

1.  Typed or word processed, double-spaced, with margins of one inch on all sides.

2.  Name, course number, and date on upper left hand corner.

3.  Spell checked and proofed for grammatical errors, contractions, trite expressions.

Citations and References:

1.      Cite your source if you use another's idea, refer to a specific point, or use a

quotation.

2.  Include author and page number(s).

3.      Quotations longer than four typed lines should be set off by indenting each line ten

spaces from the left margin.  Do not use quotation marks if indenting.  Be sure to cite author's name and page number(s).  Explain the quotation's relevance to your argument/thesis.

4.      Include a "Works Cited" page at the end of your paper.

Examples of Works Cited Format

Fine, Elsa H.  Women and Art:  A History of Women Painters and Sculptors from the Renaissance to the Twentieth Century.  Montclair, N.J.:  Allanheld & Schram, 14 October 2002. Chicago Art Institute.  4 December 2003.  31 January 2004 <http://www.cai.org>

Frayling, Christopher, Helen Frayling, and Ron van der Meer.  "The Art Pack."  An Art History of Our Times 56 (2001): 74-89.  EBSCO   AP5596231. 24 February 2004.  15 February 2006. <http://www.ohiolink.edu>

First Paper:  Choose one option from choices presented, utilizing the textbook, The Humanistic Tradition.  Refer to the  elements of the work(s) to support your thesis statement concerning the work or document.  Explain some aspect of the work and analyze specific elements.  No research required.  Be sure to include a textbook page number for the work.

Second Paper and Oral Presentation:  Compare and contrast two works that are linked by some larger theme, message, statement, cultural significance.  Be specific in the aspects you choose to analyze, explaining support of your these by specific references to vocabulary, context, and concepts studied in class:

1.  Choose two works with some significant similarities as well as differences (subject matter, time period, creator, theme, region, culture,  ethnicity, expression, movement).

2.      Take notes on thematic or visual characteristics of both of the works you choose, if they apply.  Write down as many of your direct observations on the works as possible.

3.  Take notes from any written materials which accompany the works.  Especially note titles, creators’ names, dates, nationalities, etc.  For some works there may be extensive background information.

            Be sure to integrate your comparison-contrast in an organized manner rather than discussing all about one work, then all about another.  Provide transitions grouped around major points and subpoints in the paper and presentation.

Museum /Research Project:  Choose a work researched, viewed, or read.  Be specific in defining the scope of your thesis; then research, using at least three to four sources beyond the works and text within the course itself.  Biographies, art texts, journals, related sources, and citations are encouraged.

Tentative Schedule *

Aug. 29,31     Book One:  The First Civilizations and Classical Legacy

Introduction:  Prehistory & the Birth of Civilization Introduction xiv-15

            Egypt:  Gods, Rulers, and the Social Order                       Chapter 1, 17 - 35

Sept. 5,7        Mesopotamia:  Gods, Rulers, and the Social Order         Chapter 2, 36 – 57

                        Suggestions for the First Paper

Sept. 12         India:  Gods, Rulers, and the Social Order             Chapter 3, 58 – 61

Sept. 14         China:  Gods, Rulers, and the Social Order                       Chapter 3, 61 - 65

                        Rough Draft of First Paper Due; Peer Evaluation

Sept. 19,21    Part Two:  The Classical Legacy                                        pp. 67 – 68

Greece:  Humanism and the Speculative Leap                Chapter 4, 69 - 83

                        Antigone                                                                                pp. 83 - 92

                        First Paper Due

Sept. 26         Greece:  Humanism and Artistotle (cont’d.)                       Chapter 4, 93 - 105

Sept. 28         The Classical Style                                                               Chapter 5, 107-129

                        Suggested Topics Second Paper

Oct. 3,5           The Classical Style (cont’d)

Rome: The Rise to Empire                                                  Chapter 6, 129-157

Oct. 10, 12     Rome (cont’d)

Oct. 17,19      China:  The Rise to Empire                                     Chapter 7, 160-174                          Review of First Civilizations; The Classical Legacy

Oct. 24            Exam on Book One

Oct. 26            Introduction to Book 2, Medieval Europe and the World Beyond

The Shaping of the Middle Ages    

Oct. 31            A Flowering of Faith:  Christianity & Buddhism                Chapter 8, 1 – 16

                        Second Paper Due

Nov. 2             The Language of Faith:  Symbolism and the Arts Chapter 9, 17-44

Nov. 7             The Islamic World: Religion and Culture                            Chapter 10, 45-65

Nov. 9             The Islamic World (cont’d.)                                                  Chapter 10 (cont’d.)

Nov. 14           Part Two:  The Medieval West                                            Chapter 11, 67 - 93

Nov. 16           Patterns of Medieval Life                                                     Chapter 11, (cont’d)

Nov. 21           Christianity and the Medieval Mind                         Chapter 12, 94-116

Nov. 28           The Medieval Synthesis in the Arts                         Chapter 13,116-141

                        Rough Draft of Museum/Research Project; In-Class Peer Evaluation

Nov. 30           Part Three:  The World Beyond the West               Chapter 14, 143-70

            Indian, China, Japan and Japanese Drama

Dec. 5             Asian Civilizations: The Artistic Record                             Chapter 14,(cont’d.)

                        Museum/Research Project Due; Oral Presentations of Projects

Dec. 7             Summary and Review

Final Exam :  10:00 class -- Thursday, December 14, 9:30 – 11:20 a.m.

                          11:30 class – Tuesday, December 12, 11:00 – 12:50 p.m.

·        An optional meeting at the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston may be arranged.  Numerous cultural offerings related to coursework and open to public attendance will be announced. Information for the Museum/Research paper may be gathered at those opportunities or on the student's own time to complete the project.

Notes:

Civility in the College and University Classroom

May I take a moment to welcome you all to our “success in learning” together.

Promptness:

With back-to-back classes, I may come in breathless and hurried, but I will settle down—I promise!  If you have to be late, come in quietly and see me later as I always take attendance and may mark you as absent.

Electronic Devices:

Take a moment to turn off all electronic devices prior to entering the classroom.  Please don’t leave and re-enter the classroom.  If you miss a class meeting, you are responsible for all material covered, announcements made in your absence, and any materials distributed in the missed class.

Try to stay focused on our class materials.  Avoid working on other courses, checking e-mail or blogging if seated at the computer, side conversations, and any other distracting behaviors.

Thank you so very much!

1.      No food or drink in the classroom.

2.      Cell phones turned off (mine, too!!).

3.      No walking in and out of room while class in session (sad, but true).

4.      No working on other courses, blogging, e-mailing when at the computer (go to first floor of our Bldg. F, Bldg. C or Library).

5.      Assignment read ahead of time (this is college, folks)!

6.      Papers handed in on time.  Lowered grade if late. “F” if not handed in.

7.      Promise me you’ll visit  in the nursing home when the time comes.