Humanities Module 1
Modern music in America emerged as a new form, with only limited roots in older styles of music from England. True or False?
False Correct. This statement is false. The roots of American gospel music originate in Africa, and English ballads provide inspiration for American folk and country music.
Themes consist of unifying ideas that are repeated or developed throughout a literary or artistic work. True or False?
True Correct. Themes are ideas that can be recognized in one or several literary or artistic works.
Art can serve more than one function. True or False?
True Correct. Art can serve multiple functions, such as providing aesthetic pleasure, offering political and social commentary, assisting in physical and emotional healing, creating historical artifacts from a specific time or place, and enabling commerce in advertising products and services.
College of Information Technology
One of the most exciting areas in the College of Information Technology, the Digital Humanities is where the Humanities and information technology team up. Digital Humanities involves research that uses information technology as a central part of its methodology, for creating and/or processing data. Once known as "Humanities Computing," the Digital Humanities world represents the growing reality of the importance of digital resources and tools when encountering the discipline of the Humanities. Today, in so many ways, the power to transform research methodologies can be found in the form of digital technologies, which bring together both Humanities academics and technology specialists.
dance
An art form involving a sequence of rhythmic movements or steps usually performed to music. Dance as a part of public ceremony, ritual, or entertainment dates back to the earliest human civilizations.
Archetypes are
age-old models by which we comprehend human experience. These original models—for example, "the hero" or "descent into the underworld" or "scapegoat"—are transmitted from generation to generation through mythology and become part of our subconscious. End of Slide 8
We can admire the hero and enjoy hearing stories about him because he can do things we cannot: the gods favor him,
and he is stronger and more clever than an ordinary man. He travels to faraway places, often faces death or even visits the underworld, wins battles against great odds, and meets exotic creatures.
Eastern traditions such as Buddhism emphasized
discipline and self-development through specialized physical and meditative practices in order to assist individuals in achieving spiritual enlightenmen
The ancient Greeks developed the idea of a distinction between
eros*, or erotic love, and agape* or platonic love
By studying the arts from various times and places, we learn about
other cultures—their differences as well as their similarities.
The Renaissance Period:
rebirth of classicism, humanism, rationalism, scientific expansion, university system, individualism, self-fashioning
Slide 3"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."
—Albert Einstein
Offering political and social commentary
Examples: William Hogarth's 18th century cartoon, Gin Lane Pablo Picasso's painting of Spanish Civil War, Guernica (1937) Dixie Chicks' song, "Not Ready to Make Nice"
Central Concepts in Humanities
Humanism* can be defined as the study of the creative and intellectual contributions made by all cultures and as an ethical system that emphasizes human reason, values and the scientific method. Myths* are traditional stories of a people or culture that serve to explain some natural phenomenon, the origin of humanity, or customs or religious rites. These myths often offer practical and spiritual wisdom in addition to providing entertainment. Beauty* can be defined as those qualities that give pleasure to the senses. An aesthetic experience is an experience of beauty that inspires a feeling of pleasure that is its own justification. For example, the beauty of the moon may cause us to enjoy the experience of looking at the moon just for the sake of looking at it. Archetypes* are age-old models by which we comprehend human experience. The concepts of heroes, scapegoats, and heaven are examples of concepts that have been passed down through generations and have become part of our cultural subconscious. Aesthetic experience* is an experience of beauty that inspires a feeling of pleasure, which is its own justification, and this experience is valued independently of others.
Humanities and Professional Life
In his groundbreaking book, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge biologist E. O. Wilson defined "consilience" as a "jumping together" of knowledge by the linking of facts and fact-based theory across disciplines to create a common groundwork of explanation. These ideas are still being explored today for their powerful contribution to the world of Humanities study in universities and colleges around the world. At WGU, you will be able to apply Wilson's core principle and the study of Humanities to the following fields: Teacher's College College of Information Technology College of Business College of Health Professions
Platonic love is s
Selfless love of one person for another on a spiritual level, or love of pure beauty, either aesthetic or intellectual.
The functions of a work of art can also increase in number over time. For example,
The Bayeux Tapestry from the Middle Ages functioned as political propaganda when it was created (and still does today). It depicts the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 and honors William the Conqueror for his victory in battle. Since that time, the artwork has increased in importance as an historical artifact, highly valued by contemporary scholars for its recording of armor, apparel and other objects from the period.
Understanding the core principles of humanism can have a positive impact on almost any field. In the context of your field, do you agree or disagree? Support your answer.
The core principles of humanism, meaning a "study of the creative and intellectual contributions of all human cultures" can have a positive impact on the IT field. For instance, information technology has enabled a broader global reach, where more and more cultures can exchange ideas and creative works. By understanding how cultural exchange occurs, especially in relation to digital media, I can help build infrastructures that innovatively encourage this exchange.
Teacher's College
The history of human progress is a moral drama and a story that, in the telling, brings forth the great autobiography of humankind. It has been said that if the great conqueror and student of the philosopher Aristotle, Alexander the Great, could have only had a few more thousand volumes of the knowledge of those who came after him, he might have held on to the entire world for a bit longer than he did. Teachers have at their core a desire to know more, to learn more, and to apply what they've learned to the great body of knowledge history unfolds. They desire to do more than add information to the ever-growing information superhighway. Instead, they are committed to the holistic application of wisdom, which inevitably leads to the betterment of culture and kind.
architecture
The science and art of designing buildings and other structures. Architecture as art is concerned with the aesthetic effect of structures in their surrounding environment. Architects are generally concerned with the interplay of the structure's function (the purpose it serves) and form (its appearance or visual presence).
Humanism:
The study of the creative and intellectual contributions of all human cultures. This consideration and examination began in the early Renaissance with the study of Greek and Roman civilizations, which were extolled as the pinnacle of human achievement.
archetypes include
They include mythic characters, events, symbols, and buried assumptions. We rely on archetypes to organize our understanding of ourselves, of humans generally, and of the universe. End of Last Slide
When studying the Humanities, you should not make connections between the past and the present. True or False?
This is a false statement. Studying the Humanities allows us to see the connections between past and present and imparts a sense of cultural continuity.
The definition of art changes from culture to culture. True or False?
True Correct. Different cultures often have different aesthetic values and different definitions of art.
Humanities and Global Exchange
Western civilization is generally associated with humanism* and the humanist tradition, but humanism was never an intellectual heritage or pattern exclusive to the West. History instructs us that a humanist tradition also emerged in the nonwestern world. Throughout history, traditions and innovations from the East and West have intertwined. Cultural exchange has occurred since at least the beginning of recorded history and continues to this day across the globe. The cultural exchanges highlighted throughout this course reflect the end products of the exchange but do not necessarily discuss how that exchange was made possible. You can, therefore, choose to look beyond the pages here and learn more about why these exchanges occurred (and continue to occur) and how cultural exchange may impact the items and images with which you interact every day.
Wilson's idea of "consilience*," which he defines as
a "jumping together" of knowledge by the linking of facts and fact-based theory across disciplines to create a common groundwork of explanation, is today still being explored for its powerful contribution to the world of Humanities study in universities and colleges around the world.
Slide 1"Nursing is an art: and
if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work...It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts." —Florence Nightingale
According to Wilson, consilience is the
synthesis of knowledge from different specialized fields of human endeavor. At Western Governor's University, through an online accelerated format, this "jumping together" of the discipline of Humanities with other academic disciplines is a constant challenge championed by all departments. In our four colleges, Teacher's College, College of Information Technology, College of Business, and College of Health Professions, there are many exciting and cutting-edge sub-disciplines where this cross-disciplinary encounter is emphasized and encouraged. Here are a few practical examples of this:
The Humanities is defined by
the major artistic and intellectual disciplines* it comprises
Throughout this course, there are themes that define a period, and each creative work or sets of contexts addressed in the period are firmly anchored in a specific set of themes. This anchoring exposes .
the thematic narrative that runs throughout each period.
second, of course, is electricity--and this changed, drastically changed, the way that we live. Now, electricity is not really an invention because it has been around for a long time. As a matter of fact, in ancient Egypt
they knew about electric eels and knew about charges, so really it's a bit more of a discovery than an invention, but let's say, for instance, the invention of the light bulb by Thomas Edison or alternating or direct current--this changed the way that we lived our daily lives.
At the same time, the hero usually has very human emotions and struggles. In the Old Babylonian heroic poem, Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh, is
two-thirds divine, but his response to his best friend's death is as self-centered as any human's. He mourns Enkidu but travels to the ends of the earth to meet someone who has been granted immortality because Gilgamesh fears his own death.
What is the value of studying the Humanities in a university setting?
A consideration of literature, art, music, dance, film and philosophy offers practical, social, and aesthetic benefits to students. Exploring the continuing questions addressed by men and women throughout the ages through the vehicle of the arts should deepen and enrich our current existence.
religion
An organized system of spiritual beliefs and practices, usually offering a moral code and a worldview. Note that our definition of religion is loose and can include any system of ethics, values, and beliefs. Some argue that service and worship of God or the supernatural has to be part of any definition of religion, but there is enough variety in religious practice to make that too restrictive a definition.
College of Business
Areas of concentrated study in the College of Business, such as global trade and commerce, and enterprise and entrepreneurialism, while having brought the world together like never before, have also produced massive violations of human rights. An ever-growing need for virtue and character formation applies across cultures and social strata. In the Humanities, the business of art, literature, philosophy, music, drama, film, and photography intersect, creating a meeting place where we see how we are a part of a larger, human community with care and concern for each other. In this sense, the humanist creates a worldwide conversation where many voices from many places share their stories.
Assisting therapy
Art therapy for eating disorders Music therapy for mental illnes
. How does the development of social media (as a way to study humanism and to communicate aspects of it) impact your field?
As a teacher, I have to be aware of social media as both a teaching tool but also as a cultural text. Social media delivers messages that my high schools students can interpret: how beauty is reinforced in the Western world, how bullying has proliferated, or how studying popular culture has become a way for us to better understand our own cultural values and priorities. Social media can also be used as a tool for students to study cultures outside their own. Since social media has made it so easy to see how other cultures see themselves, it can be a tool for discussing cultural exchange in the classroom.
Creating historical artifacts
Aztec sun stone from Mexico City Birchbark writing tools from Old Novgorod, Russia Egyptian Artifact
In 1998, biologist E. O. Wilson's groundbreaking book
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge was published. It was one of the 21st century's most profound thinker's attempt to explain in great detail a method he believed would unite the sciences and the humanities in a way that would take human knowledge and understanding to a new level of cooperation and collaboration.
How might a global perspective benefit your field?
In the business world, having a global perspective is crucial to gaining new clients and maintaining good relationships with current clients. Since I live in a very diverse area of the country, having a good grasp on a global perspective keeps me grounded when interacting with local clients, many who are immigrants to the United States, and with potential international clients. By considering how their cultural perspective might differ from my own or from the status quo in the United States, I can build stronger relationships through trust and respect than I might if I had a more narrow or singular perspective.
The Humanities and the Disciplines
Music* is an artistic form of auditory expression that incorporates instruments or human voices in a structured and continuous manner. Cinema* is an artistic medium that uses the motion picture as a vehicle for storytelling and other creative expressions. The visual arts* entail creation of primarily visual works, which can be two or three-dimensional. These include painting, illustration, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Literature* is an art form of the written word. It refers to an individual literary work or collectively to the creative writing of a people, nation, or culture. Major forms of literature include poetry, novels, plays, and short stories. Theater* is a storytelling art. It often combines speech, music, gesture, dance, stagecraft, and spectacle to perform a drama or musical before a live audience. Dance* is an art form involving a sequence of rhythmic movements or steps usually performed to music. Historically, dance has often served ritualistic as well as entertainment purposes. Architecture* is the science and art of designing buildings and other structures and is concerned with the aesthetic effect of structures in their surrounding environment . Philosophy* is the systematic investigation of fundamental questions concerning such matters as existence, reality, consciousness, knowledge, truth, and justice. The main branches of philosophy are metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, logic, and the philosophy of the mind.
Themes in the Humanities
Themes* are unifying ideas that are repeated or developed throughout a literary or artistic work. What you will see throughout this course is that there are themes that define a period, these themes anchor each creative work or sets of contexts addressed in the period. As you will see, there are three themes that affected not just a single period, but are powerful enough that they have, historically, required revisiting and re-imagining. These themes, individualism*, revolution*, and classicism*, tell us something about the values central to the Western world.
Some Recurring Universal Themes
There are several recurring themes that exist across multiple disciplines within the Humanities, but no two feature more prominently than love and heroes. Love The ancient Greeks developed the distinction between eros*Glossary Pronunciation (erotic love) and agape*n (platonic love). Love also opened the Humanities to exploring other distinct forms of love that define our humanity: love of God, of family, romantic love, and friendship. As Western traditions for marriage have changed, so has the conception of love. When young adults were supposed to choose their own spouse and remain with them for life, romantic love was celebrated for its ability to endure and sustain. Heroes The hero is an archetype*Glossary Pronunciation found in virtually every culture and society because the "heart" of the hero's journey is fundamentally the same everywhere. The hero archetype satisfies a psychological need to see the individual (to see oneself) as capable of stupendous feats (physical, mental, or moral) against seemingly insurmountable and antagonistic forces. The archetype of the hero is alive today, taking form as (for example) an exalted political candidate, sports superstar, or glamorous pop culture celebrity.
Some Functions of Art
What art achieves is its function. There are five broad functions of art: Art provides aesthetic pleasure. Art offers political and social commentary. Art can assist in physical and emotional healing. Art can create historical artifacts from a specific time or place. Art can be used to enable commerce in advertising products and services. Most often, a single artwork can have multiple functions and, over time, the functions of a single work can increase.
The study of Humanities
seeks to understand what humans believe and why, along with what we have believed in the past and even what we might believe in the future. By studying beliefs and the ways such beliefs have been expressed through the arts, for instance, we gain a better understanding of human values.
Chronology (from Latin chronologia, from Ancient Greek χρόνος, chronos, "time"; and -λογία, -logia) is defined as a
method of taking events and putting them in the order of occurrence. In the study of the Humanities, a chronological timeline or a listing of the sequence of events allows us to see connections between cause and effect. In other words, when we are able to trace one event back to another, or to extrapolate out of one event an event which follows, we are better able to see the source of a series of events.
College of Health Professions In the College of Health Professions, the world of Humanities intersects with
vital matters of life and death, empathy, health and human relationships, informed consent, and confidentiality to ask an all-important question, "What is a socially responsible effort?" Social responsibility comes from the belief that people, governments, and organizations have a responsibility to the greater welfare of society. At the intersection of the Humanities and the health professions, however, what each person determines to be socially responsible is often subject to personal ideals and beliefs. An exploration of the various ethical theories is a necessary part of where the Humanities and the health professions intersect and search for truth.
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they've had more experiences, or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that's too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven't had very diverse experiences. So they don't have lots of dots to connect, and they end up with a very linear solution without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have."
—Steve Jobs
The Romantic Period:
nationalism, exoticism, revolution, heroism, passion, individualism, nature
The hero embodies two somewhat contradictory elements:
someone who is larger-than-life and someone who is like each of us.
Both Eastern and Western humanistic traditions emphasized
virtue, or the pursuit of excellence through self-cultivation.
The Neoclassical Period:
skepticism, rationalism, empiricism, order, deism, classicism
This profound distinction gave the formal arts a construct for expressing the duality of love
(physical passion versus love of soul, lust versus spiritual desire) that nearly all cultures recognize. It opened art, literature, and theater to exploring erotic subject matter. And it lent the framework in which philosophers developed the concept of an idealized and exalted spiritual love that transcends passion.
Cultural exchange is something that began in the 20th century. True or False?
. False Correct. This is a false statement. Cultural exchange has occurred since at least the beginning of recorded history and continues to this day.
The first text to be printed on a printing press in England was The Canterbury Tales. True or False?
. True Correct. The printing press came to England in 1476, and the first text to be printed was The Canterbury Tales.
The printing press--the printing press, while it was invented originally in the 11th century in China--a simple, moveable-type press--it didn't really come to Europe and to the Western world until
1450, when Gutenberg invented his press in Germany. Now, the printing press had a huge impact on the dissemination of information. Prior to this, the production of manuscripts was time-consuming and extremely expensive.
music
An artistic form of auditory expression that incorporates instruments or human voices in a structured and continuous manner. Music is "the shaped sound between silences."
Cinema
An artistic medium that uses the motion picture as a vehicle for storytelling and other creative expressions. The product of cinema is known as a film or movie.
Literature
Art form of the written word. It refers to an individual literary work or collectively to the creative writing of a people, nation, or culture. The foundation of literature is storytelling. Major forms include: Poetry (including the epic or narrative poem) The novel Plays The short story Drama as a written work is literature. Drama performed by actors on the stage is theater.
Visual Arts
Art forms that entail creation of primarily visual works, which can be two- or three-dimensional. These include painting, illustration, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.
We can make a distinction between the purposes of art (that is: what art aims to accomplish) and art's functions (what art achieves). There are five broad functions of art:
Art provides aesthetic pleasure. Art offers political and social commentary. Art can assist in physical and emotional healing. Art can create historical artifacts from a specific time or place. Art can be used to enable commerce in advertising products and services.
Humanism is solely a part of Western thinking.
False Correct. This is a false statement. A humanist tradition also emerged in the nonwestern world, reflected in such Eastern religions as Confucianism and Buddhism.
True Correct. Different cultures often have different aesthetic values and different definitions of art.
False Correct. This is a false statement. Humans have produced art since the dawn of man.
All myths are universal. True or False?
False Correct. This is a false statement. Some myths are universal; others are unique to a given culture.
he Realist Period:
Darwinism, industrialization, individualism, age of doubt
Dance has historically been used only for entertainment purposes. True or False?
False Correct. This statement is false. Dance has been part of public ceremony and rituals as well as entertainment since the earliest human civilizations.
Each period has its own distinct set of themes, which never overlap with other periods' themes. True or False?
False Correct. This statement is false. While each period has its own unique set of themes, there are some themes that overlap in multiple periods, such as individualism, revolution, and classicism.
What does studying the Humanities both chronologically and thematically allow you to see?
First, studying the Humanities chronologically allows me to see the cause and effect relationship between different periods. I can trace one event or theme back to the influence of another and determine why a given period might be looking back to a previous period. From there, I can consider the significance of that period's desire to look back or revisit that event or theme. Second, studying the Humanities thematically allows me to see how some themes endure in the Western world and how some themes are unique to a period's innovation and growth. Last, studying the Humanities from both perspectives gives me a multi-dimensional viewpoint on humanism, or the study of "the creative and intellectual contributions of all human cultures."
Individualism is a recurring theme in this course. How is individualism conceptualized today?
In the United States, individualism, for the most part, is prized. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is very much about cultivating individualism, as is the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech for each individual. In American movies and TV, we see individualism play out as a core theme, where heroes/heroines and villains/villainesses alike hold on tight to their individualism in order to achieve their highest goals and aspirations. Many popular American musicians, too, are prized for their individual style and their willingness to stand out from the crowd as their own unique artist and person. Even parents are encouraged to teach their kids to explore their own senses of self more now than we have seen in the past. From the legal system to popular culture to even how children are raised, it is evident that individualism is a core value of contemporary American life.
Enabling commerce
Japanese advertising from the Edo Period Apple's "1984" Macintosh commercial
Love
Love is one of the most powerful emotions humans can feel, so it is no surprise that it is a prominent theme in the Humanities.
The main branches of philosophy include:
Metaphysics (nature of being and the world) Epistemology (nature and scope of knowledge) Ethics (moral philosophy) Aesthetics (nature of beauty and art) Logic (nature of reasoning) Philosophy of mind (nature of the mind and its relationship to the body)
Multifunctional Art
Most often, a single artwork will have multiple functions. For example, Thomas Moran's painting Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (1872) allowed viewers in the nineteenth century to temporarily escape from the increasingly crowded cities of the eastern United States and imagine themselves in the wide-open spaces of the West. The painting also encouraged tourism, thereby helping to boost the economy of Western states.
What are some examples of myths in contemporary American culture?
Saint Nick or Santa Claus is a central mythical figure in American culture. The myth of Santa Claus both entertains Americans and provides practical wisdom. As a form of entertainment, the story of Santa Claus (who deposits presents to billions of good children around the world every Christmas Eve) delights children. He is jolly, generous, and good natured. He values goodness in the world and relishes the joy he brings to children around the world. From a practical standpoint, Santa Claus also provides children with a moral: if they are very good, they will receive a visit from Santa Claus and will received much-sought-after gifts; if they are bad, Santa Claus will leave them with nothing but a lump of coal. The myth of Santa Claus serves an important cultural function as both a unifying source of joy and a teacher of wisdom (children should behave).
Why is the concept "humanism" central to the study of the Humanities?
Since humanism covers intellectual, creative, and ethical life, addressing humanism at the heart of Humanities is central to understanding how human culture has changed (and not changed) over time. Humanism helps us take a balanced approach to studying human culture: it addresses ethical and scientific systems as much as it addresses human creative pursuits; it covers both the objective and subjective qualities of the human experience.
In 1476 it came to England, and the first text that Caxton printed on his press was
The Canterbury Tales, which was then printed dozens and dozens of times. There were some texts in Germany that were printed tens of thousands of times. So, the amount of material, and the access, brought about by the printing press cannot be underestimated.
Providing aesthetic pleasure
The Muppet Show Marcel Marceau (mime)
philosophy
The systematic investigation of fundamental questions concerning such matters as existence, reality, consciousness, knowledge, truth, and justice. Philosophy's object is the pursuit of wisdom about the nature of these matters. Critical inquiry and reasoned argument generally distinguish it.
Beauty:
Those qualities that give pleasure to the senses. They might be found (for example) in nature, a human face, a musical composition, a painting, or a poem. Aesthetic pleasure is that which beauty inspires in humans. End of Slide 6
. Studying the Humanities can help us better understand human relationships. True or False?
True Correct. By studying the Humanities, we can see how people across time responded to different challenges and events and how people interacted with one another.
Poetry, novels, plays and short stories are all major forms of literature. True or False?
True Correct. Literature is the art form of the written word, including poetry, novels, plays and short stories.
Some struggles that people face are universal—they have concerned people at different points throughout history. True or False?
True Correct. Many of our current struggles resemble those faced by people and societies that have preceded us. Studies in the Humanities can provide for a better appreciation of both our current concerns and the concerns and actions of those that came before us.
Studying the Humanities has civic benefits. True or False?
True Correct. Studying the Humanities can help us become better citizens and contributors to society.
The impact of technology on the Humanities is an example of how chronology is important for understanding the Humanities. True or False?
True Correct. Studying the Humanities chronologically is important for understanding what technologies came into play at what time.
At their best, the Humanities lead us to consider more than just our own personal histories. True or False?
True Correct. The Humanities allows us to gain a greater understanding of the events and struggles that preceded us and continually occur around us.
The function of a single piece of art can change over time. True or False?
True Correct. The functions of a single piece of art can change over time as society changes (or expands) its interpretation of the work.
The hero is often both larger-than-life and relatably human. True or False?
True Correct. The hero embodies two somewhat contradictory elements: someone who is larger-than-life and someone who is like each of us. We can admire the hero and enjoy hearing stories about him because he can do things we cannot.
Universal Themes
Two examples of recurring universal themes* in the Humanities include love and the hero. Although you won't see these called out specifically on the previous page, in terms of "core" themes for the periods, you will see these called out multiple times as you begin to analyze art from each period. Love and the figure of the hero, then, tell us about two shared human principles in the Western world.
consilience*.
When we explore these subjects, various windows open before us, and we practice consilience*. Consilience is the art and science of exploring the overlaps of what are often considered quite different subjects, such as the science and Humanities, in search of commonalities and places of agreement. By understanding how these subjects overlap, we are able to see a broader, well-rounded picture of humanity. Additionally, it is important to see how these different subjects influence one another
But the Greeks also were suspicious of love and its irrational effects. The Greeks wrote about the god Eros,
a small capricious boy, who later became known as "Cupid" by the Romans. This god, born of Aphrodite, shoots people with his arrows, causing them to be overwhelmed with an irrational, uncontrollable emotion. It is not the attributes of the other person that cause love, but rather something that happens to you.
Cultural production is also not exclusive to the West. Rich cultural, intellectual, and artistic innovations have occurred around the globe as long as they have in the West. But have these traditions and innovations collided or intertwined? The answer is
a resounding yes. Cultural exchange has occurred since at least the beginning of recorded history and continues to this day and includes all global cultures, not just exchange within Western cultures.
For our purpose, we will define the Humanities as
a study of the various ways people, in all times past and present and in all places around the world, live out the human experience. Humans have engaged in religion, philosophy, literature, music, art, language, and history to better comprehend and describe our world.
The term for selfless love of one person for another on a spiritual level is ________. a. eros b. agape c. phileo d. None of the above
agape The correct answer is b. The term for selfless love of one person for another on a spiritual level is agape.
The hero is an
archetype* found in virtually every culture. Stories of heroes seem to be essential in all societies. The hero's journey archetype has been termed a monomyth* (a phrase popularized by the scholar of mythology Joseph Campbell) because the trajectory of the hero's quest or journey is fundamentally the same everywhere. We are prone to believe in heroes and await their coming.
Those original models that help us understand our experience are called ________. a. canons b. aesthetics c. archetypes d. none of the above
archetypes Yes, the correct answer is c. Archetypes are the original models by which we comprehend human experience.
In other words, the themes provided
at the beginning of each module (each period) will help tell the story of that period through the contexts and work selected to represent that period. Many periods share themes, and we can think of these themes as more "universal" in nature (you will learn more about these kinds of themes shortly)
The Classical Period
balance, truth/reason, democracy/republic, polytheism, humanism
Aesthetic experience is an experience of
beauty that inspires a feeling of pleasure, which is its own justification. We value the experience, whether in nature or the arts, intrinsically—independently of other things. The stimulus for aesthetic experience may be visual (a full moon, a painting, a dance movement, a person's face) or auditory (a song, the wind whistling through the trees) or literary (a written narrative or verse). End of Slide 7
theater
branch of the performing arts in which actors perform a drama or musical before a live audience. Theater has existed in every culture. Western theater stems from the early Greeks, with their development of tragedy and comedy and their innovation of a chorus commenting on the action for the audience. Theater is a storytelling art. It often combines speech, music, gesture, dance, stagecraft, and spectacle into a single art form.
The Baroque Period (not covered in this course):
counter-reformation, divine right, absolutism, commonwealth, unification of the arts, world as a stage
Western civilization is generally associated with
humanism* and the humanist tradition, and understandably so. After all, the cradle of humanism was ancient Greece and Rome, and its revival after the Middle Ages occurred through the Renaissance, which began in Italy and later spread throughout Europe.
The Humanities explore other distinct forms of love that define our humanity as well:
love of God, family love, romantic love, and friendship. Courtly love becomes an important theme in the Medieval Period, particularly the 12th century. The video below explores this theme of courtly romance.
The printing press allowed for
manuscripts, such as the Bible, such as materials that pushed along the Protestant reformation, to be produced in mass numbers. It changed literacy in Europe. Before the printing press, reading was really the province of the wealthy and the educated. The press made it so that many, many more people--including the rising middle class in the Middle Ages--could read.
A second, common definition of humanism is a
n ethical system that centers on humans and their values and emphasizes reason and the scientific method.
you can see, there are a few themes that—while not universal, per se—occur in two or more periods. This repetition indicates that these themes affect
not just a single period or generation but are powerful enough themes that they have, historically, required revisiting and, in some cases, reimagining: individualism*, revolution*, and classicism*. These three themes tell us something about values central to the Western world, as these three themes have endured through tumultuous change and creative innovation.
some myths are universal; others are unique to a given culture. Myths offer
practical and spiritual wisdom and help shape how we see the world. They also delight and entertain. Paradise by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1536. (Public Domain)
Three inventions that altered the way that we live, and the way that we go about our business, are the
printing press, electricity, and the Internet.
The hero archetype satisfies a
psychological need to see the individual (to see oneself) as capable of stupendous feats (physical, mental, or moral) against seemingly insurmountable and antagonistic forces. We are introduced to the archetype in childhood and through mythic stories that cultivate and reinforce our expectations for the heroic.
While the Western humanistic tradition generally focused on
pursuing knowledge and truth through rationality, t.
But humanism was never an intellectual heritage or pattern exclusive to the West. History instructs us that a humanist tradition also emerged in the nonwestern world. Ancient China's culture, for example, reflected perspectives from Confucianism*Glossary Pronunciation and Buddhism* that were not unlike those found in Western humanism.
reflected perspectives from Confucianism and Buddhism* that were not unlike those found in Western humanism.
The Middle Ages Period (not covered in this course):
religion, deference to God, crusades, pacifism, humility, feudalism, chivalry
Religions often provide their followers a series of codified beliefs including:
sacred writings or texts worship practices, including important ceremonies and rituals theology that seeks to explain the nature of God, the reasons for existence, the afterlife, etc. code of morality or religious law
In America today we celebrate romantic love—we even dedicate a holiday, Valentine's Day, to it. We can find similar attitudes towards love in works from other cultures. For example,
the Odyssey, the seventh-century Greek epic* tells the story of Odysseus's ten-year journey home and his wife Penelope's fidelity in his absence. At one point in the story, Odysseus refuses to become immortal and stay with the goddess Calypso. He tells Calypso that while his mortal wife can't compete with her in beauty, still he wishes to return home.
Another primary function of the Humanities is to help us learn to
think critically and creatively about the human experience. Studying the Humanities allows us to understand the past as more than just a series of events. A pattern of human interactions within a rich context of beliefs, ideals, and experiences emerge when we look closely at how literary and artistic movements evolved over time
Myths are
traditional stories of a people or culture that serve to explain some natural phenomenon, the origin of humanity, or customs or religious rites. Humans can pass on their visions, values, and memories from generation to generation through myths. The Fall of Icarus by Marc Chagall, 1975. (wikiart.org)
Themes* are
unifying ideas that are repeated or developed throughout a literary or artistic work. Regardless of the culture or society that produces them, this Humanities course will explore both certain recurring themes that cross time and cultures, and themes that are distinct and defining for a period.
An essential aspect of learning about the Humanities is to be able to, as noted earlier,
walk a mile in someone else's shoes. By examining the contexts, themes, and arts of another culture, another time, or another culture in another time, we can start to see how the human experience is as diverse as it is unified. Watch the following video to learn more about how the Humanities helps us appreciate the experiences of others.
last one, of course, is the Internet, and like the printing press, the Internet revolutionized the way that
we access knowledge. Now if we have to wait for more than twenty seconds--ten if you're impatient--to get any sort of knowledge that we want, this is frustrating. So, the Internet has one: just changed that we access knowledge in a drastic way, it has also put knowledge about anything at anybody's finger tips and made education, business, that much simpler, has brought people together all around the world instantly, and I can't think of an invention that has had bigger impact on the globalization of the world than the Internet.
What Are the Humanities?
word "humanities" is derived from the Latin term, humanitas, which essentially refers to humans and their culture Another way to look at the Humanities is that it is the study of human ideas