SMC Core Curriculum Course Proposal Form
Fall 2014
Electronically submit this course form and attachments to the Chair of the CCC by October 1. Please submit a separate proposal for each desired learning goal.
- Name of Proposer: Cathy Davalos
- Email address:
- Department/Program of Proposer: Dance
- Name of Department/Program housing the course: Performing Arts
- Name(s) of Program Director/Department Chair housing the course: Cathy Davalos, Director; Dana Lawton, chair.
- Course Acronym, Number and Title: Dance in Performance, Perfa 184
- Proposal is for All Sections of the course: __yes___
Proposal is for instructor’s section(s) (Engaging the World only): _____
- Course Prerequisites (if any): Perfa 1, Perceiving the Performing Arts and English 5.
- Unit Value of Course: 1.0
- Mark with an X the Learning Goal for which the course is being proposed. (Please submit a separate proposal for each desired goal.)
Pathways to Knowledge (at most one)
Artistic Understanding – Artistic Analysis only: _x___
Artistic Understanding – Creative Practice only: ____
Artistic Understanding – Both Artistic Analysis and Creative Practice: ____
Mathematical Understanding: ____
Scientific Understanding: ____
Social, Historical, Cultural Understanding: ____
Christian Foundations: ____
Theological Explorations: ____
Engaging the World (as appropriate, generally zero to two)
American Diversity: ____
Common Good: ____
Community Engagement: ____
Global Perspectives: ____
11. Expected Attachments:
a)Syllabus: Current course syllabus, expected to contain a course description and learning outcomes. The course’s learning outcomes must include coverage of the Learning Outcomes associated with the Core Curriculum Learning Goal for which the course is being proposed.
b)Teaching and Learning: A narrative that explains how the course will guide students toward achieving each Learning Outcome and how coursework (e.g., papers, exams, videotaped presentations) will be used to measure student achievement of each Learning Outcome. Please address the outcomes directly and one by one.
Teaching Narrative:
Dance in Performance, Perfa 184, examines dance from a critical and intersectional perspective through the lenses of power and privilege to use the medium to explore race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, etc. The course begins with a discussion of the art form by asking “What is dance?” and this will lead to many questions including but not limited to: How do we view/experience dance? How do we talk about dance? How do we write about dance? How is dance related to our culture? As we proceed, topics of discussion may include but are not limited to: 1) the emerging choreographer, 2) women and dance, the feminist perspective, 3) dance and theatre,4) collaboration, 5) the production at a small studio vs. the large theatre, 6) dance and technology, 7) dance and culture. The class will attend dance concerts in the Bay Area followed by discussion and critique of the work in seminar format and daily written reflections. Concerts are chosen in a variety of styles and venues to generate ideas. The dialogue about them is the subject matter of this course. This course is writing intensive and the writing about the work will deepen ones understanding of dance criticism.
Students attend dance concerts in the Bay Area once a week. Prior to a concert they are required to research the work of the choreographer to get a feeling for the style of the artist and the message of the work. After the concert students gather, seminar-style, to discuss the concert. They analyze the form and the meaning of a work and also analyze what other dance writers and/or dance critics have said about the work. Reading other dance writers will deepen their understanding of dance criticism. They are required to keep a journal of the various performances writing reflections after each concert. This work then becomes three formal papers. The guidelines for the papers are included in the syllabus. Students are asked to use discipline specific methodology and vocabulary.
Students are also required to identify the cultural context of a work of art and frame specific creative challenges within larger historical/theoretical questions implicit in a choreographer's, playwright's, and/or composer's work. They are asked to incorporate a deep understanding of the ways performing artists draw inspiration from the worlds of history, nature, culture, and ideas. They are also required to recognize similarities in structure (such as elements of phrasing, composition, or design) shared by all three performing arts and be able to articulate the significance of structural elements in the analysis of a work's form and meaning.
The attached syllabus outlines the various assignments that assist the students in the various learning outcomes. Since dance is a subjective experience, this course also covers the learning goals for American Diversity.