ASI 341 Richard Benedum
The Arts and World Culture Alumni Chair in the Humanities
Fall 2004 HM 466
campus phone: x9-3986
office hours–most mornings, or by appointment
http://academic.udayton.edu/richardbenedum
Syllabus
Above all, this course is designed to help you experience the wide world of the arts. This course will also examine the history and meaning of the arts in Western and world cultures, and connect the arts to other parts of the Core curriculum–e.g., history, by introducing Core students to music, the visual arts, dance, theater, and literature through both lectures and especially by personal attendance/encounter and with the arts, followed by reflective writing. To accomplish this goal, the course will not only seek to make intellectual connections to other Core content, but will also provide opportunities for students to attend live performances and exhibits.
Much of the course content will be provided by outside-of-classroom experiences. There will be no textbook for this course; each student will, rather, be expected to purchase several tickets to arts events during the first and second semesters. The course will span both semesters of the 2004-05 academic year; your final grade will come at the end of the spring semester.
During the Fall semester, each CORE student will...
A. participate in two guided tours at the Dayton Art Institute on September 28 or 29. Admission price: $8 per student, to be collected in advance; transportation provided, free. The two tours will each last about 45-50 minutes; they will sample the Rau exhibit of Western art over the past 500 years, and survey the Art Institute’s permanent collection of Eastern art.
You’ll probably want to take a notebook along, and take notes during the two tours. Some of the
content from the tours will be used on the mid-term (December 2004) and final (April or May
2005–dates to be announced) exams.
Following the tours each Core student will write a minimum of 2 pages and a maximum of 3 pages about the two tours of Eastern and Western art. Focus on at least one, and possibly several, way(s) in which the Eastern and Western art are similar, and at least one, and possibly several, way(s) in which they differ. Include both comments about the Western and Eastern art itself (for example, the use of color, form, or another element that the artist worked with), and also some comments about your own reaction to the art that you see. Try, if possible, to refer to specific works of art.
There’s no right or wrong answer; I simply want you to reflect about the art that you experience. Due date: Tuesday, October 19, 9:00am (to be turned in at the morning lecture, Sears Recital Hall).
B. attend a performance of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, presented by the Dayton Opera Association. Students can attend one of the following performance dates:
October 23, 8:00pm Reduced student tickets are available for each performance at
October 29, 8:00pm about $32, 27, or 19.
October 31, 3:00pm
See www.daytonopera.org. For those interested, there will be a pre-performance lecture one hour before curtain time. In addition, students may want to attend the free “First Tuesday” interdisciplinary lecture on Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro on October 5, 7:30pm, in Sears Recital Hall, featuring Richard Benedum (Music), Marybeth Carlson (History), and R. Alan Kimbrough (English); see also www.academic.udayton.edu/firsttuesday.
Tickets can be obtained by calling 228.3630.
In preparation for attending the opera and writing the reflective paper, students should also read
the following:
(1) “Le nozze di Figaro” from Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Mozart (NY: Da Capo,
1978), pp. 223-254.
(2) Selections from Mozart’s letters written during 1785-87, the time during which he was planned and composed The Marriage of Figaro and led its first performances in Vienna and Prague, as found in Robert Spaethling’s Mozart’s Letters, Mozart’s Life: Selected Letters (NY: W. W. Norton, 2000), pp. 372-396. Compare also the translations in Emily Anderson’s The Letters of Mozart and His Family (Macmillan, 1985).
(3) For general historical context, chapters 1-3 (“The Social Context: Vienna and Her Ruler,” “Musicians, Opera, and Audience in Mozart’s Time,” and “Mozart and Vienna”) from Andrew Steptoe’s The Mozart-Da Ponte Operas (Oxford: Clarendon, 1988), pp. 13-76.
(4) As an optional background, you might be interested in the selections I’ve made from Mozart in
Vienna (ed. H. C. Robbins Landon; NYC: Schirmer, 1991). It contains a description of Vienna during the 1780's, the very time that Mozart lived there, and briefly covers a wide variety of topics. A few examples mentioned at random: climate, the emperor, disease, the kind of people and what they wear, moral character, gambling, etc. etc.
Each of the above is available from the E-Reserve shelf of Roesch Library; password = mozart, and on the reserve shelf, for those who prefer to use a book. I will be happy to suggest additional readings. I’ll also arrange for a showing and discussion of the movie Amadeus some evening in the early fall, before the performance dates above, and hopefully on Flyer TV as well. Not only is it a great film, but also an excellent way to gain knowledge and background about Mozart.
Following the performance, and using these readings to complement your attendance at the opera, write a 3-4 page paper. The following questions can help focus your thoughts:
· What are the main themes from The Marriage of Figaro? How do they (and Mozart’s music more generally) illustrate the ideals of the Enlightenment? This latter issue should occupy at least half of your essay.
· What was your reaction to Dayton’s Schuster Center for the Performing Arts?
· Describe the audience (e.g., range of ages, manner of dress, apparent attentiveness, etc.)
· Describe your reaction to the performance–singers, costumes and sets, orchestra, overall experience. Was this your first opera?
· How did the readings add to your understanding and experience of the opera? What’s the difference between Spaethling’s and Anderson’s translations of Mozart’s letters? See the Preface and “A Note about the Translation” in Spaethling.
Staple your ticket to your essay. Due date: Tuesday, November 16, 9:00am (to be turned in at
Sears Recital Hall).
C. attend three other arts events of your choosing during the semester. Especially recommended are performances by CITYFOLK, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Human Race Theatre Company. Each of these organizations gives student discounts, usually around 50%. Some only offer that “student rush” discount during the last 30 minutes before the curtain, but I am quite certain that you’ll always be able to get tickets.
Also highly recommended are on-campus performances sponsored by the UD Arts Series.
Following your attendance at each of the events, write a brief 1-2-page reaction/reflection. At least one paragraph of your reaction should summarize what you experienced, and another should in some way reflect your reaction to what you experienced.
Due date: no later than 2 weeks following the event you attended. Turn in your papers at a T-Th Sears Hall lecture, or to HM 466. Staple your ticket or the program to your reaction paper.
D. Mid-term exam at the end of fall term, and final exam in late April or early May; dates and times to be announced.
In addition, I’ll post some other general readings on the e-reserve shelf.
This course will be continued in the winter 2005 semester with similar requirements, after which a final grade will be given. Final grades will be based upon the following:
Paper following DAI tour 15 points
Paper following The Marriage of Figaro 15
Three short papers, Fall (5% each) 15
Mid-term exam (date and time TBA) 10
Paper following Shakespeare plays (Winter 2005) 15
Three short papers, Winter (5% each) 15
Final exam, Spring 2005 (date and time TBA) 15
Grading:
A 92-100 B- 80-81 D 60-69
A- 90-91 C+ 77-79 F 0-59
B+ 87-89 C 72-76
B 82-86 C- 70-71
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This course, offered for the first time this semester as part of the Core program, is also part of the Arts and Human Experience thematic cluster. The goals of the cluster are to...
$ study works of art, drama, literature, and music that have shaped the cultural heritage of our world;
$ identify ways in which the arts both reflect and shape the experience of being human;
$ examine a variety of traditional and contemporary theories about the arts;
$ investigate particular historical periods to discover the social, economic, and political contexts in which significant works of art have been created;
$ understand the scientific and technological principles that underlie the arts and give them their unique qualities and characteristics;
$ analyze the psychological processes through which we perceive and create works of art;
$ explore the variety of ways in which the arts articulate and perpetuate cultural and religious values and meanings in every major civilization; and especially to
$ experience the rich arts offerings in Dayton and southwest Ohio.
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TICKETS FOR ARTS EVENTS IN DAYTON
CITYFOLK 50% student discount
Performances at various sites
www.cityfolk.org
Dayton Contemporary Dance Company 50% student discount, available 30 minutes before
Victoria Theater each performance.
First and Main Streets, downtown Dayton
www.dcdc.org
Dayton Opera Association 50% student discount
Schuster Center for the Performing Arts
Second and Main Streets, downtown Dayton
www.daytonopera.org
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra 50% student discount?
Schuster Center for the Performing Arts
Second and Main Streets, downtown Dayton
www.daytonphilharmonic.com
The Human Race Theatre Company 50% student discount?
The Loft Theater
126 North Main Street, downtown Dayton
www.humanracetheatre.org
For DCDC, Dayton Philharmonic, and Human Race tickets, call go to the box office on the evening of the performance, or if allowed, call ahead to Ticket Central at 228.3630 and ask for the special student discount. Have your credit card number handy. Your ticket will be mailed to you, or held at the box office at the performance site. You can also order your ticket in person by going to the Victoria Theatre Box office, First and Main Streets in downtown Dayton.
You can also contact Ticket Central toll-free at 888.228.3630 or at www.ticketcenterstage.com.
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UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON ARTS SERIES
University of Dayton Arts Series $20 for the Arts Series season of 6 events
Performances in Boll Theatre and $5 for individual event tickets
Sears Recital Hall on the UD campus Tickets for World Rhythms events, 50% discount
Student tickets are available from the KU Box office; for more information call 9-2787 or see http://www.artsseries.udayton.edu.