MACAULAY HONORS COLLEGE

Seminar 1: THE ARTS IN NEW YORK CITY
QUEENS COLLEGE, FALL 2017

DESCRIPTION:
This seminar, Macaulay Seminar 1, introduces Macaulay students to a diversity of arts in New York City and the Cultural Passport, which provides free or discounted access to the cultural riches of New York City. During the semester students attend theatrical, operatic, and musical performances, exhibitions of visual art, and other highlights of the current cultural season in order to appreciate and experience firsthand the cultural richness that New York City has to offer.

In addition to experiencing these art forms as an audience, students are encouraged to examine performances and exhibitions from the multiple perspectives of scholarship, creativity, and production. We will interrogate the socio-cultural politics of the arts in New York City, considering in particular questions of audience, place, and space. Class meetings and readings will contextualize and support our extracurricular outings. We will interrogate how and why various arts are made and for whom, how the arts engage with audiences, how place and space matter, and ultimately, how the arts contribute to the city and its residents. Your attendance and active participation are vital to your success in the course. Engaging with the ideas presented by the works we encounter will allow for open discussion, debate, exchange in class and on our course blog.

Early in the semester is Macaulay Night at the Brooklyn Museum on September 18. Visits to exhibits, performances, and artist encounters continue throughout the semester, on and off campus and at Macaulay central. The seminar’s culminating activity is the collaborative STEAM Festival at Macaulay Central on the weekend of December 2-3, where you will present short films documenting your experience in the course this semester.

LEARNING GOALS:
Students will:

Explain the role of the arts in the lives of New York’s diverse citizens

Identify the key features of the different artistic forms studied in the class

Construct clearly written and well-reasoned analyses of these art forms for multiple audiences (e.g. reviews, arguments, summaries, personal responses, blogs, etc.)

Analyze artistic forms both for their formal qualities and as artifacts about New York

Formulate their own individual aesthetic values after having studied the city’s wide range of artistic expressions.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS:

STEAM FESTIVAL CREATIVE PROJECT (25%)
Working in groups of 5, you will film, produce, and edit a short film to be shown at the STEAM Festival. This will be a semester-long project with multiple components contributing to your assessment.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION (20%)
Note that this includes quizzes, assignments, and other in-class assessments. Regular, active participation is essential to success in our course. This course requires attendance at numerous events outside of our regular class meeting time. These are not optional. The ticketed events have been paid for and it is a privilege to have this opportunity. Mark your calendars now. You will need a MetroCard if you do not already have one.

BLOG POSTS (20%)
Each week, you will write a short, prompted blog post related to the course. This may include a simple photo or video blog and/or a more involved written response to course material, including our cultural outings and readings. These must be posted by noon on Tuesdays to receive full credit.

FINAL ESSAY (15%)
This essay will be a critical summation of the semester and your learning in the course.

SHORT ESSAY (12.5%)
This essay will be a 750 to 1000-word critical response to one of our cultural events. Due by November 22 but accepted at any prior point in the semester.

PRESENTATION (7.5%)
You will give a 5 to 7-minute oral presentation to the class on an arts venue in New York City (approved by me) that we will not be visiting together. Visual aids and an outline and bibliography are required.

COURSE SCHEDULE:
(please note that this is subject to change and that not all events have been confirmed yet.)

AUGUST 30 
INTRODUCTION
SYLLABUS REVIEW
COURSE WEBSITE & BLOG INTRO
WRITE CLASS CONSTITUTION
DISCUSS STEAM FESTIVAL PROJECTS
“NEW YORK EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ”/NYC BALLET

SEPTEMBER 5
EVENT 1: HIGHLINE PERFORMANCE: ALEXANDRA PIRICI/THRESHOLD
4:00 TO 7:00 PM, THE HIGHLINE (W 30TH ST B/T 11TH & 12TH AVE)
(note: this is also happening Sept 6 & 7 if you cannot attend Sept 5)
READING: PLEASE EXPLORE THE HIGH LINE’S WEBSITE IN PREPARATION

SEPTEMBER 6
PUBLIC ART & PERFORMANCE IN NYC
WAYS OF SEEING/BERGER (p. 1-64)
“ABOVE GRADE: ON THE HIGH LINE”/LOPATE
“DISNEY WORLD ON THE HUDSON”/MOSS
“HIGHLINE RHAPSODY”/SCHJELDAL

SEPTEMBER 13
ARTS & ACTIVISM
EVENT 2: MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK/AIDS AT HOME
WE WILL MEET AT QC AND TRAVEL TOGETHER TO THE MUSEUM.
CHAPTER 1, REPRESENTATION/HALL
AIDS AS METAPHOR (EXCERPTS)/SONTAG
“THE IMPACT OF AIDS ON THE ARTISTIC COMMUNITY”/LEBOWITZ
AT HOME VIEWING: WATCH ONE INTERVIEW FROM THE ACT UP ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
**ORAL PRESENTATION TOPIC DUE VIA EMAIL

SEPTEMBER 18
EVENT 3: MACAULAY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
5-8 PM, BROOKLYN MUSEUM

SEPTEMBER 20
NO CLASS

SEPTEMBER 27
THEATRE, PERFORMANCE/READING AND VIEWING
IN-CLASS VIEWING: WE’RE GONNA DIE/LEE
READINGS: CHAPTER 3, REPRESENTATION/HALL (BB)
“A SHORT VISIT TO A SMALL PLANET”/FUCHS
“REAL GONE GIRL: YOUNG JEAN LEE’S IDENTITY PLAYS”/ALS

WEEK OF OCTOBER 2
EVENT 4: FALL FOR DANCE 
NEW YORK CITY CENTER

OCTOBER 4
DANCE: WRITING THE BODY IN SPACE
READINGS: WRITING ABOUT DANCE/OLIVER (BB)
“AGAINST MEANING IN BALLET”/DENBY
IN-CLASS VIEWINGS & WRITING WORKSHOP

OCTOBER 11
DANCE, RACE, AND PLACE
READINGS: DIGGING THE AFRICANIST PRESENCE IN AMERICAN PERFORMANCE: DANCE AND OTHER CONTEXTS/GOTTSCHILD (BB)
DANCERS AS DIPLOMATS/CROFT (BB)
IN-CLASS VIEWINGS
**STEAM FESTIVAL CONCEPTUAL DESCRIPTIONS/OUTLINES DUE
**AT HOME VIEWING: RENT THE FILM VERSION OF THE BAND’S VISIT AND WATCH BEFORE WE ATTEND ITS BROADWAY MUSICAL ADAPTATION. AVAILABLE ONLINE VIA AMAZON VIDEO FOR $3.99

OCTOBER 17
EVENT 5: THE BAND’S VISIT
8PM, ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATRE

OCTOBER 18
THE BROADWAY MUSICAL: NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS
READINGS:
“CLASS AND CULTURE”/SAVRAN (BB)
“RACE, ETHNICITY, PERFORMANCE”/DECKER (BB)
“THE POLITICS OF REGION AND NATION IN AMERICAN MUSICALS”/BRINGARDNER (BB)

WEEK OF OCTOBER 22
EVENT 6: IS FASHION MODERN?
PLEASE VISIT BEFORE 10/25 MEETING, MOMA

OCTOBER 25
BUT IS IT ART? FASHION, MUSEUMS AND WHAT WE WEAR
GARELICK 1, GARELICK 2, GARELICK 3
FASHION AND MUSEUMS: THEORY AND PRACTICE
INSIDE/OUT: IS FASHION MODERN?
ITEMS: IS FASHION MODERN?

NOVEMBER 1
THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION (PART 1)
MISS SAIGON AND CASTING CONTROVERSY
M. BUTTERFLY/HWANG
“The Blessing (And Curse?) of Miss Saigon“/NPR CodeSwitch
“I AM MISS SAIGON AND I HATE IT”/TRAN
“New Flight for a New ‘Butterfly’“/COLLINS-HUGHES
“5 Artists on How ‘M. Butterfly’ Changed Their Lives“/NYT
THEATRE & RACE/YOUNG (BB)
**STEAM FESTIVAL STORYBOARD/SCRIPT DRAFTS DUE

NOVEMBER 6
EVENT 7: MADAMA BUTTERFLY
7:30 PM, METROPOLITAN OPERA
Please read “A Theatregoer’s Guide to Attending the Metropolitan Opera” in advance

NOVEMBER 8
THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION (PART 2)
REPRESENTATION/HALL CHAPTER 4
“A FIGHT AT THE OPERA”/STEWART
“THE MET’S ‘KLINGHOFFER’ PROBLEM”/ROSS

NOVEMBER 15
**NOTE: CLASS MEETS AT THE QUEENS MUSEUM TODAY
EVENT 8: QUEENS MUSEUM
READING: “AGAINST INTERPRETATION”/SONTAG

NOVEMBER 22
MARKETING THE ARTS
EVENT 9: VISIT CAPACITY INTERACTIVE
WE WILL TRAVEL TOGETHER FROM QC ON 11/15
READING: TBA
**SHORT ESSAY DUE BY TODAY

NOVEMBER 29
IN-CLASS WORK SESSION FOR STEAM FESTIVAL
**STEAM FESTIVAL ROUGH CUT IN-CLASS SHOWINGS

DECEMBER 2 & 3
EVENT 10: STEAM FESTIVAL
MACAULAY BUILDING

DECEMBER 6
FINAL CLASS SESSION/COURSE WRAP-UP

DECEMBER 13
READING DAY/NO CLASS
**STEAM FESTIVAL PEER REVIEW & SELF-ASSESSMENTS DUE BY TODAY

DECEMBER 20
FINAL DUE