HNRS 125 FALL 2010
Queens College Professor M. Healey
Office Hour: M 12:15-1:30 meghanhealey@hotmail.com
HONORS 125: THE ARTS IN NEW YORK CITY
Seminar 1 explores the diverse arts in New York City. During the semester, students attend performances and exhibits of the current cultural season. In addition to the four genres (opera, dance, theater, and the visual arts) covered in all sections of the Seminar, faculty choose from a variety of textual, photographic, musical, and performance genres. Students tackle such questions as: What does each genre offer? How does each speak to us? How does art create, serve, and represent the people of the city and its diverse communities? Aesthetic appreciation is supported by social and historical investigations so that students are provided with opportunities for different kinds of engagement with art forms, including interpretation, analysis, and creative endeavors. The culminating event of the Seminar, Snapshot NYC, is an ongoing accumulation of photographs of student views of New York City.
In three units we will look at three specific personas that the artist may represent, and how the artist interacts with their community as a political and social voice, as well as how the artist preserves and reflects important social and cultural values and events to people outside of their own community. You will be asked to write and reflect on the work you see, as well as create your own original work that reflects your view of this particular cultural moment in New York City.
PART I: Artist as Social Critic
Class 1: Introduction and discussion of the syllabus
- Performances:
- § 8/25 Israel Horowitz and Barefoot Theater (Theater Day)
- § Andy Warhol Exhibit (Brooklyn Museum)
- § 9/12 Little Foxes (NYTW)
- Reading: Reading series #1 (Packet), “The Deadly Theater” from The Empty Space
- Blog 1: Give your impressions of the Israel Horowitz plays. What particular social issues was he commenting on?
- Blog 2: Review Little Foxes– See guidelines for reviewing theatrical works on blackboard and in your syllabus
Class 2: Discussion of Little Foxes and Warhol Exhibit
- Performances:
- § Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese (1979)
- Assignment: Begin Photojournal- this is due every week until 10/20
- Reading: The Metal Children, Series #2 (Packet),
- Blog 3: How can the artist be both social critic, and active member of their community? Does this reflect an essential hypocrisy in the artist’s role? Speak specifically about Andy Warhol’s work.
Class 3: Discussion of The Metal Children and Taxi Driver
- Assignment: Photojournal
- Readings: Series #3: “Contes D’Hoffman Background” (Packet)
- Blog 4: Compare the protagonists of The Metal Children and Taxi Driver. How is each reacting to the established authority? What common themes exist in these characters?
Class 4: Introduction to Opera. Discussion of the readings
- Performance:
- § 9/28 Contes D’Hoffman (Metropolitan Opera)
- Assignment: Photojournal
- Readings: Series #4 (Packet), The Empty Space (”The Immediate Theater” pp. 98-140)
- Additional Suggested viewing: Carmen: A Hip-Hopera
- Blog 5: Review of Contes D’Hoffman– focus your review on how well you think this production spoke to you as a young audience member. Does this work speak to you, and to people of your generation? Why or why not?
Class 5: Discussion of Contes D’Hoffman, Review and discussion of all the works, and the idea of the “Artist as Social Critic”
- Performances:
- § 10/13 Ralph Lemmon Dance (BAM)
- § Mad Hot Ballroom (2008)
- Assignments: 10/11 project, Photojournal
- Readings: Series #5 (Packet), The Empty Space (“The Immediate Theater” pp. 65-97)
- Blog 6: Choose the artwork that you read or viewed that you felt affected you most, and is the best example of the artist as social critic. Why do you think this piece was the best example of this?
PART II: Artist as Curator of Community
Class 6: Guest speaker Dr. Katherine Profeta (Curator/Dramaturge of Ralph Lemmon’s company) on creating community specific dance, Viewing of class contributions to the 10/11 project
- § Performances: Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
- Assignment: Finish your Photojournal
- Reading: Series #6 (Packet)
- Blog 7: Review of Ralph Lemmon Dance. Did learning more about the origins of the piece change anything that you felt about it?
Class 7: Discussion of dance as an art form, Discussion of readings and the two films of this unit, Choose groups for multimedia project and discuss
- Performances/Exhibits:
- § Metropolitan Museum “Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players: Leon Levinstein’s New York Photographs, 1950–1980”
- Assignments: Meet with your groups and brainstorm ideas for your multimedia projects
- Reading: Series #7 (Packet)
- Blog 8: Is there an artwork that is sacred or important to your community? What is it, and how does it represent the community? “Community” in this instance can be geographical, ethnic, religious, or some other group that you feel you are part of that has a shared culture.
Class 8: Discussion of film, photography (particularly the two exhibits you viewed earlier), and the roles they play in preserving tradition and community, look back and discuss your photojournal project and bring in a copy of your first, favorite, and last images.
- Performances:
- § 11/7 underneathmybed (Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater)
- Blog 9: Compare the two views of New York in the two films you viewed in this unit. Which view of New York City is more familiar to you? What communities are represented and how?
Class 9: Discussion of underneathmybed, as well as discussing the role of community based art, Choosing of texts for your multimedia projects
- Assignments: Meet with groups to work on storyboard
- Reading: Kissing Fidel by Eduardo Machado (Packet)
- Blog 10: Discuss and review underneathmybed. How was the author acting to curate or preserve her cultural traditions?
PART III: Artist As Political Activist
Class 10: Wrap up discussion on our unit of the Artist as a preserver and observer of cultural mores and traditions, discuss how Kissing Fidel fit into this role.
- Performances: Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore, 2004)
- Assignments: Finish individual concept statements, finish storyboard with your group these are due 11/22
- Reading: Series #8 (Packet), War by Lars Noren
- Blog 11: The role of the artist as political voice is arguably the most controversial of his/her roles. Why is this?
Class 11: Discussion of the readings, discussion of the role art plays in shaping political views, Jam session in class to discuss the progress of multimedia projects and brainstorm solutions to any issues
- Assignments: Multimedia Project
- Reading: Ruined by Lynn Nottage
- Blog 12: Discuss one of the films you viewed, and what political issues it confronts. Did the film express a point of view, and how did the structure and narrative choices of the film support it?
Class 12: Discussion of readings and documentary film, viewing of famous political artworks and propaganda in class
- Performance:
- § 12/7 The Great Game: Afghanistan (Public Theater)
- Assignment: Continue work on your multimedia project
- Blog 13: Review The Great Game: Afghanistan
Class 13: Discussion of The Great Game: Afghanistan, wrap up discussion of this unit and the role of the artist as a political activist
- Assignments: Multimedia Project
- Reading: Series #9 (Packet), The Empty Space (“The Holy Theater” pp. 42-64)
- Blog 14: What was the performance or exhibit you saw this semester that affected you the most, and why? Which was the least successful, in your opinion and why?
Class 14: Final Class, Wrap up and discussion of all our work this semester
Multimedia Project will be presented at the date of the final exam. This date will be announced later in the semester.
GRADING POLICIES AND CLASS GUIDELINES:
- Arts in NYC Blog– 40 % of your grade
Your blog will be graded on several factors:
- Quality and clarity of ideas
- Concise and clear expression of arguments
- The progress of your blog over the course of the semester- meaning your blogs and ideas should improve in quality as we go on, not diminish as you get busy later in the semester.
- Completion and submission of your blog no later than midnight each Sunday before class.
There are alternative Blog topics in the event you are forced to miss a performance that you were assigned to blog. Please see me ASAP if you need to complete the alternative. Your blog will be critiqued every three weeks during the semester, more if you are struggling. You should try to respond to the suggestions given in your critique, and be consistent in your blog. Your blog should not exceed 1.5-2 pages as a word document.
- Photojournal Project– 25 % of your grade
Your photojournal project will be critiqued along the same guidelines as your blog:
- Quality of the images
- Choice of images- are you finding unusual ways to tell your visual story, are you improving the quality of your images as time goes on?
- Narrative Clarity- Are you telling a story through images?
- Completion in a timely manner- meaning that the Tech and I can see that you are uploading images NO LESS than 2 times a week, meaning that you are ACTUALLY KEEPING A DAILY PHOTOJOURNAL, NOT JUST TAKING 7 PHOTOS EVERY MONDAY AND UPLOADING THEM TO YOUR JOURNAL. I warn you that I will know if this is what you are doing, as it will not result in quality work, and it defeats the educational purpose of this project.
- Multimedia Final Project– 20 %of your grade
- Meet the Artists– The Honors College requires you to attend at least one of their common events in the Meet The Artists Series. THIS IS MANDATORY AND NON-NEGOTIABLE. The list of the events will be posted on blackboard and you can attend any event of your choosing. Mae sure you register for events you want to attend in advance, since some professors will take their class as a group and space at your desired event may be limited. You are required to sign in at the event as proof of your participation, and you must provide me with the date and name of the event you attended no later than 12/5.
- Class Participation-15 % of your grade
Class participation encompasses, but is not limited to regular class attendance. Excellence in class participation means arriving in class on time, with your work prepared, attending the performances and events- ON TIME- and being able to speak and offer your opinions without being prompted. Repeated absences (exceeding three in the semester) from class, repeated absences from performances and events, and repeated lateness will have a negative effect on your grade.
Policies regarding the Performances and Exhibits for class
Your presence at the performances and exhibits that are arranged for this seminar is a required element of your participation in this course. In the course of the semester it may happen that due to illness, religious obligations, or other sudden circumstances you are not able to attend one of the performances or events. This is unfortunate, but sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control that must be addressed. If you have advance notice that you need to miss one of the performances, you should contact me ahead of time to try and arrange something. There are alternative blog topics if you need to make up for a performance that you have missed. Missing the performance does not excuse you from your blog assignments. You can also choose to attend the assigned performance at your own expense. The only tickets that are available to you free of charge are the ones that Honors College has arranged for the performance dates listed on the final page of this syllabus. Repeatedly missing performances will have a serious negative effect on your grade in this course and your ability to continue in Honors College.
We will meet in the lobby of the performance venue 20 minutes before the start of the scheduled performance. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL TO NOTE THE START TIME AND VENUE LOCATION OF EACH PERFORMANCE. We will enter the performance no later than 10 minutes before the show starts. IF YOU ARE LATE (MEANING YOU ARRIVE AFTER WE HAVE ALREADY ENTERED THE PERFORMANCE) THEN YOU ARE OUT OF LUCK, AND YOU WILL MISS THE PERFORMANCE.
There are some exhibits that you have been assigned to view on your own schedule. The date suggested under the “performances” section of your assignments is the suggested date on which to view the exhibit in relation to the lesson, but you are free to view it any time before we are to discuss the exhibit in class at your own convenience. PLEASE NOTE THE DATE BY WHICH YOU ARE TO VIEW THE EXHIBIT, AS WELL AS THE CLOSING DATE OF THE EXHIBIT. You can go together as a group or as an individual. Use your cultural passport to view the exhibits without additional charge.
Your cell phone must be turned off (this includes texting) during all performances- – and while you are attending exhibits. Many museums will allow you to take non-flash photographs of the exhibits, with some restrictions. Please observe all rules and policies of the museums you visit.
General Class Policies
The use of cell phones in class is strictly and completely PROHIBITED. Please turn your phone to the “off” position, and store it inside your bag during class time. This means no texting, no checking your email, and no phone calls during class time- I do not want to hear your phone ring, I do not want to see you texting under your desk. If I find this happening, you will be asked to leave class, and you will be marked absent for the day.
Laptop computers may not be used in class– except for giving presentations, and with permission during certain work sessions. They may not be used for note taking. I apologize for this inconvenience, but the presence of wireless internet has proven to be an irresistible temptation to most students. You are welcome and encouraged to take all the notes you want, but you will need to do so using a pen and paper.
One of the reasons for these rules is the importance of creating a positive atmosphere for class discussion. This can only exist in a class where you and your fellow students are focused and respectful of one another. Some of the works we will be reading and viewing can be provocative, controversial, and may even be offensive to some students. Your honest reaction to these works is your own, you do not have to agree with, or even like what the artist is expressing- or what another student is saying about it. But a true dialogue is only possible when we respect one another’s differences and really try to hear different points of view. We also need to foster an atmosphere of trust and non-judgmental listening. Which means, what is said in class should stay in class, and students should not be afraid to speak their minds for fear that it will be discussed in other contexts.
Thank you, in advance for respecting these guidelines.
If you need to reach me, my primary email address, which appears on page one of this syllabus, is the best way. That is the email that comes to my phone and which I check throughout the day. My school email address is fine, but I do not check it every day. You can also call my office at 718-997-3192, but if no one answers, then I am not there, and it is also the costume shop phone so there is no voicemail. Some of you may note that on my hotmail email signature, my cell phone number is listed. Please respect that this number appears there because this is my primary business email, not as an invitation for you to call or text me on my cell phone. I am delighted to make an appointment to see you any time you have concerns about your work in class, or if you want to discuss a project with me one on one.
The syllabus, and all other class documents, as well as lecture notes for class will be available to you on blackboard. I will also be emailing you as a group through the Blackboard system, which means you need to check your school email address regularly, so that you do not miss important information.
Our tech fellow is Tsai-Shiou Hsieh and she can be reached at tsaishiou.hsieh@qc.cuny.edu for any problems with your blog or photo uploads.
Texts for class:
HNRS125 Class packet: Includes the numbered series readings, bios, synopsis and scripts for Little Foxes, Kissing Fidel, and War
The Metal Children by Adam Rapp
Ruined by Lynn Nottage
The Empty Space by Peter Brooks
