The Arts in New York City

The first seminar introduces Macaulay students to the arts and their roles in the life, history, and expression of New York. The seminar provides students with a foundation in the critical liberal arts skills and attitudes that will support their learning throughout their college years and beyond. During the semester students attend theatrical, operatic, and musical performances, exhibitions of visual art, and other highlights of the current cultural season. 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. The seminar will include examples and discussions of artistic endeavors from people of diverse racial, ethnic, class, national, religious, gender, sexuality, and other identities, specifically including Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), with attention to the intersectionality of these identities. The historical and contemporary uses of works of art to inform and propel social change and protest will also form part of the seminar. Students from all campuses will attend an arts-related event at a NYC cultural institution, promoting critical attention, creative analysis, and clear communication through conversation. Visits to exhibits, performances, and artist encounters continue throughout the semester. The course includes a late-semester cross-campus celebration and sharing of seminar work.

Learning Goals and Outcomes:

Students will:

  • Explore the role of the arts in the lives of New Yorkers and their communities.
  • Consider the diverse cultural perspectives communicated through art.
  • 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 cultural products of New York City and New Yorkers.
  • Formulate their own individual aesthetic values after having studied the city’s wide range of artistic   expressions.
  • Understand the relationship of the arts to movements for justice and social equity in New York City.
  • Look closely, think deeply, work with other students, and learn to discuss ideas.