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First-Year Courses in RC HumanitiesThis page was created at 12:27 PM on Thu, Oct 4, 2001. Fall Academic Term, 2001 (September 5 - December 21)Open courses in RC Humanities Wolverine Access Subject listing for RCHUMS Fall Term '01Time Schedule for RC Humanities. RCHUMS 214. Fundamentals of Narrative Fiction.Comparative LiteratureSection 001 – Growing Up Near The Great LakesInstructor(s): Elizabeth N Goodenough (lizgoode@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU).
Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. How have human beings from the Great Lakes chosen to present themselves and the stories of their lives? What motivates a person to write about “the third coast”? This course examines a variety of short narratives and novels – from classic works of the great outdoors and the motor city to historical sagas of frontier life and such popular forms as mysteries, romances, folktales and children’s fables. Looking at storytelling as a reflection of social values and as a mode of seeing, we will examine the particular images and patterns of thinking and becoming which populate fictional works set in Michigan and environs. What stage of development of or type or experience is formative and which provide the most useful lens from which to view diversity in the peninsula state? What is the impact of gender, nationality and race on this region’s constructions of selfhood? How do writers from the Great Lakes invent the impossible and make up stories about stories within stories? How do we decide what these stories mean? Authors include Harriet Arnow, Charles Baxter, Joan Blos, Christopher Paul Curtis, Marguerite De Angeli, Sharon Dilworth,, Jeffery Eugenides, Hannah Green, Judith Guest, Jim, Harrison, Ernest Hemingway, Phillip Levine, Alice Munro, Zibby Oneal, Robert Traver.
RCHUMS 236 / FILMVID 236. The Art of the Film.
Arts and IdeasSection 001 – Students Are Required To Attend Film Viewing On Tuesday 7-11 P M, With An Alternate Screening On Thursday 7-11 p.m.Instructor(s): Hubert I Cohen (hicohen@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU). Laboratory fee ($50) required. Credits: (4). Lab Fee: Laboratory fee ($50) required. Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. See Film and Video Studies 236.001.
RCHUMS 250. Chamber Music.
MusicSection 001 – Chamber Music. (1 credit).Instructor(s): Virginia Weckstrom-Kantor (vwk@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (1-2). (CE). Offered mandatory credit/no credit. May be repeated for a total of 16 credits. Credits: (1-2; 1 in the half-term). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. Audition only for placement in ensembles. ALL students who are interested in participating in instrumental ensembles may enroll for one or two hours credit at the discretion of the instructor. Every student must register for 001 for one hour; those who fulfill the requirements for two hours of credit MUST also select Section 002 (with an override from the instructor) for the additional hour of credit. For one hour of credit, students must participate in two ensembles; for two hours of credit, students must participate in a large ensemble and two smaller ones. Responsibilities include three to four hours of rehearsal time per week per credit hour (i.e., 6-8 hours of practice, rehearsal and coaching for two credits) and participation in one or more concerts per term. Course may be used to fulfill the Residential College’s Arts Practicum Requirement. Ensembles have included: mixed ensembles of winds, strings and brass; string quartet; woodwind quintet; chamber orchestra; duos and trios, including piano, harpsichord, guitar and voice. This is not a mini-course!
RCHUMS 250. Chamber Music.
MusicSection 002 – Chamber Music. (2 credits).Instructor(s): Virginia Weckstrom-Kantor (vwk@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (1-2). (CE). Offered mandatory credit/no credit. May be repeated for a total of 16 credits. Credits: (1-2; 1 in the half-term). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted.
RCHUMS 251. Topics in Music.MusicSection 001 – POPULAR MUSIC AND CULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA.Instructor(s): Michal Rahfaldt (mrahfald@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. This course is primarily designed to give students a familiarity with popular music and culture in 20th-century South Africa. Key musical figures, institutions and events in the history of South African popular music are discussed in relation to their historical, social and political spheres of production. In addition to developing an understanding of different musical styles, we will use popular music as a lens through which we can view South African society in the 20th century. The first half of the academic term focuses on music making from the early 1900’s until the official dismantling of apartheid in the early 1990’s. Beginning with the turn-of-the-century minstrel show and working up through the intercultural musical collaborations of the late 1980’s, we will trace stylistic developments while highlighting the close relationships between political/social structure, ethnic identity, urban spaces, and musical production and consumption. During the second half of the academic term we will examine the status of popular music post-apartheid. Shifts in political power and changing social climates are impacting the music scene and drastically redefining musicians creative resources. Here we discuss these recent musical developments in relation to the new South African democracy and the quickly changing urban landscape. Specific themes to be explored throughout the course include:
RCHUMS 251. Topics in Music.MusicSection 002 – Introduction to Ngoma: the Drumming Traditions of Central AfricaInstructor(s): Titos SompaPrerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. The term "ngoma" is a common concept in Central, South, and East Africa., meaning "drum-dance-celebratory event." in essence, it means the "celebration of life." In this beginning course, students will learn the basic rhythms of various repertory of the Kongo people of Central Africa. Students will also learn the importance of breathing, relaxing, and feeling that are crucial to produce the proper tones and timbres in Kongolese playing styles, and they will learn the importance of listening. Students will be expected to sing and dance because the drummer in Kongolese traditions is also a dancer and singer. The course will primarily be performance related, and students will be required to participate in an end-of-term performance. The instructor will also give lectures and bring in guest speakers, as appropriate. Reading and writing assignments will also be involved, at the discretion of the instructor.
RCHUMS 252. Topics in Music.MusicSection 001 – Studying And Playing SE Asian MusicInstructor(s): Susan P Walton (swalton@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. Bali, Java, Thailand, and many other areas in Southeast Asia have for years held a fascination for Western social scientists, travelers and artists. This area of the world is especially renowned for the richness and variety of its performing arts traditions. These include social, court and ritual dances, music of bronze and bamboo ensembles, and elaborate theatrical traditions – all of which arise from complex mixes of Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Christian, and animist traditions. This course consists of two parts: surveying the major musical genres of SE Asia (in an RC classroom) and learning to play the music of the Javanese gamelan orchestra in my home, 12 minutes by foot from the RC. This course meets the RC's Arts Practicum requirement. The survey part of the course will show how music, dance, and theatrical forms are linked to the cultures from which they spring and how they both express and challenge traditional values. The complex and shifting relationships between the performing arts, religion, and ritual will be a major focus of our inquiry. We will ask the following kind of questions: What impact has Westernization and industrialization had on traditional musical forms, especially in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand? How do Indonesian youth transform American rock music into musical idioms expressive of traditional Islamic values? How are the ambiguities between spectators and performers and between the past, present, and future related to Burmese cosmological concepts? The musical cultures of Indonesia (Bali, Java, and Sumatra) will be the main focus of our inquiry, but the musics of Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, and the Philippines will also be surveyed. Video tapes, cassette recordings, and slides will complement the lectures. In the musical practice part of the course, students will learn to play many of the instruments of the gamelan: gongs and racks of horizontally suspended gongs, metallophones and drums. Since the intervals and scales used are entirely different from western ones, learning to sing with this ensemble will be especially interesting. We will learn many of the pieces orally, as the Javanese do, but we will also learn to read the Javanese cipher notation system. Javanese music is structured in cycles. Part of the function of the course is to show how the specific musical elements are expressive of basic cultural views. Cycles are evident not only in the musical system but also in calendric and cosmological concepts. All are welcome: no prerequisites and no prior experience expected.
RCHUMS 253. Choral Ensemble.MusicSection 001 – Residential College Singers.Instructor(s):Prerequisites & Distribution: (1). (CE). Offered mandatory credit/no credit. May be repeated for a total of 16 credits. Credits: (1). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. Group rehearses twice weekly and prepares a thematic concert of music. Vocal skills, sight singing, and basic musicianship are stressed. No prerequisites, but a commitment to the group and a dedication to musical growth within the term are required. No audition necessary.
RCHUMS 254. The Human Voice as An Acoustical Instrument.MusicSection 001 – Basic Technique For Singers And Actors And The Alexander Technique. Meets the RC Arts Practicum requirement.Instructor(s): Jane R Heirich (jheirich@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (CE). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. This course is open to students who want to develop their voices for speaking and singing, to sing more comfortably, and to maintain vocal health. The course is directed singing, to sing more comfortably, and to maintain vocal health. The course is directed towards singers (with or without previous vocal training), speech and acting students, and those who want to find out if they can sing. Most voices are undeveloped or under-developed; and we can learn how to develop our vocal equipment for whatever our own purpose. Because our voices are housed within us, we must consider the whole voice-body-mind as the subject of our study. Ms. Heirich is a STAT and AmSAT certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, and this work will inform all that we do in the course. The class meets together on Mondays and Fridays from 1-3 P.M. Your schedules should TEMPORARILY remain flexible between 12-6 on Wednesdays for scheduling of small group sessions. This scheduling will be completed by the end of the first class meeting – Friday, September 7. There will be one required text, some optional readings, daily preparation, and an individual or team project required. LS&A guidelines for 4-credit courses expect 3 hours of work per credit hour, hence, you should be prepared accordingly. With more than 4 hours in “class” (a weekly average of 6.25 hours, which includes the small group and individual lessons), there will be proportionally less expected of you outside of class. The required reading will be Miracles Usually Can’t Be Learned, a basic vocal text by Jane Heirich, available as a course pack.
RCHUMS 260 / DANCE 220. The Art of Dance: An Introduction to American and European Dance History, Aesthetics, and Criticism.Arts and IdeasSection 001.Instructor(s): Beth Genné (genne@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (3). (HU). Credits: (3). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. This course is an introduction to the study of dance history, criticism and aesthetics. What is dance? How can we analyze it in terms of form and "content"? What is the role of the dancer and choreographer? How can we distinguish different styles of dance? This introductory course is a basic survey of American and European dance concentrating on nineteenth- and twentieth-century dance forms including French and Russian classical ballet, American and European modern dance, African American jazz forms, and dance on film. Choreographers and dancers considered will include Coralli and Perrot, Marius Petipa, Mikhail Fokine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Bronislava Nijinska, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Katherine Dunham, Merce Cunningham, Fred Astaire, Bill Robinson, John Bubbles, Gene Kelly, Twyla Tharp, and Mark Morris. Texts will include Selma Jeanne Cohen's Dance as a Theatre Art, Deborah Jowitt's Time and the Dancing Image and Susan Au's Dance and Ballet and we will also read some dance critics including Gautier, Levinson, Martin, and Croce. No prerequisites.
RCHUMS 280 / ENGLISH 245 / THTREMUS 211. Introduction to Drama and Theatre.DramaSection 001.Instructor(s): Robert J Cardullo (cardullo@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in RC Hums. 281. (4). (HU).
Credits: (4; 3 in the half-term). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. See Theatre and Drama 211.001.
RCHUMS 282. Drama Interpretation I: Actor and Text.DramaSection 001 – Image of the American FamilyInstructor(s): MendeloffPrerequisites & Distribution: (4). (CE). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. This text based performance course will focus on one of the central themes in American Drama – the relationship of the family. In doing so we will not only look at some of the major plays of the century by writers like Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Eugene and O’Neill, but we will also go on to look at more contemporary playwrights and more current issues in American playwriting – the perspectives of women writers, African American, Asian and Hispanic writers, writers from the Gay and Lesbian community. The emphasis will be on the exploration of these texts through extensive scene study. No prerequisite is required but previous active experience is recommended.
RCHUMS 291. The Experience of Arts and Ideas in the Nineteenth Century.Arts and IdeasSection 001.Instructor(s): Beth Genné (genne@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. The nineteenth century was marked not only by revolutionary changes in society but by artistic revolution. By the beginning of the twentieth century the conventions of style and subject matter of virtually every major art form – painting, music, dance, and literature – had been radically altered and the role of the artist in society had been radically redefined. This interdisciplinary course will examine some of these changes and offer an introduction to major movements in European art and cultural history of the nineteenth century – Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, and Symbolism – by analyzing and comparing representative works of literature, dance, music, and the visual arts. Among possible works studied will be paintings by Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Degas, Monet, and Van Gogh, novels by Zola, Brontë, and Flaubert, music of Berlioz and Debussy, and ballets of Perrot and Bournonville. We’ll be asking some of the following kinds of questions: What is the revolution of style and subject matter brought about by Romantic art? How do Coralli and Perrot’s ballet Giselle and the Symphonie Fantastique of Berlioz reflect these changes and the new attitude of the artist towards himself and his art? Can we find similar aims in certain realist novels of Zola and the realist painting of Courbet and Manet? Can we compare the revolution in the structure and subject matter of painting brought about by the Impressionist and Symbolist painters to the revolution in form brought to music by Debussy? What can we learn about the evolving view of women’s place in society by comparing the portrayal of women in paintings by Berthe Morisot and Edouard Manet and the portrayal of women in literature by Ibsen and Edith Wharton? These and other questions will be considered by Beth Genné and class.
This page was created at 12:27 PM on Thu, Oct 4, 2001.
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