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First-Year Courses in RC HumanitiesThis page was created at 7:04 PM on Mon, Jan 21, 2002. Winter Academic Term, 2002 (January 7 - April 26)Open courses in RC Humanities Wolverine Access Subject listing for RCHUMS Winter Academic Term '02 Time Schedule for RC Humanities. RCHUMS 235. Topics in World Dance.Arts and IdeasSection 001.Instructor(s): Beth Genné (genne@umich.edu) , Jessica B FogelPrerequisites & Distribution: (3). (HU). Credits: (3). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. This course will survey a diversity of dance traditions throughout the world. Students will gain insight into the functions, aesthetics, history, and cultural context of dances within specific societies. Theatrical, religious, popular, and social dance traditions will be examined in a variety of cultures including groups in Africa, Japan, India, South America, Aboriginal Australia, Indonesia (Bali, Java), the Mideast, and others. A variety of broad comparative issues will be explored: How does dance reflect the values of the society which produces it? How are gender, class, relationships between individual and group, and political and spiritual values displayed through dance structures and movements? What is the creative process for producing these dance works? How is the visual imagery of dance movement designed and how can an audience decipher it? What are the basic elements of dance choreography? How do choreographic structures differ cross-culturally? How do the training, preparation, and performance practices of dancers differ cross-culturally? How do the dances of these cultures employ or integrate other art forms such as music, theater, and costume design? How are dance productions evaluated and critiqued within different cultures? In addition to lectures and readings, the class will feature several guest artist/speaker presentations, viewings of films and videos, and observations of dance rehearsals, classes, and performances.
RCHUMS 250. Chamber Music.
MusicInstructor(s): Virginia W 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 251. Topics in Music.
MusicSection 001 – Asian and Pacific Islands Music in Colonial Contexts.Instructor(s): Sylvia ChaoPrerequisites & Distribution: (4). (HU). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. This course explores the impact of colonial encounter on music as both an art expression and a human activity with social and political functions. Colonialism is often considered destructive to local societies and cultures as it imposes power and violence from without. On the other hand, from the perspective of cultural interaction, colonial contact may be seen as introducing a new dimension of creativity. In many cases, colonial encounter has significantly influenced the way people think and express themselves culturally, ethnically, and nationalistically. Music is one prime example for understanding the cultural aspects of colonialism. To provide a comparative understanding of individual music cultures in colonial contexts, this course presents several case studies of music in Asian and Pacific Islands societies, including Japan, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, and Hawaii. In each case study, we will survey the music culture as it is practiced today with reference to its production in historical and social contexts. Colonial contact in this region has brought in much impact on the continuation, modification, and creation of many musical genres, rendering contested notions of "tradition," "traditional music," and "contemporary music," to name a few. Taking music as a key to arrive at a better understanding of both the music itself and the people who produce it, we will analyze music as an artistic expression that reflects the socio-cultural processes of continuity, change, conflict, and adaptation in response to colonial encounters.
RCHUMS 253. Choral Ensemble.MusicSection 001 – Mixed Choral Ensemble. This course meets the RC Arts Practicum requirement.Instructor(s): Brandon BrackPrerequisites & Distribution: (1). (CE). Offered mandatory credit/no credit. May be repeated for a total of 16 credits. Mini/Short course 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 255. Film Experience.
Arts and IdeasSection 001.Instructor(s): Herbert J Eagle (hjeagle@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (Excl). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. This course introduces students to central concepts of film analysis – form, narrative, shot, editing, mise-en-scene, spectatorship, visual pleasure, the classical Hollywood style, and film genre. Analytical theories about cinematic form (from Sergei Eisenstein to David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, and Rick Altman) will be explored through close analysis of thirteen American and European films, a process which will illustrate how cinema relies on highly complex and specific signifying practices. We will examine how various systems for conveying narrative and meaning become established, how American film genres have evolved through continual innovation, and how some filmmakers have employed radically new experimental structures that challenged viewers to make sense of unfamiliar form. Critical discussions of the films and the assigned readings will be the key element of our work. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their participation in discussion and four short (5-6 page) papers.
RCHUMS 280 / ENGLISH 245 / THTREMUS 211. Introduction to Drama and Theatre.DramaSection 001.Instructor(s): E.J. Westlake (jewestla@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 281. Introduction to Comedy and Tragedy.DramaSection 001 – Inside the Dramatic Experience: Script Analysis and the Elements of Theater Production.Instructor(s): Katherine Mendeloff (mendelof@umich.edu) , Martin W Walsh (narenlob@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: No credit granted to those who have completed or are enrolled in RC Hums. 280. (4). (HU).
Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. An intensive introduction on how to read a play and interpret it for live stage production. Students will engage the viewpoints of director, actor, and dramaturge (literary/historical specialist) in practical exercises and prepared scenes. Work will focus, in this instance, on modern American one-act plays or scenes from full-length plays from the works of Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Lorraine Hansberry, Sam Shepard, Marsha Norman, Richard Nelson, and others, in a stylistic continuum from Realism through Poetic Realism to the Absurd. Theoretical readings and written exercises will complement Midterm and End-of-Term studio productions of works acted and directed by the members of the course under the direct supervision of the instructors. (Required course for the proposed "Text-into- Performance" minor.)
RCHUMS 282. Drama Interpretation I: Actor and Text.DramaSection 001 – Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov.Instructor(s): Katherine Mendeloff (mendelof@umich.edu)Prerequisites & Distribution: (4). (CE). Credits: (4). Course Homepage: No homepage submitted. In this acting class students will delve into the works of two of the major playwrights of modern European drama, Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekov. Ibsen was both a poet and a social realist – his play The Doll House was a revolutionary work about human freedom. Chekov's intricate portraits of a dying artistocracy in pre-revolutionary Russia inspired the development of Stanislavski's techniques of "method acting" – the basis for modern acting technique. Students will explore several important works by each writer through script analysis and scene study. The actors will also be responsible for dramaturgical research on relevant topics concerning Norway and Russia at the turn of the 20th century. However the emphasis will be active participation in the acting process on these plays. The course is open to students who have taken the First Year Seminar in drama, the Actor and Text course on the American family, and interested students with some previous acting experience.
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