Perspectives
401
INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS IN
EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVES:
David Means, Associate Professor, First College
David Revill, Community Faculty, First College
(612) 341-7262 (612) 377-2418 (Means)
(715) 426-9079 (Revill)
Messages: (651) 793-3967 (Nobles)
“The audience for everything
has grown in size, and the number of experiences to watch has grown even more
rapidly. These two factors mean that the nature of the audience must
change. When that occurs, our current
standards of excellence need to be rethought and redefined.”
- from
Interactive Excellence by Edwin Schlossberg
Public performances provide a context for audiences to
develop; to engage new ideas presented through performances; to interact with
others in defining excellence; and ultimately participate in a broader
discussion on the nature of art and creativity in expressing cultural values.
Composers David Means and David Revill will lead students in an investigation
into the nature of creativity in performance as an instigator of public
discourse on the arts, and the specific role of audiences as a conversational
medium in which culture may further be defined. The seven-week accelerated format will coincide with Metro
State’s Strange Attractors International Festival of Experimental Intermedia
Art, and students will have the opportunity to view these performances while
speaking directly with artists involved in the productions.
Competence Statement
“Knows the principles
and approaches to interdisciplinary study well enough to be able to analyze,
interpret and critique an interdisciplinary topic from a range of educational
perspectives.”
Evaluation
Written critiques and
class discussion 40%
Project outline 20%
(due session IV – 11/9)
Final Interdisciplinary
Project 40%
(due session VII – 12/7)
Accelerated Learning Class Format
This course consists of seven weekly class sessions and will be reading intensive, with written assignments and a final project expected from each student. Absences cannot be made up and will detract 1/7 for each un-excused occurrence.
Required Texts:
Interactive Excellence: Defining
and Developing New Standards for the Twenty-first Century by Edwin Schlossberg. Ballantine (1998).
Sounding Off: Music as
Subversion/Resistance/Revolution.
ed. Fred Ho and Ron Sakolsky.
Part I
will introduce interdisciplinary perspectives through the study of critical
thinking in cultural contexts applied to the interpretation, analysis and
critique public performances. This will lead students to develop an outline for a specific
interdisciplinary project, including the questions, materials and resources
needed to fully define and implement the project.
I. Introductions & Overview of
Interdisciplinary Study and Cultural Conversations (Means and Revill)
10/19 What
is the nature of interdisciplinary study? How does the study of an
interdisciplinary topic reveal larger questions about the nature of
learning? How can extending
interdisciplinary connections lead to a deeper level of critical thinking? What
is the relationship between content and context? How are cultural values
transmitted through works of art in performances?
Assignments -
1.
Use the Guidelines to Critiquing
Performances to write up a critique of the Deep Narratives Video Band
performance at the Strange Attractors Festival. Make a few short notes during the performance on the Applications for Critical Thinking
sheet and type up a 2-3 page paper for submission next week.
2.
Read
Ch. 1,2 & 3 from Schlossberg text
3. Review
Articles in Ho and Sakolsky text and select 2-3 chapters for discussion
II. Critical and Cultural Theory: The
Nature of the Audience (Revill)
10/26 Dialogue
and Discussion on performances and the nature of audiences
Formulating and Refining Issues and Questions
Defining Issues, topics and Subject Matter: Ho and
Sakolsky chapters
Description, Interpretation and Criticism
Integrating Theoretical Perspectives
with Practical Applications of
Interdisciplinary Study
1. Use the Guidelines
to Critiquing Performances to write up a critique of the Morphos
performance at the Strange Attractors Festival. Make a few short notes during the performance on the Applications for Critical Thinking
sheet and type up a 2-3 page paper for submission next week.
2
Formulate three key questions, which can engage a
response to the performance from various critical perspectives. (Use Integrating Theoretical Perspectives
sheet)
3. Read Ch. 4&5 (pp 34-55) from Schlossberg
text.
4. Select two essays in the Ho and Sakolsky text to
compare and contrast in group discussion (Due
week VI).
5. Begin to formulate your Final Project
Outline (see Guidelines to Final Project
Outline)
III. Communication
and Conversations: Interpreting Cultural Content and Assumptions (Means)
11/2 A
Conversation with Johnny Rodriguez
Formulating Projects as
Cultural Experiments (Mediating Venue and Reception)
Assignments:
1. Use the Guidelines
to Critiquing Performances to write up a critique of Johnny Rodriguez
performance at the Strange Attractors Festival. Make a few short notes during the performance on the Applications for Critical Thinking
sheet and type up a 2-3 page paper for submission next week.
IV. Interdisciplinary Perspectives:
Analyzing Methods and Approaches (Means)
11/9 Due:
Project Outlines
Assumptions and the Reasoning Process
A Conversation with Starri Hedges
Assignments:
1. Use the Guidelines
to Critiquing Performances to write up a critique of the Psycick Slutz
performance at the Strange Attractors Festival. Make a few short notes during the performance on the Applications for Critical Thinking
sheet and type up a 2-3 page paper for submission next week.
Part II
will examine the problems and methods used to complete the interdisciplinary
projects and critique the intellectual process used to evaluate broader
cultural considerations, resulting in the presentations of final interdisciplinary projects.
V. Critical
and Cultural Perspectives: Gathering and Interpreting Evidence (Means)
11/16 Myth, Ritual and Solo Performance
Assignments:
1. Use the Guidelines
to Critiquing Performances to write up a critique of the Heidi Arneson
performance at the Strange Attractors Festival. Make a few short notes during the performance on the Applications for Critical Thinking
sheet and type up a 2-3 page paper for submission next week.
VI.
Critiquing the Process: Evaluating Evidence; Defining Boundaries &
Intersections (Revill)
11/30 Either/Or
vs, Both/And
Group Discussion of Ho and Sakolsky Essays
Assignments:
1.
Complete final
projects
VII. Project Presentations and Class Feedback (Revill and Means)
12/7 Fill out Instructional
Improvement Questionnaires
Assignment Worksheets and
Guidelines:
for
Examining
Creative and Cultural Content
of
Public Performances
List
five creative and cultural aspects of this performance:
Creative Elements Cultural
Elements
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.
How are these elements related?
To each other?
Similarities
Differences
To
other performances?
To a
theme, issue or larger concept?
What
are the cultural implications of these larger concepts and the significance of
their interdisciplinary connections to -
The
artists/writers/creators?
The reader/viewer/listener?
Communities and Society?
Perspectives
401
Examining
Culture Through Conversations on the Arts
Describe
the performance and its creative and cultural elements. List the most important interdisciplinary,
artistic and social aspects and elements of the performance in terms of their
relevant cultural materials. What
expectation did you have at the outset of the performance regarding your
anticipation of artistic and cultural elements?
What
questions best frame the cultural
nature of this performance?
Analyze
the creative and cultural content of this performance in terms of your past
experience as an audience member of similar or related performances.
How
do the creative and cultural elements relate to one another and to the larger
society in which the performance is presented?
What cultural assumptions are you relying upon to form the basis of
your interpretation?
How would you evaluate the quality of the
performance?
In terms of the creative content of
performance materials?
In terms
of the cultural context expressed in the performance?
How would you evaluate the reception and impact of the performance?
-by the
audience?
-by
your classmates?
-by
your own preferences and aesthetic values
How has your critique of the performance
challenged the assumptions you had?
What changes
in your critical thinking have taken place as a result of attending this
performance?
Perspectives
401
Examining
Culture through Conversations on the Arts
Describe
your project and its interdisciplinary elements. List the most important interdisciplinary, artistic and cultural
aspects and elements of the project in terms of their relevant materials.
Describe
the process of undertaking this
project, complete with timeline, interim objectives and the ultimate venue for presenting your project.
What
questions best frame the cultural nature
of your project?
Analyze
the relevant methods of inquiry or creative investigation you plan to use in
this project. How will these methods
allow you to compare, contrast and interpret the information needed to address
the questions raised by your project?
What assumptions are you relying upon to form the
basis of your interpretation of materials?
How
do you envision your project’s reception
and impact?
-
by the instructor?
-
by other class
members?
-
by the general
public?
Edwin
Schlossberg: Interactive Excellence
Defining and Developing
New Standards
For the
Twenty-first Century
1.
Educating the Audience – and the Artist
2.
Changes in Technology Create New Audiences
3.
Standards of Excellence Reveal the Nature of the Audience
4.
The Tools of Communications Change the Conversation
5.
New Standards of Excellence are Needed
6.
Museums and Public Places Provide a Context for Audiences to
Develop
7.
Interacting in the Audience Creates the Possibility of True
Excellence