FALL 2000
This information effective for Fall 2000.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Instructor: Carter Wilson
College 8 Academic Bldg., Room 211
459-4405; 459-3516 (message); georgec@cats.ucsc.edu
office hours: T and Th 2 - 3 at a Kresge location to be announced;
Wednesday 1 - 3 in College 8 office
Kresge 194 T - Th 12:00 to 1:45
Major modern theories and select historial examples of the relation between production in the arts and change in political and social life. Is it only a desire on our parts that our artistic production could have a serious effect on the course and direction of the social milieu in which we live? Why does arts censorship persist in both socialist and free market situations?
How is our thinking enlarged by (or confined by) the history of the role of the artist in western societies? Worldwide, what has been the place of the arts in general and how have socially-concerned artists in particular found ways of making their efforts effective? Examples of attempts at developing a "socially conscious" art will be presented in lectures and reading. Involvement in cultural production at the local level will be required as a course project.
The course will proceed as a seminar, with some lecture presentations by the instructor, extensive discussion of reading and main themes, class reports, and reading and writing to be completed by students outside of class time. Class members are expected to attend all sessions. Absences must be announced in advance (or at worst, in emergencies, through a phone message to me at 459-3516), and accompanied by a plan for making up work lost.
No late work will be accepted.
Level of difficulty / level of expectation is quite high. A lot of reading and writing and a good deal of thinking required. Not for anyone contemplating a four-course load; I definitely recommend thinking of this course as a primary responsibility in the quarter you take it.
Three take-home "essays." Typically, a single question given out in one class session to which a five-page double-spaced typed response is due IN THE FOLLOWING SESSION. The questions will be based on class discussions, and will demand your being up to date on the reading and the films seen. (You should also plan to set aside time in these two-intervals in order to write the papers.)
Dates are for Winter 1999.
January 29 February 3February 19 February 24
March 12 March 17
All required. Available at the Baytree Bookstore. The reader (which as of now is just two essays) will be sold in class. The Rini Templeton book you will need to look at in the McHenry Library (Reserve) copy.
* Benjamin, Walter, ILLUMINATIONS. New York: Schocken
* Kramer, Larry, THE NORMAL HEART (play).
* Kushner, Tony, ANGELS IN AMERICA (Parts 1 and 2). New York: Theatre Communications Group
* Mann, Thomas, DEATH IN VENICE AND SEVEN STORIES. New York, Vintage
* Rich, Adrienne, WHAT IS FOUND THERE. New York, Norton
* Valdez, Luis, ZOOT SUIT AND OTHER PLAYS. Houston, Arte Publico, 1991
There are three feature-length films which are part of this course, "Basquiat," "Zoot Suit" and "La Bamba." The Valdez films will be on reserve at McHenry Library Media Center if you need them for further study (I'm not sure we have "Basquiat," but it's for rent in the local stores).
Thursday, January 8: IntroductionTuesday, January 13: The revealed notion of the "artist"
READING: Mann, "Death in Venice," "Tristan," "Tonio Kroger"
Thursday, January 15: Mann, cont'd.Tuesday, January 20: Another view of "art" and what it does
READING: Begin Rich, WHAT IS FOUND THERE (read whole thing but specials sections will be assigned for individual meetings)
Thursday, January 22: RichTuesday, January 27: Rich
Thursday, January 29: Film "Basquiat" in classTuesday, February 3: Walter Benjamin
READING: Benjamin, "The Nature of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," "Leskov, the Storyteller," and "What Is Epic Theater"
Thursday, February 5: Film "Zoot Suit" in classREADING: Luis Valdez, "Zoot Suit"
Tuesday, February 10: The Culture Industry
READING: Theodor Adorno, two essays (reader)
Thursday, February 12: Film "La Bamba" in classTuesday, February 17: NO CLASS (Exchange Day)
Thursday, February 19: Luis ValdezTuesday, February 24: Rini Templeton
Reading: Spend a couple or three hours in the Library with "The Art of Rini Templeton/El Arte de Rini Templeton" (McHenry Reserve)
Thursday, February 26: "The Normal Heart"READING: Larry Kramer, "The Normal Heart"
Tuesday, March 3: "Angels in America"
READING: Tony Kushner, "Angels in America"
Thursday, March 5: KushnerTuesday, March 10: Kushner
Thursday, March 12: Kushner/Kramer; evaluationTuesday, March 17: Conclusions