Syllabus

Kingsborough Community College
The City University of New York

HUM 1: Modern Humanities: Arts & Ideas - 3 credits

Mondays: 2:30-5:00pm Room 404 Course Instructor: Ms. Seltzer MissSeltzer@gmail.com

College Now Description: This course introduces students to outstanding literature, art, film and music from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. By exploring the way these subjects are related, students develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of modern American culture and the individuals who influenced the humanities.

Explanation: The Humanities give students a chance to find a cultural identity. The study of art, music, literature, theater, dance, film and other creative cultural endeavors in an interrelated historical context can lead to the discovery of the meaning in life

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will have:

1. become acquainted with the human tradition as expressed in its literature, philosophy, and the arts;

2. become familiar with seminal modern ideas and theories as expressed through literature, philosophy, and the arts;

3. examine underlying assumptions about and ways of seeing literature, philosophy, and the arts;

4. think critically about the humanities by looking outward at the world and formulating thoughtful and informed ideas about it; and

5. understand themselves as persons whose identities are shaped through participation in a wider community and longer history.

Textbook: Gloria K. Fiero: The Humanistic Tradition, Vol. 6, McGraw-Hill, 2003.

Methods of Evaluation:

• Midterm Paper (20%)
• Final Paper (20%)
• Final Exam (20%)
• Blog (20%)
• Class attendance/homework/participation in activities (20%)

You are expected to attend every class for the full time. Any lateness or early departures will be added together. Any missed classes above 2 full sessions MUST be made up in order to earn credit for the course.

Topical Course Outline:

1. Chapter 32

What is Humanities?

Robert Frost: Selected Poems

Early Twentieth Century Art: Cubism/Futurism/Fauvism

2. Chapter 33

The Human Psyche/Sigmund Freud

“The Metamorphosis” Franz Kafka

e.e.cummings: Selected Poems

Expressionism/ Surrealism

Movie: Frida

3. Chapter 34

The Great Depression WWII

Elie Weisel: Night

Art Spigelman: Maus I&II

4. Chapter 35

Existentialism

Jackson Pollack: Selected Artwork

Dylan Thomas: Selected Poems

Frank Lloyd Wright/ Trip to Guggenheim Museum

5. Chapter 36

Harlem Renaissance

Civil Rights Movement Feminism

Langston Hughes: Selected Poems

Maya Angelou: Selected Poems

Gwendolyn Brooks: Selected Poems

Film: History of Jazz

6. Chapter 37

Postmodernism

Globalism

Ethnic Identity

Film: The Godfather

7. Chapter 38

Pop Art/Advertising/Visual Arts

Hip Hop

“Def Poetry Jam” Russel Simmons