Humanities Appreciation (IDIS1101), The Renaissance

Georgia Highlands College, Spring 2007

TR 12:30-1:45pm (CRN 20599), I-123

Team Taught by Brian Barr and Laura Musselwhite

Social Sciences Division Phone: 706-295-6300

bbarr@highlands.edu; lmusselwhite@highlands.edu

 

Goals and Outcomes

 

During this course, we hope each of you will improve your skills in the following areas: written communication, critical thinking, and knowledge of the humanities. Specifically we will examine the following learning outcomes, which reflect Georgia Highlands College general education outcomes:

 

Goal 6 – Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze and understand significant ideas from a variety of cultures, eras, and genres

Outcome 2) Students will be able to analyze major themes relevant to the humanities

Outcome 3) Students will gain a deeper perspective on cultural issues relevant to the humanities

Outcome 4) Students will understand historical issues pertinent to their coursework in the humanities

 

Goal 7 – Students will demonstrate an awareness of global and American historical, political, and cultural issues

Outcome 8) Students will demonstrate knowledge of current and historical social systems

Outcome 9) Students will demonstrate knowledge of current and historical political systems

 

Your tests and project are designed with these in mind. You will work closely with your professors, your classmates, and the material, making connections between history, art, and literature that will better explain how the people of these time periods related to each other and the world around them, thus why it is relevant to modern times.

 

Text

 

Mary Ann Frese Witt, et.al., The Humanities, 6th edition, Vol. II. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Mr. Barr and Dr. Musselwhite will assign pages to read from the text throughout the semester.

 

 

Make-ups

 

If you miss one of the first two exams, you must see Mr. Barr and Dr. Musselwhite to schedule a make-up time. This applies to our first two exams only, not the final exam, which you will take on Finals day (listed below, on the Class Outline).

 

Academic Integrity

 

See the following site from the GHC Student Handbook for more information on the repercussions of cheating and plagiarism: http://www.highlands.edu/subwebs/academicaffairs/academicintegritypolicy.htm

 

Disability Statement

 

          Any student who feels they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should make an appointment with the College Access Center (706-802-5003) to coordinate reasonable accommodations. You are also welcome to contact me privately to discuss your specific needs.

Extended Absence Policy

          Students, who have circumstances that prevent them from continuing to attend classes over an extended period of time, sometimes request that the faculty member permit them to submit work in absentia to receive credit to complete the course. If the concurrent absences will constitute more than 15% of the class sessions for the term, then written permission from the Division Chair is required before any course assignments can be completed while missing class.  The student must be in good academic standing in the course to make the request.  All approved coursework must be completed by the end of the semester in which the course was begun. (Note: If a program has a more stringent absence policy than this, then the program policy prevails.)

 

Financial Aid

 

          This message only applies to student receiving financial aid. Federal regulations state that if a student did not attend classes and received failing grades, then the grades were not earned and financial aid needs to be reduced accordingly. Please be advised that any student receiving a 0.00 GPA will be required to prove that the 0.00 GPA was earned by attending classes or completing requirements for each class. Students who have earned at least one passing grade for the semester will not be affected by this regulation. If a student has properly withdrawn from all classes, the student’s financial aid should be adjusted from the time they signed the withdrawal form.

 

Tests

 

          There will be three exams this semester, including a non-comprehensive final. All exams are part short answer, part essay, and part visual identification. They will count the following percentages toward your final grade: exam 1 -- 20%; exam 2 -- 20%; final – 20%. 20% of your grade will come from your research assignment. The final 20% of your grade comes from in-class work.

 

Research Project

 

          You will complete a research assignment on a topic of your choice related to the Renaissance. In this assignment, you must include elements of history, literature and art. Your professors will assist you in a choice of topic appropriate to this type of class. You will be required to have at least four sources. You will need a bibliography to accompany your project. We will discuss the parameters of the assignment in detail during class. The project will be due Tues., April 10.

 

Class Outlines

 

Tues., Jan. 9 – Introduction to class

 

Thurs., Jan. 11 – Birth of the Renaissance

 

Tues., Jan. 16 – Humanism -- Petrarch

 

Thurs., Jan. 18 – Transitions – Giotto, Duccio

 

Tues., Jan. 23 – Guest speaker on music

 

Thurs., Jan. 25 – Transitions – Boccaccio, Chaucer

 

Tues., Jan. 30 – Italian Politics

 

Thurs., Feb. 1 – Religious issues and the Papacy

 

Tues., Feb. 6 – Art – Donatello, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi

 

Thurs., Feb. 8 – Exam 1

 

Tues., Feb. 13 – Querelles des femmes – “The Woman Question”

 

Thurs., Feb. 15 – Humanist literature – Pico della Mirandola

 

Tues., Feb. 20 – Humanist literature -- Machiavelli

 

Thurs., Feb. 22 – High Renaissance Politics – the Medici

 

Tues., Feb. 27 -- High Renaissance Art – Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian

 

Thurs., March 1 – High Renaissance Art – Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian

 

Thurs., March 1 –  Midterm – the last day to withdraw without penalty

 

Tues., March 6 – Late Renaissance Art – Mannerism, Tintoretto

 

Thurs., March 8 – Exam 2

 

Tues., March 13 – Northern Renaissance

 

Thurs., March 15 – English literature – More, Shakespeare

 

Week of March 19 – Spring Break, no class

 

Tues., March 27 – English literature -- Shakespeare

 

Thurs., March 29 – Continental literature – Montaigne, Cervantes

 

Tues., April 3 – Querelles des Femmes, II – Marguerite de Navarre

 

Thurs., April 5 – Religious literature – Catholic vs. Protestant

 

Tues., April 10 – Northern Art – Van Eyck, Durer. Research project due.

 

Thurs., April 12 – Guest speaker on music

 

Tues., April 17 – Northern Art – Holbein, Bruegel

 

Thurs., April 19 – Tying it all Together -- Renaissance Concepts in Focus

 

Tues., April 24 – Tying it all Together -- Renaissance Concepts in Focus

 

Thurs., April 26 – last day of class

 

Tues., May 1, 12:00-2:00pm – Final Exam