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Art/Philosophy 395:
20th CENTURY ART AND PHILOSOPHY IN DIALOGUE
Spring, 1999
Required Texts
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Jacques Derrida |
Truth in Painting |
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Michel Foucault |
This Is Not a Pipe |
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Wassily Kandinsky |
Concerning the Spiritual in Art |
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Robert Morris |
Continuous Project, Altered Daily |
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Steven Ross, ed. |
Art and Its Significance |
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Cruz, Smith, and Jones |
Cindy Sherman Retrospective |
In addition to these texts, a copy packet of required readings
is available at the Bookstore.
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Course Description
In this course, we will examine a number of the ways that
philosophy and modern art have come into dialogue with each other.
These dialogues have taken many different forms: philosophers
have written about artists and their works, artists have appropriated
the ideas of philosophers and created works that are indirectly
and in some cases directly inspired by their readings of philosophers,
art historians have used the ideas of philosophers to interpret
artistic works, art historians have responded to philosophical
commentaries on artistic works, artists and philosophers have
collaborated on joint works. Through the semester, we will read
textual documents and examine slides of the relevant works; we
will also explore how art-historical and philosophical training
and "prejudices" lead to different views on both the
art and philosophy.
Course Requirements
This course is organized as a seminar, which means that active
student participation is both expected and required. There will
be a good deal of reading, and students will be expected to do
all of the assigned reading and to come to class ready to discuss
and/or ask questions about what they read. Formal work for the
class will include the following:
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Two Seminar Presentations-done in teams of two students (15%/20%): |
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The seminar presentation will consist of a 3-5 page written summary
of the reading assigned for class. This summary should be done
in time to be duplicated for the members of the class, and will
be read in class. In addition to summarizing the assigned reading,
the written summary can (and should) raise questions for discussion.
These questions can be exegetical (e.g., "what does Heidegger
mean when he defines art as 'the happening of truth'?"),
critical (e.g., "is Sherman's critique of representation
ultimately more effective than Morris's or Lyotard's"?),
or associative/comparative (e.g., "in what ways have the
German expressionist painters understood, and how have they misunderstood,
Nietzsche's philosophical position?"). |
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Term Paper: 18-20 page research paper, due May 11. (35%) These
papers are to be co-written with another student. No extensions
will be granted except for medical emergency. The topic for this
paper will be determined by the students in consultation with
the instructors. In connection with this final paper, keep in
mind the following requirements/deadlines: |
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April 8: |
turn in a one-paragraph description of topic with annotated bibliography. |
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April 15: |
turn in detailed outline. |
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April 22: |
turn in 4 copies (two anonymous) of a 5-page thesis statement
that describes your project in some detail. Two copies will be
evaluated by the instructors, and two copies will be evaluated
by fellow students. |
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April 27: |
turn in comments on one another's thesis statements (copy final
page summary and submit this to the instructors). |
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May 11: |
Paper Due. |
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3. |
Seminar Report: a 15-20 minute summary presentation of your final
paper (15%). |
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4. |
Position Papers/Class Participation: each week that you don't
make a seminar presentation, submit on Thursday a one-page typed
commentary on some aspect of the reading of that week. These
papers will be graded and will comprise a part of your overall
seminar participation grade component Alternatively, you may
choose to submit via email (to ANGER and SCHRIFT) by 9:00 am
two questions that will generate thoughtful discussion. (15%) |
The final grade will be determined on the basis of these assignments
and general performance in class during the course of the semester.
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Tentative Course Outline
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Date |
Assignment |
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Jan. 26: |
Introduction |
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Foucault, This Is not a Pipe |
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Jan. 28: |
Foucault, This Is not a Pipe |
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Feb. 2: |
Kant, Analytic of the Beautiful in Ross, pp. 95-113 |
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Feb. 4: |
Kant, Discussion |
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Feb. 9: |
Derrida, "Parergon" pp. 34-82 in Truth in Painting |
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Feb. 11: |
Discussion of Derrida |
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Feb. 16: |
Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art |
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Greenberg, "The Modernist Painting" (handout) |
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Feb. 18: |
Du Duve, "Kant After Duchamp" (copy) |
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Feb. 23: |
Nietzsche, selections from Thus Spoke Zarathustra (copy)
and Birth of Tragedy in Ross (162-167), Birth of Tragedy
(sections 3-5; handout), Attempt at a Self-Criticism in
Ross (168-178), Gay Science (handout), Twilight of
the Idols (copy), On the Genealogy of Morals (handout) |
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Feb. 25: |
Jill Lloyd, selection from German Expressionism: Primitivism
and Modernity (copy) |
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Mar. 2: |
Video |
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Morris, Chapters 1-6, |
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Mar. 4: |
Morris, Chapter 13-14 |
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Mar. 9: |
Foster, "The Crux of Minimalism" (copy) |
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Chave, "Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Power" (handout) |
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Mar. 11: |
To be Decided |
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Mar. 16: |
Heidegger, "On the Origin of the Work of Art" in Ross,
254-280 |
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Mar. 18: |
Schapiro, Selections (copy) |
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Mar.19-Apr.5 |
Spring Vacation |
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Apr. 6: |
Derrida, "Restitutions" from Truth in Painting,
pp. 256-323 |
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Apr. 8: |
Derrida, "Restitutions" pp. 323-382 |
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Description and Bibliography Due. |
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Apr. 13: |
Foucault, "Las Meninas" in Ross, pp. 440-454 |
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Apr. 15: |
Lyotard, "The Sublime and the Avant Garde" (copy) |
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Outline Due. |
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Apr. 20: |
Owens, "The Discourse of Other: Feminists and Postmodernism"
in Ross, pp. 591-598 |
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Cruz and Smith essays in Cindy Sherman Retrospective |
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Apr. 22: |
Jones essay in Cindy Sherman Retrospective |
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Thesis Statement Due |
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Apr. 27: |
Student Reports |
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Apr. 29: |
Student Reports |
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May 4: |
Student Reports |
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May 6: |
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May 11: |
Student Reports |
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May 13: |
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May 11: |
Final Paper Due |
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