First-Year Seminar: What is Art?

3 units

Great works of literature, theatre, film, painting, music and dance provide us with new, intriguing-and often surprising!-ways of understanding reality. In this Freshman Seminar, we examine a variety of works in various media, paying close attention to works which have significantly altered or challenged the way we view and interpret reality. In an intimate, seminar setting, we analyze and discuss individual works of art from the Greeks to the present day. The course incorporates attendance at live performances (both on-campus and off), along with Master Classes by artists from the Performing Arts Department. Examining works both classical and the avant-garde, What is Art? forces us to understand and question how art complicates, enriches, disturbs and asks questions-both about ourselves and our world.