HUM 100 Introduction to the Humanities Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

1. HUM 100 Introduction to the Humanities Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D.

2. A course in the arts for business?YES! • Why we are doing this class • we are going to explore creativity • in the individual • in society • in culture • as an expression of who we are and what we are

3. What Defines Us? • Our jobs? • Our homes? • What we like to do? • Our hobbies? • Our relationships? • Our values?

4. How do you "see" the world? • Through your eyes? • How do you interpret what you see? • Values? • Judgements? • How do you interact with the world? • Do you observe or do you participate? • Are you an energetic observer? • Are you an active participant?

5. Are you searching . . . • For reality? • For meaning? • For knowledge? • For values? • What tools do you have for your search?

6. Perception and Judgement • Our perception of the universe is limited by • the physical capacity of our senses • the senses we choose to use • our values and beliefs that will determine what we see • the distortions from our life experiences and prejudices

7. How Do We Perceive The Earth? • Once, not to long ago, we thought that the Earth was the center of the Universe. • Then, we thought the Sun was the center of the Universe. • How do we perceive our planet today?

8. What has affected our ability to understand our world (and our lives)? • We all learned about the world from a map of the Earth. • Yet, this map is quite biased: • Mercator - 1569 • Europe as dominant and larger than S. America which is actually twice its size • Germany is in the middle • Skewed to the Northern Hemisphere where whites traditionally lived • Greenland shows larger than China which is actually 4 times its size • Scandinavia is shown larger than India which is actually 4x as large • 2/3 the map is taken up with the Northern Hemisphere

9. What "Value" Is Creative Expression? • Personally • Professionally • We are going to study perceptions of the world through artists and their art • Many examples throughout history • One particular woman gives us much to think about: • Hildegard of Bingen • yet she is not mentioned in your textbook!

10. In her book De operatione Dei ("The Book of Divine Works") • she presents the three essential elements of a living cosmology. • 1. science: "the greatest gift God has given us is our intellects. • 2. a healthy mysticism: she urges heart knowledge, not just head knowledge. • "Search out the house of your heart."

11. The Third Element: Art • neither science or theology is enough to awaken a people. It is the artist's gift to do the awakening. • The artist takes powerful scientific/spiritual energy and re-creates it, weaves it, sings it, dramatizes it, and ritualizes it. • gets it into the minds and hearts and imagination and bodies of the people. • from there, it moves into the institutions and into forming ones that are needed.

12. She said we experience so much brilliance in our lives that we need allegory to approach it. • She was, and still is, a great awakener with her words, poetry, songs, and music. • With the revival of Greek science, the achievements of the Middle Ages were repudiated and Medieval women scientists were all but forgotten. • She remained forgotten for 800 years, but her words can awakened our minds and spirits.

13. What are your definitions? Write them down now. This is an assignment that will be turned in. You will revise your definitions and turn them in again in workshop #4. • Humanities • art • style • genius • culture

14. The Arts • A way of knowing about life • their study can enhance our ability to think, feel and to cope • as humans, we • symbolize, create • use our intuition • try to explain things • change the patterns of our world • how much of who we are is defined by our culture?

15. What are the Humanities • Our school culture has forced a separation of fields of study • humanities are perceived as "soft" fields, "easier" than the sciences • they are the fields that explore what it is to be human, to think, to feel • the "sciences" have been defined as studying that which is "other" than human • in fact, science tries to remove the senses • There was a time when there was no distinction

16. Continuity of Thought and Creation • In the sciences, new theories replace old ones - new technology is "better" than old • In the humanities, "new" art does not invalidate what came before • Science used to be this way, too. • No restrictions • anything that attempts to communicate a vision of human reality through experiences

17. A Form of Communication • Engages contact with other human beings • Many mediums of expression • doesn't appeal to everyone • Can be profoundly exciting and moving experiences or have little impact • we are often distracted by our issues, circumstances, and distractions • Language of Symbols • what does this mean to you • it's actually an ancient symbol of good luck in Persia and India (Lehner, Ernst, Symbols and Signs, Dover Publications, 1950.)

18. The Functions of Art • Entertainment • Political and Social Commentary • Art Therapy • a Cultural Artifact • an outlet for Creative Expression

19. The Discipline of Art • Two-dimensional art • media • Oils: 15th century. They do not dry quickly and present many texture possibilities • Watercolor: translucency and delicacy • photograph • print • computer • composition: line, form, color, repetition, balance

20. Elements • Form - the shape described by a line • Color - hues and values • Texture

21. Work in Three Dimensions • Sculpture • mass, dimensionality, texture • Many mediums • stone • clay • ice • paper • natural materials

22. Other Multi-dimensional forms • Architecture: combining aesthetics with practicality • Music: symphony, mass, concerto, oratorio, etc. • Theater: genres, plot, character, thought, visual elements, theme, language • Literature: genres, plot, character, thought, theme, language • Film

23. Art Evaluation • The concept of "criticism" has many implications and meanings. • A detailed process of analysis done to gain an appreciation and understanding • examine the artwork's many facets; how they work together to create meaning or experience • personal experience influences our judgement • lack of knowledge of the art form can affect our perceptual skills

24. More on Criticism • Formal Criticism • Contextual Criticsm • Craftsmanship • Communication • What are your own tendencies when you judge a piece of art?

25. The Ancient World • Humans have been around for about 1 million years • about 10,000 years ago, the invention of the plow changed the face of the Earth for all time • Great shifts in climate may have done more than just altered the land and sea • For 25,000 years, the majority of people on the Earth followed Mother-based religions and developed a peaceful, culturally advanced civilization that was unstratified, agricultural, and egalitarian.

26. A Goddess-based culture • Somewhere between 4500 and 2400 B.C., successive waves of Indo-European invaders, with their warrior gods and father-based theologies subjugated the people of old-Europe. • Because their cities were unfortified and exposed and because they lacked military skills, they were conquered by the horse-riding, sky god worshiping invaders who imposed their patriarchal culture and religion on the defeated people.

27. A Culture Changed • The Mother Goddess - the Mother Earth - became the subservient consort of the invader gods, and her attributes and powers were absorbed and came under the domination of a male deity. • Even the power of giving birth or creating life, which had been the natural realm of women and the Mother Goddess, became co-opted and the sky gods created life through their words and will. • There are significant archeological discoveries that show abundant evidence of this historic, matriarchal period.