Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map
When we learn, several levels of learning take place, sometimes at
the same time. But basically, most of what happens can be talked
about by referring to three components.
The first component is our motivation for learning, that is,
why we are doing it. Often this component isn’t as clear as it should
be and we end up using “to get a grade” as our motivation. Or
sometimes our motivation is a pretty big one like “to get a better
job,” which actually includes other areas of our life. But if our
motivation comes from knowing what a particular learning situation
can do for us then what you need to do and why you’re doing it is
much clearer and, consequently, there is less frustration.
The second component is the goals we need to set in order to
accomplish the learning. These can vary from person to person
depending upon what background he or she brings to the learning
situation. If a person is a musician then she would NOT need to
learn the vocabulary for a music appreciation class. But a nonmusician would have to make learning the vocabulary used in music
one of his goals for understanding the course content. And often
there are little goals inside bigger goals.
Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map-2
The third component is the tools we use to accomplish the
goals. This component includes any reading, activities, tests,
lectures, presentations, etc. that we DO for the learning
situation. Tools also include using a dictionary, practicing skills
(such as using the library or the Internet, writing a bibliography,
or practicing an instrument), watching a video outside of class-that is, any object or activity we use to accomplish our goals.
Now let’s look at these three components as they apply to HUM
210--
Motivation--The main motivation for taking HUM 210 (and a
large part of why the State of Illinois requires students to take
humanities courses) is to help you master the thinking skills
associated with the Arts. A good thinker, someone who can
handle any situation which comes her way, has more than one
way of thinking about things. The “logical” approach we gain from
the sciences and math is not always the best way to deal with a
situation. Sometimes we need to make connections between
ideas, be more creative, brainstorm a little and this may require
us to notice details and look for patterns, a skill we can acquire
by engaging with the arts.
Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map-3
How we do this is through the approach called hermeneutics.
Hermeneutics teaches us to look at a subject from many different
perspectives and make connections between and among those
perspectives. It is a very global way of looking at things--and very
creative. But in order for the arts to help us think more
hermeneutically, we must engage with them, really look and listen and
touch. We must make decisions about them, see how they connect up,
and discover how they are made.
A second motivation for studying the arts which is a little harder to
turn into a syllabus is that the arts make your life fuller, your
imagination more detailed, and your sense of the world larger. We’re
not talking about that “well-rounded person” line that is often given as
a justification for studying the arts. What we’re talking about is the
fact that “making things” is one of the most basic human practices
there is and we just simply are meant to DO art. It may be, in the
end, that thing which makes us most fully human. (After all, when’s
the last time you saw a bear decorate his cave?)
Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map-4
Goals--An example of one of the specific goals included in this
course is learning the vocabulary associated with hermeneutics
and the arts. Although there aren’t long lists of words to
memorize, there are terms which you will have to learn and will
then be expected to use in your assignments.
Another goal will be to become familiar with several examples of
the arts from the Western European tradition. In order to do
this you will be visiting various websites as well as using the
material posted on the course website. Therefore, if you are not
too familiar with getting around the Internet, one of your
smaller goals within the larger goal will be to become familiar
with how your browser works, how to save pages and images, and
how to search for other material on your own.
There are specific goals for the course, but everyone may have
different smaller goals they need to accomplish in order to do
the larger ones. But that’s where the teacher comes in. I am
available (via email, the Agora, and the MOO) to give you any
help you may need in accomplishing whatever goals you have.
Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map-5
Tools--The tools for HUM 210 include the activities, readings/lectures,
Agora postings, MOO sessions, related sites, etc.--any activity or
object you use to work toward your goals. They may also include
anything you use or do to reach the smaller goals, like instructions on
how to use your web browser. That is, tools include anything used to
accomplish a goal including material objects as well as tools for thinking.
The “Object”
Goals result in objects--something which demonstrates the accomplishment of the goal. An object can be a material thing or something less
tangible such as a plan or idea. These objects also demonstrate the
outcome of your motivation.
So here’s the real deal. If your motivation is just to get a
grade then your “objects” will reflect that. But if your
motivation is to acquire the thinking skills associated with the
arts, your “objects” will be well-thought out and demonstrate
your best efforts.
Now, on to a concept map to
help you connect all this upah, we’re using hermeneutics already!
HUM
210
Concept Map
MotivationTo acquire
the thinking
skills
associated
with the
Arts
GoalTo understand
the role of
the Arts in
our lives
GoalTo become
familiar with
examples of
the Western
European arts
GoalTo learn the
methods of
hermeneutical
analysis
GoalTo understand
the arts as
cultural
practices
HUM210 Concept Map-cont.
ToolsRead “Art
and Culture:
Who We
Are”
ToolsRespond to
the fonts
used in the
syllabus
GoalTo understand
the role of the
Arts in our
lives-e.g.Visual
Discrimination
ToolsDesign flyer
for lecture
by Geertz
and Langer
ToolsRead Lecture
materials for
Unit One
ObjectsAgora posting based on your activity in “Eyes
on Art” and the flyer assignment.
Writing Assignment One
ToolsDo an activity
from the
“Eyes on Art”
website
HUM 210 Concept Map--Summing Up
I’ve only created a concept map for the first goal to give you
an idea of how things connect up. I also only included the tools
found in the first unit, but there would be tools from each unit
that would help you to reach this goal. Yet another tool for
you to use would be to make your own concept maps for the
other three goals.
Many of the tools go with more than one goal. For example,
the article “Art and Culture: Who We Are” will also be a tool
for the fourth goal--understanding the arts as cultural
practices. The visit to the website “Eyes On Art” will also help
you toward the goal of learning representative examples of
Western European artworks.
One of the reasons we use hermeneutics is that it prepares us
for dealing with material that does not neatly break down into
separate categories. As you make your concept maps notice
how many tools work for more than one goal or how sometimes
goals temporarily act as tools for other goals--e.g., learning
to understand the role of the arts in our everyday life acts as
a tool for understanding the arts as cultural practices.
This course is going to allow you to do something many other
courses do not--create your own knowledge and present your
own reactions to that knowledge. And you will do that by
making connections and commenting on those connections.
As a friend of mine once said-the arts help us to know
what may be thought.