Dr. Jo-Anne Berelowitz
Art 694, Spring 2015
Room 512A, Tues. 3:30-6:00
Office hours: T. 11:00 – 1:00 and by appt.
Office: 510, tel 4995
email: jberelow@mail.sdsu.edu
Considerations for artists via self-fashioning, self portraiture, autobiography, memoir
Description:
Most of us assume, without thinking about it, that we each posses a unique self and that we can “express” that self in
our work. It was not always so. The “self” has a complex history that we can track in specific forms such as selfportraiture, autobiography, memoir, and, even, architecture (the idea of private space). This course offers an
introduction to these issues.
Structure:
For the first weeks we will discuss specific, assigned readings. During the last 3 meetings each student will present a 20
minute report on a research topic. Research may be undertaken on a topic relevant to your MA or MFA thesis, but is to
be chosen in consultation with the instructor for this course. Every student is REQUIRED to meet with me to discuss
the research topic. Given the theme of this course, the topic of your paper could be a narrative of your development as
an artist. It could be a journal that you keep throughout the semester. It could focus on an issue that your work engages
and that you are driven to explore. Whatever you choose to write on, it should be something that furthers your
understanding of your work and that assists you in developing your MFA thesis. A 15 page (text) paper, plus endnotes,
bibliography and illustrations, will be due not later than Monday, May 12. Please number your pages!
Determination of course grade:
60% for participation in class discussion and presentation of one report in class.
40% for the final presentation and written paper
Note that because this is a seminar, the success or failure of the class depends on every student being well prepared to
discuss each article each week. To further this goal, each week students will prepare the following:
1) a short statement (a few sentences ONLY) establishing the purpose or main point(s) or theme(s) of the articles
assigned for the week and brief discussion of whether or not the writer has succeeded in making a convincing
argument.
2) 4 questions or 4 ideas for discussion arising out of the assigned articles.
The statement and questions together should be no more than one page in length, preferably typed. These notations of
ideas and issues will be collected each week. My assumption is that if your summaries and questions are not prepared,
you are unprepared to contribute to the success of that meeting’s class discussion. Late submissions will be recorded,
but not included in your final grade assessment. In other words, you MUST hand your summaries in, but if they are
late, they will not contribute to your final grade. If weekly summaries are missing at the end of the semester, an
Incomplete or a U will be issues for the course.
Written summaries of and questions on the assigned articles and class participation will each be graded for each
meeting as follows:
4=A; 3=B; 2=C; 1=3: 0=F.
These scores will be added up to arrive at the ‘participation’ part of the course grade. The final grade may be a plus or
minus grade, eg B+ or B-. A log will be kept of these evaluations.
Additionally, each student will be responsible for preparing a 7-10 minute discussion of an article. The purpose is to
generate and stimulate discussion. Choose to focus on an issue from one of the assigned articles that seems particularly
relevant or controversial to bring up for general discussion. (Depending on class size, each student usually does two or
three presentations during the semester. Sometimes articles are short and students may then cover more than one article
for the week or may be expected to cover an article for a subsequent week. Sometimes more than one student may be
assigned to a reading.)
Attendance policy:
Attendance is a basic, mandatory requirement in this seminar style course. This means attendance at all classes,
including those scheduled for student reports. Unexcused and excessive absences will be taken into account in
determining the final grade. Excessive absences will result in a Fail grade for the class.
Required texts:
Much of the material we will be reading is available on-line or as a scanned pdf on Blackboard. You will need to
purchase 3 books which I recommend doing via Amazon – cheaper than our bookstore, especially if you purchase used
copies. They are:
Annie Dillard, The Writing Life, Harper, 1989
Anne Truitt, Daybook, Scribner, 1982
Witold Rybcznski, Home: a short history of an idea, Penguin, 1986
Learning outcomes objectives for this course:
Through oral and written presentations and weekly reports, students will demonstrate engagement with and
understanding of the historical construction of the concepts “self-fashioning,” self portraits, autobiography, memoir,
changes in the concept of “home.” In their 15 -20 page papers (due at the end of the semester), they will give evidence
that they understand their own position within this historical construction.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Week 1, Jan 22
Classes commence week 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Week 2, January 2
Introdution
Discussion of syllabus and issues to be addressed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Week 3, February 3
An introduction: “Self-fashioning,” the “self,” “selfies.” What are the similarities and differences between these
approaches?
Harvard Magazine: Self-Fashioning in Society and Solitude: On crafting a liberal-arts education
Stephen Greenblatt, Renaissance Self-fashioning: from More to Shakespeare. Read the “Preface” and the
“Introduction”, available via Amazon as the excerpt to sell Greenblatt’s book.
Wikipedia on “Self-fashioning”
Wikipedia entry on “Selfie”
BBC News - Self-portraits and social media: The rise of the 'selfie'
#Thinkfluencer episode 1: Selfies - video | Technology | The Guardian
Self-portraiture
Excerpts from: The Self-portrait: a cultural history, James Hall
“Introduction,” 6-11; “A Craze for Mirrors,” 30-49
Discussion leaders:1) ________________________ 2) ______________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Week 4, February 10
Self-portraiture
Via Love Library, access The Art Bulletin, Vol. 76, No. 3, September 1994: Review: Peter Parshal on Joseph Leo
Koerner’s The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art, U. Chicago Press, 1993
*Joseph Leo Koerner. The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art.
“Prosopopoeia,” 3-33; ”Law of Authorship,” 203-223,
Discussion leaders:1) ________________________ 2) ______________________
Week 5, February 17
Autobiography and authorship
Patricia Hampl, “The invention of autobiography: Augustine’s Confessions” I could tell you stories, sojourns in the
land of memory, Norton, 1999, pp. 166-183
Michel Foucault, “What is an author?” On-line
Discussion leaders:1) ________________________ 2) ______________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Week 6, February 24
The Memoir
Autobiography vs Memoir: The Changing Landscape of Recollective Writing - online
The Fundamental Differences between Memoir and Autobiography
Patricia Hampl, “The Need to Say It,” I could tell you stories, 195-207
---“Memory and Imagination,” 21-37
Discussion leaders: 1)________________________ 2)______________________
Week 7, March 3
The Creative Life
Annie Dillard, The Writing Life, Harper, 1990
Discussion leaders: 1)________________________
2)______________________________
Week 8, March 10
Journaling and creativity
Anne Truitt, Daybook: the Journal of an Artist, Scribner, 1982, Introduction, Preface, 1974-1978 pp. 3-174
Discussion leaders: 1)____________________
2) _____________________________
3)_______________________ 4)_______________________________
Week 9, March 17
Domestic Space/Place
Witold Rybczeynski, Home: a short history of an idea, Penguin, 1986
Foreward, Chapter one (Nostalgia), Chapter Two (Intimacy and Privacy), Chapter Three (Domesticity) pp. vii-76
Discussion leaders: 1)________________2)______________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Week 10, March 24
Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space (a classic text on the experience of intimate space, first pub. 1958). Available
on-line as a PDF.
Read: the first 2 and last 2 pages of Bachelard’s Introduction. It is dense but does provide a framework for the more
accessible chapters that follow; Chapter 1: The house from cellar to garrett, 3-37
Life at Home in the 21st Century: 32 families open their doors, Jeanne E. Arnold, Antony P. Graesch, Ezo Ragazzini,
Elinor Ochs, Cotzen Institute Press, UCLA, 2012.
Discussion leaders: 1)_______________________
2)__________________________
Week 11, March 31
SPRING BREAK
-----------------------------Week 12, April 7
Non-places
Marc Auge, Non-places: Introduction to an anthropology of supermodernity, Verso, 1995
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Week 13, April 14
Study time for presentations
Week 14, April 21
Student presentations
Please note: presentations are to be kept to 20 minutes. Please time yourself so that you are able to complete your
presentation within this time. You will be stopped after the timer goes off, whether or not you are done. This is to
ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to complete their presentations within the class period.
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Week 15, April 28
Student presentations
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Week 16, May 5
Student presentations
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Papers are due in my office by noon., Monday, May 13. Please note that papers handed in late will be docked a full
grade for each day of lateness.