Heartland Community College
HFAHS Division
Course Syllabus for Students
COURSE NUMBER/CREDITS: HUMA 276-06, 3 Credit Hours (3-0-3).
COURSE TITLE: American Experience
DAYS/TIMES CLASS MEETS: Spring 2002 meets MW 3:30 p.m.-4:45 p.m. in ICB 1703
CATALOG DESCRIPTION: Prerequisite: completion of SOAR course prerequisites. An
interdisciplinary introduction to American culture from its origins to the present time , including
readings from and discussions of American history, literature, painting, architecture, and
other arts.
RELATIONSHIP TO ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND TRANSFER:
HUMA 276 fulfills 3 of the 9 semester hours of credit in Humanities for the A.A. degree, or 3 of
the required 9 semester hours of credit in Humanities for the A.S. degree.
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:
Robert Mullenix
Office hour will be held by appointment before or
after class in HFAHS adjunct office (ICB Rm.2025)
or by phone at 268-8631. I may also be reached at
home. My home phone number is 829-9439.
TEXT: Craven, Wayne. American Art: History and Culture. Madison, WI: Brown &
Benchmark Publishers and Harry N. Abrams. Inc. 1994.
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION: Instruction will take the form of lectures and group
discussions pertaining to required readings. Most images to be discussed in class are
found in the text and/or in slide format.
INSTRUCTOR’S OBJECTIVES
1. The theme of this class is American identity. As a visual artist, I investigate
this theme through the visual arts. You will be encouraged to engage in
investigation of this theme through other media (ie. Music, film, etc.).
2. I treat this course as an art-history-based American culture studies class. I
operate from the following assumptions:
a. History makes today make sense. History explains who we are as a
nation.
b. Art is ideology. American art betrays American ideology.
3. I intend to treat you as an adult. We will investigate adult topics. I respect
who you are. I respect what you think. I encourage you to express your
opinions.
4. I will prove to be approachable, receptive, conscientious, responsible, timely,
firm and fair. I hope to create a classroom environment which is fun and in
which you feel you may interact freely and constructively.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1.
Recognize some of the major works of painting, architecture, literature, music and
philosophy that have contributed to American life.
2. Identify the principal historical, intellectual and aesthetic movements that have taken
place in America to the present time.
3. Understand the various ways that Americans have come to differ from other world
peoples.
4. Understand the various ways that America has contributed to world events and
western thought and art.
5. Relate the art and thought of the American past to the art and thought of the present
time, and see the continuity between the past and the present.
6. Articulate and communicate the major ideas that have informed America’s principal
intellectual and aesthetic movements.
7. Demonstrate awareness, tolerance, and appreciation of the extent and impact of
cultural diversity in our society as reflected in the visual arts.
8. Recognize and define such American terms as transcendentalism, pragmatism,
naturalism, and modernism.
9. Identify the principal artists, writers, statesmen, philosophers, scientists, and others
who have made major contributions to the American experience.
10. Identify appropriate topics for scholarly research in art appreciation, utilize standard
bibliographic and other research tools, select suitable sources and methodology, and
write papers presenting the results of your research while observing the conventions
of scholarly discourse.
COURSE POLICIES
METHOD OF EVALUATION (Tests, Exams, Grading Systems): Final grades
will be determined by how students score on their two essay tests (each test
accounts for 25% of the final grade), one paper assignment (accounts for 25% of
the final grade), one “respondent” assignment (accounts for 10% of the final
grade) and daily class participation (accounts for 15% of the final grade). The
grading scale is as follows: A=100-90, B=89-80, C=79-70, D=69-60, F=59 and
below.
CLASS PARTICIPATION (Attendance): Students are expected to attend all
classes and to participate meaningfully in the activities each day. Meaningful
participation will depend upon timely completion of the reading assignments,
your willingness and ability to discuss the topics, your cooperation/consideration
of others. Prompt and regular attendance is mandatory.
REQUIRED WRITING: There will be essays on each of the tests. These essays
will be based both upon in-class lecture/discussion and readings. In addition, you
will be required to write one type-written critical paper in MLA style. This paper
is expected to be 8-10 double-spaced typed pages—excluding works cited
pages—in either 10 pt. or 12 pt. font.
REQUIRED READING: Daily reading assignments are listed on the last page of
this syllabus. In addition to assignments from the textbook, required supplemental
readings are on reserve in the HCC library (located in the SCB). These readings
are listed on the syllabus. You are expected to come to class having read the
assignment listed for that class session. Reading assignments will be substantial
(to permit in-depth study). Note that these reading assignments tend to vary in
length and may be heavy. Plan your time accordingly so that you are not caught
unaware of long readings. Completion of these reading assignments will be
assessed through your participation in class discussion.
DEADLINES AND LATE/MISSING ASSIGNMENTS POLICY: Students are
expected to complete their assignments on time. Late assignments will be marked
down ten percentage points. Students will receive a zero for missing assignments.
Students who miss exams will receive a zero. At the instructor’s discretion,
students absent from a test may make the following substitution for the missing
score: an additional type-written critical paper in MLA style (8-10 double-spaced
typed pages—excluding works cited pages—in either 10 pt. or 12 pt. font) on a
topic of the instructor’s choice.
INCOMPLETE GRADES: An incomplete grade may be given to a student who,
by the withdrawal date, can reasonably be expected to pass the course.
Incomplete grades may be granted only when justified by extreme circumstances
(e.g., serious illness, accident, death or serious illness in the immediate family).
Incomplete grades are not given for such reasons as unjustified failure to appear
for the final examination. A written agreement (outlining the requirements to be
met) must be signed by the instructor and the student. The agreed upon
requirements must be completed no later than the end of the following semester
(spring semester for incomplete grades granted during the fall, and the following
fall semester for incomplete grades granted during the spring and summer
semesters). By the agreed upon date, the instructor will assign a grade or the
incomplete will be changed to an ‘F’ if the requirements are not completed.
SUPPORT SERVICES:
Heartland Library Information www.hcc.cc.il.us/library
The Library is located within the SCB Rm. 1200 and is open Mon.-Thurs. 8a.m. to 9
p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. when the college is in session. For more information call
(309) 268-8200.
Tutoring and Academic Support:
These services are available at no cost to the student. They are located in the SCB Rm.
1300. For more information call (309) 268-8231.
Testing Center:
Makeup tests are administered in the SCB Rm. 1300. The Testing Center is open Mon.Thurs. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fri. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information
call (309) 268-8231.
HUMA 276 COURSE CALENDAR
Date
Event or Topic
January
M/14
Introduction/Syllabus & small group discussion
W/16
Text Page(s)
Discussion
The Declaration of Independence
White Priviledge: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh
M/21
Martin Luther King Day—College Campus is closed
W/23
The New World, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 1, Ch. 2
M/28 Nation Building, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 8, Ch. 10: 135-143
W/30 Nation Building
February
M/4
W/6
Romanticism, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 10: 143-152, Ch. 13
Romanticism
Paper Assignment is due February 6
M/11 Transcendentalism
W/13 Transcendentalism
M/18 The Hudson River School, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 15: 198-220
W/20 The Hudson River School & Manifest Destiny
M/25 Realism, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 17, Ch. 23: 338-343
W/27 Realism
March
M/4
W/6
March
The Emerging Majority
Midterm test
11-16: Mid-Term Break (Spring Break)
M/18 The Gilded Age, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 20: 286-299, Ch. 21
W/20 The Gilded Age
M/25 Early Modernism, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 27
W/27 Early Modernism, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 33
April
M/1
W/3
Early Modernism, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 30
Early Modernism, American Art: History and Culture Ch. 31
M/8 Abstract Expressionism, Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture Ch. 17*
W/10 Abstract Expressionism
M/15 Movements of the 60’s, Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture Ch. 19*
W/17 Movements of the 60’s
M/22 Video: The Ad and the Ego
W/24 Discussion: Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising, Jack Solomon*
M/29 Postminimalism, Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture Ch. 22*
May
W/1
Postminimalism
M/6
W/8
Postmodernism Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture Ch. 23*
Postmodernism Postmodernism and Consumer Society, Fredric Jameson*
M/13 Final Exam
*These readings are on reserve in the ASC.
HUMA 276-06
American Experience
Instructor: Robert Mullenix
Respondent Assignment
Due Date:___________________________________(sign up for a date and subject)
Objective: Research your topic and develop a page which “responds” to the subject for
that week.
Step 1. Sign up for a date to present. (This will determine the historical time period and,
to some extent, the specific topic with which you will be dealing. Refer to the syllabus
for subjects and dates.)
Step 2. Research your time period and choose a specific topic. (You may choose to
present information on the visual arts, but as these are covered in lecture, you are
encouraged to investigate other media such as music, film, theater, dance, etc.) Identify
videos, CDs, web-pages, etc. which will facilitate your presentation. (Confirm your
topic with me.)
Step 3. Develop a type-written page which may include historical and/or biographical
information (in the manner of a report) but which MUST include at least three questions
and five audio/visual aids which may be used to stimulate discussion (You might ask
questions which compare/contrast media from the same time period. Avoid questions
resolved with simple yes/no answers).
Step 4. Secure your materials and, as you present your research to the class, facilitate the
discussion of your topic.
HUMA 276-06
American Experience
Instructor: Robert Mullenix
Paper Assignment
Due Date: February 6, 2002
Objective: Write a paper which responds to the theme of the American hero (as defined in the assigned
essays) and which is based upon an American film of your choice.
Engaging the Text
Read “The Paradox of Individualism” by Robert Bellah, et al*. Assess your comprehension of the reading
by answering the following questions for Bellah:
1. Define “modern individualism”. What problems do the authors see with unbridled, absolute
individualism? Why are one’s peers, paradoxically, so important in individualistic American
society, according to the authors?
2. Discuss the assertion made by Karl Marx that individualism is a “bourgeois” capitalist (as
opposed to a group or tribal) value.
3. What constraints (people, institutions, beliefs, etc.) keep you from doing anything you want as
an individual? (Note that not all these constraints need be negative.) Which, if any, are under
your control?
4. According to this reading selection, what roles do women play in the American mythology of
individualism?
5. Bellah and his coauthors argue that the image of the isolated but virtuous hero “corresponds to
doubts about the integrity of the self in the context of the modern bureaucratic organization.”
Discuss why bureaucracy threatens one’s sense of individuality and how the heroes described
by the authors represent a response to this threat.
6. Reread the Declaration of Independence. Does it contain any passages that could be
interpreted as endorsing the notion of individualism? What conception of the individual
emerges from this document?
Read John Langston Gwaltney’s interview with “Charlie Sabatier”*. Assess your comprehension of the
reading by answering the following questions:
1. Sabatier places great value on learning to question one’s assumptions; how and why does he
learn to question his?
2. Debate Sabatier’s assertion that “We don’t need any laws, we don’ t need any constitutions,
we don’t need the Declaration of Independence. All we need to do is treat people with
respect.”
3. Do you agree with Sabatier and Shaw that “all progress depends on the unreasonable man”?
Why or why not?
4. To what extent does Bellah’s “bureaucracy of individualism” explain Sabatier’s experience
with the airline and his reaction to the incident?
Read Robert Ray’s essay “The Thematic Paradigm”*. Assess your comprehension of the reading by
answering the following questions:
1. What are the two basic hero types that Ray describes in American cinema?
2. How do these two hero types relate America’s “psychological pattern”?
3. Explain how, according to Ray, Abraham Lincoln embodied both types of hero.
*These are on reserve in the ASC. Type your answers to the above and turn them in with your paper.
Extending the Critical Context
For your paper, watch a movie of your choice and respond to Ray as well as Bellah and his coauthors as
you compare/contrast your protagonist(s) with Charlie Sabatier. For example, you might watch the movie
Thelma and Louise. How and why does Sabatier’s response to society differ from that of the women
protagonists? What could they learn from each other? Warning: This movie contains graphic rape scenes.
Victims of sexual abuse/violence are encouraged to resume watching after having skipped these scenes.
Your response should be 8-10 type-written pages in length, single-spaced or double-spaced in either 10 pt.
or 12 pt. font. Your response should emphasize original analysis. Late papers will be marked down 10 pts.