Introduction to the Humanities courses usually concentrate
mostly, or even exclusively, on written texts. In this course
we are taking a different approach. We will encounter characters
and themes not simply in a written form, but will consider
each as it appears in and is transformed by a variety of different
media (film, opera, symphonic music). In this way the emphasis
of the course will be not only on reading, but on viewing
and hearing as well, and on consideration of how the medium
itself affects experience. It is our aim to introduce you
to a variety of aesthetic experiences and to the differing
interpretative challenges that each presents. Each unit is
constructed to move from texts that today fall into the category
of high culture or art (Mozart, Shakespeare, Nietzsche)--conventional
elements of the college syllabus--to works of today's contemporary
culture, in order to allow you to see the ways in which this
material is transformed in the process.
The course is designed to address four questions:
(1) How do we experience different media as reader, viewer,
and listener? (2) How does each medium make its impression,
that is, what materials, techniques, strategies are available
to each medium and what are their limits. (3) What are the
interrelationships of high or elite culture to more popular
forms like movies? (4) How do drama, film, and opera develop
and interact over time?
This site was designed and built by Francesca
Draughon.
Contact draughon@stanford.edu
for technical support.
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