nclc398

This learning community explores the ways in which art confronts or breaks one or more social taboos, insults or challenges traditional values, and creates scandal and shock, sometimes inadvertently, as in the recent case of "The Dust Cries Out" by sculptor Karen Swenholt of Falls Church, and other times in a deliberate attempt to subvert conventional mores. Additionally, we will explore how Transgressive art often re-appropriates conventional images in an effort to re-imagine or reinvent social experiences. Our investigation will necessarily examine a variety of controversial work, and students will engage in experiential learning outside classroom as part of course requirement.

This course contains a very small discussion/lecture component and a significant field studies component—we will be out visiting galleries more than we will be in the classroom. We will examine and experience transgressive art by visiting local galleries and engaging with artists in their studios and in the classroom. Though the focus of this course will be on visual and performance art, we will occasionally address other types of artistic transgressions. We will also explore the aesthetics, important issues, controversies, ideas, and impact of transgressive art through readings, active class discussions, and online blogging. Students will synthesize their learning experiences, as well as their understanding of the theoretical concepts discussed in class, through the production of a final group creative project presentation that focuses on a previously unexplored artist or specific theme/genre. A short final integrative essay will also be required, in which students will synthesize their learning experiences individually.

Learning Objectives:

Write and think critically about how formal and aesthetic qualities of art help produce meaning.
Understand some of the historical, cultural, and political contexts that often inform the production of transgressive art.
Be able to articulate how ideologies and personal beliefs/concepts influence the ways that we organize knowledge and construct meaning, that in turn affect what we see and how we see it.
Learn to identify and intelligently discuss art that transgresses socially and politically constructed boundaries.
Garner an appreciation for non-traditional and controversial artistic practices through interactive and immersive experiences with artists and their art.

Commitment to Diversity:

This class will be conducted as an intentionally inclusive learning community that celebrates diversity and welcomes the participation in the life of the university of faculty, staff and students who reflect the diversity of our plural society. All may feel free to speak and to be heard without fear that the content of the opinions they express will bias the evaluation of their academic performance or hinder their opportunities for participation in class activities. In turn, all are expected to be respectful of each other, as well as artist guests and/or others outside the university with whom we come into contact through the course of this class, without regard to race, class, linguistic background, religion, political beliefs, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, veteran’s status, or physical ability.

Required Texts: all readings will be provided to you via handouts and website links.

Course Assignments: Students will demonstrate competence of the learning objects in the following ways:

Regular and interactive blog entries in response to readings, class discussions, artist talks, and gallery exhibits on the class blog, as assigned.
Active and engaged participation in class discussions, field trips, and with guest artists and curators.
Production of a creative group project presentation.
A final integrative essay.

Blog Response Assignments:

Prior to each class (with the exception of the date of group presentations), you will be responsible for contributing your thoughts, reflections, and responses to readings, class discussions, gallery visits and artist talks online at your class blog. These regular responses will give you many opportunities to reflect upon the readings, exhibits, and interactions with artists, as well as help you further develop your own insights about aesthetics and culture, and hone your critical thinking and (creative) writing skills.

If, for any reason, you are unable to get online to the blog to post your response by the date/time it is due, you must still turn in your response via email or in class on the morning it is due. Late responses will not be accepted. Blog responses are worth 30% of the total grade; therefore, missing even one blog response can affect your final grade; missing two or more will substantially lower your final grade.

Attendance, Participation, and Preparation for Class:

Because this course only meets a limited number of days and times, I expect you all to be at each and every class. In-class assignments and class participation make up 15% of your final grade; obviously, you cannot participate if you are not present, so missing class can affect your participation grade. If we have any in-class assignments, this work cannot be made up. Furthermore, missing even one day can significantly affect your learning experience and make it more difficult for you to synthesize what you learned at the end of the two weeks.

Please be sure to also read all assignments, actively participate in discussions on the blog, and, on days we have readings, come to class prepared to discuss those readings. When we go to gallery exhibits and have opportunities to speak with gallery staff or artists, I expect you all to ask questions and engage actively in discussions.

Final essays turned in after the due date will be marked down one letter grade per day. No work that is more than four days late will be accepted without a valid written excuse (medical emergencies, family crises, etc.).

Also, because we will be making a number of field trips (and have a relatively short amount of time to do so), you will need to be flexible on those days due to transportation requirements (perhaps willing to arrive to campus a little later than class-end time, bring your lunch with you, or be prepared to eat out, etc.). I will let you know as soon as possible when I expect the need for such flexibility.

Creative Group Project Presentation:

For your group project presentation, you will locate an artist that we did not cover in class or focus on a genre of transgressive art (i.e. by theme – sexuality, the body, religion, poverty, etc.) that you would like to explore further. In a creative and visual way, you will present your examination and analysis of the main issues that arise within the artwork, how the work transgresses certain social, political, or personal boundaries, the reactions to the work (both within your group and from the public, per articles or published responses to the work), as well as the aesthetics and how these elements (color, use of light, stage setting, format, medium, lines, etc.) helps to reinforce or further illuminate meaning/s.

While this project presentation will certainly be interpretive (your own understanding of meaning, use of aesthetics, and so forth), you will also need to be sure to integrate at least two of the primary concepts and/or arguments that you came into contact with during the course through readings, class discussions, and/or discussions with artists so that you are applying theories to practice.

For this course, we’re focusing on visual art, but any medium of art can be transgressive, so this is also your chance to open up your exploration to include music, poetry, short stories, performance, film, etc. and apply what you learned to another medium. Be creative! As long as you are covering the main points, feel free to be wild, crazy, and break the boundaries of typical or traditional forms of presentation! Please be sure to use visuals (you will have full use of the computer equipment for this presentation), so you aren’t just a bunch of talking heads in front of the classroom. And the more engagement you have with the class, the better.

A few examples of the questions you may pose while examining your chosen artist and/or theme might be:

In what historical or social/political context was the art produced and what effect do any of these contexts have on the art?
Describe the aesthetics and how the art displayed or exhibited. Were any of these elements particularly effective? If so, how?
Whose values, morals, traditions, or beliefs would this art possibly conflict with and how? How does it potentially shock or offend?
Were there any public outcries in response to this art? What, if any, controversies arose as a result?
What kinds of questions or challenges are being posed by the art?
Does the art effectively get its point and/or messages across? How so?

This group project presentation will count as 25% percent of your final grade. Additionally, you will each review and “grade” your peers’ participation and contribution to the group project, which will count for an additional 10% of the final grade.

Final Integrative Essay Assignment – to be emailed to me at kscotta@gmu.edu by midnight on Monday, January 19th.

This final essay must sum up your own learning experience in this course. Although I’m most interested in quality over quantity (of pages), in order to thoroughly explore your learning experiences, you will likely need to write between 4-6 pages. But of course, the length will depend on your individual writing skills. It’s often much harder to write a shorter, more succinct essay that effectively covers the topic than a longer one, so keep that in mind. The final integrative essay will count for 20% of your final grade.

Use the following questions to help guide your work on the paper. Of course, if there are any issues or thoughts that you would like to address that are not covered by these questions, feel free to expand your discussion.

Why did you choose to take this course and what were you hoping to learn? Did the course meet your learning expectations? If so, how so? If not, please explain.
Reflecting back on your thoughts and attitude about your experiences or contact with similar art previous to this class, what biases and/or assumptions did you have coming into the course and how did any of those change? Or, conversely, how might your assumptions or biases have been further reinforced? In what ways were you challenged to rethink or re-evaluate your approach to transgressive art as a result of this course?
What were the most interesting and/or engaging learning experiences for you during the course? (Consider in-class discussions, the class blog, gallery exhibits and talks, artist visits, and group presentations.) Why and how did these particular experiences make an impression on you?
Did you find that the readings helped you to better understand the nature of transgressive art and the issues and controversies often surrounding it? Provide a few examples and elaborate.
Did any of the readings, gallery visits, engagement with artists, class discussions, lectures and/or class blog responses change your thinking about transgressive art or art that often shocks, insults or challenges traditional mores and values? If so, how so? If not, why not? Elaborate and explain, providing a few examples.
What role did interaction with artists and galleries play in your understanding of the course and topic? To what extent do you feel that the class discussions reflected the ideals of democratic dialogue?
Considering all that you’ve learned in the course, what do you now believe to be the most significant impact of this type of art within society? And how can you see incorporating what you learned in this class in any of your future endeavors?

Guidelines: The essay must include in an integrated fashion:

A discussion of at least two of the readings for class, as well as one outside reading of your choice (perhaps one you used for research for your group project).
A discussion of at least three artists whose art we have explored either in class or in galleries we have visited.
What you learned from your interactions with other students both within class, on the course blog, and within your group.

While much of this essay is reflective and interpretive, be sure to always to use evidence and examples to support your claims. Be sure to make wide use of and reference to the readings, class discussions, blog responses, and gallery talks/visits as you write your essay.

Evaluation Process: The evaluation process for all work in this class will take place through written feedback, interaction in peer groups, peer evaluations (for group projects), and conversations with the instructor.

Grades for the course will be determined from the following assignments:

In-class assignments and participation15%
Blog response assignments30%
Final creative group project presentation25%
Group evaluations of your role10%
Integrative essay20%

Grades:

Possible grades for this class are A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F

Official Communications via GMU E-Mail:

Mason uses electronic mail to provide official information to students. Examples include communications from course instructors, notices from the library, notices about academic standing, financial aid information, class materials, assignments, questions, and instructor feedback. Students are responsible for the content of university communication sent to their Mason e-mail account and are required to activate that account and check it regularly.

Honor Code:

Students in this class are bound by the Honor Code, as stated in the George Mason University Catalog. The honor code requires that the work you do as an individual be the product of your own individual synthesis or integration of ideas. (This does not prohibit collaborative work when your instructor approves it.) As a faculty member, I have an obligation to refer the names of students who may have violated the Honor Code to the Student Honor Council, which treats such cases very seriously.

No grade is important enough to justify cheating, for which there are serious consequences that will follow you for the rest of your life. If you feel unusual pressure about your grade in this or any other course, please talk to me or to a member of the GMU Counseling Center staff.

Using someone else’s words or ideas without giving them credit is plagiarism, a very serious Honor Code offense. It is very important to understand how to prevent committing plagiarism when using material from a source. If you wish to quote verbatim, you must use the exact words and punctuation just as the passage appears in the original and must use quotation marks and page numbers in your citation. If you want to paraphrase or summarize ideas from a source, you must put the ideas into your own words, and you must cite the source, using the APA or MLA format. (For assistance with documentation, I recommend Diana Hacker, A Writer’s Reference.) The exception to this rule is information termed general knowledge—information that is widely known and stated in a number of sources. Determining what is general knowledge can be complicated, so the wise course is, “When in doubt, cite.” And if you are

uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment, ask for clarification.

Be especially careful when using the Internet for research. Not all Internet sources are equally reliable; some are just plain wrong. Also, since you can download text, it becomes very easy to inadvertently plagiarize. If you use an Internet source, you must cite the exact URL in your paper and include with it the last date that you successfully accessed the site. Additionally, the re-use of papers, presentations, etc., from one course in another course is not appropriate. In every NCC course, faculty expect that work that is submitted has been done only for that class. An exception is made for materials included within course and year-end portfolios.

Resources:

Students with Disabilities and Learning Differences: If you have a diagnosed disability or learning difference and you need academic accommodations, please inform me at the beginning of the semester and contact the Disabilities Resource Center (SUB I room 234, 703-993-2474). You must provide me with a faculty contact sheet from that office outlining the accommodations needed for your disability or learning difference. All academic accommodations must be arranged in advance through the DRC.

The University Writing Center is a free writing resource. Tutors are available to assist students at any level and at any stage of their writing process, thus EVERYONE can benefit from utilizing this service. Tutors will not proofread your writing, but they will help you to develop revision and editing strategies. The University Writing Center is located in Robinson A 114. For an appointment, call (703) 993-1200 or schedule online at http://writingcenter.gmu.edu. Also, consult the Writing Center website for more information about their services, as well as a variety of helpful online resources.

The Counseling Center offers an extensive academic skills program, with workshops on concentration, time management, exam preparation, etc., in addition to stress management, personal development, and individual counseling services. The Counseling Center main office is located in SUB 1, Room 364, 703-993-2380; for Learning Services, call 703-993-2999 or stop by SUB 1, Rom 354. For more information, see http://www.gmu.edu/departments/csdc/.

New Century College staff and advisors are also available to answer any additional questions you may have. Please go to http://ncc.gmu.edu/ to get contact and other information.