ARTS 100
Creating Bodies Fall 2012
Division I
Cross-listed ARTH 108
This is not the current course catalog

This course looks at the human body, clothed and nude, from many perspectives, including that of the visual artist, the art historian, the performer and the creative writer. It is intended to introduce both the experiential and conceptual dimensions of the body and to develop skills in critical thinking. Lecture one week will be followed by discussion section the next. Twice a week students will attend a figure drawing workshop to study basic drawing skills like line, proportion, composition, light and space. Studio sessions will be coordinated with lectures, readings, and discussion to explore topics such as naked vs. nude, movement, spectatorship, the construction of identity, and portraiture, as well as stylistic categories such as classicism, realism, and modernism. Possible texts for purchase: Roland Barthes’ Camera Lucida, John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, and Mark Doty’s Still Life with Oysters and Lemon. Drawing supplies will be provided and charged to the term bill. Both studio and scholarly components of the course will be weighed in the final evaluation of student achievement.