Course Description
The arts and humanities developed in Europe from the beginning of the Renaissance are a great world treasure. We begin the course at that point with the study of the painting, sculpture, architecture, music, literature, and philosophy which was created during that period. We then trace the development of those arts through the Baroque, Enlightenment, Romantic, and Belle Epoque periods. The next segment breaks off from the European developments and looks at those same arts as they progressed in China, Japan, Russia, Africa, and Latin America. All streams merge in the twentieth century, all last period considered.
Traditionally, humanities courses have focused on the artistic, literary, musical, and philosophical issues that have created the artistic tradition of the West. We are including world cultures because they have significantly influenced contemporary developements. The creative developments of our world culture throughout history provide a perspective on our own culture and give us insight into our own lives.
A chronological/geographical approach is followed initially. We will then wander into other areas and backtrack to cover contemporaneous developments in different geographical locations. We begin our study with the European Renaissance, a "golden age" that saw an explosion of new ideas and developements in all fields of human knowledge.
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