Syllabus supplement

Written Assignments for Introduction to the Humanities II

William Jamison - Instructor

Directions: For each assignment you are to select any of three topics to address in an essay. Essays may be as long as you feel necessary, but must be at least 300 words each, and should demonstrate an understanding of the main point of the topic and it's relevance for us today. Avoid plagiarism! E-mail essays to: wsjamison@UAA.ALASKA.EDU. 

Assignment 5 due April 4

Describe the main points of either of the following readings:

Topic 1: See the sample chapter posted here: http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/chapters/s6544.html of The Roots of Romanticism (Paperback) by Isaiah Berlin, Henry Hardy (Editor) 

Topic 2: How did art deal with the "death of art"? See excerpt posted on Blackboard from the Cultural Turn: Selected Writings on the Postmodern 1983-1998 (Paperback) by Fredric Jameson.

Topic 3: Visit a Fred Meyer's Superstore and examine the different heights of the ceiling in various sections of the store. Note that different areas are designed for openness while others give a sense of closed spaces. This is obviously done because of psychological profiling of customers. Thinking of this as architectural art, explain what theory of art this might support. (Is the produce area open, closed, or a mixture of both?) http://www.interfaceengineering.com/pdfs/case-studies/fred-meyer.pdf

The challenge is to write something that is beautiful, well written, and interesting! To help you may already start forming the group that will help with your term paper and use that group to edit your essay and make suggestions. Writing is a dialogue, not a voice crying in the wilderness. 

This page is maintained by William S. Jamison. It was last updated August 14, 2012. All links on these pages are either to open source or public domain materials or they are marked with the appropriate copyright information. I frequently check the links I have made to other web sites but each source is responsible for their own content.