INQ-120 | Valuing the Arts

Full Title: Artistic Value/Valuing the Arts: Aesthetics, Ethics, and Community Engagement

Topic Description:

This course is designed for students interested in studying the relation between society and the arts (literature, music, poetry, visual art, architecture, etc.). The course examines three broad issues: the power and value of the arts, the sponsorship of the arts and arts education, and censorship of artists and works of art. Readings include a range of philosophical works from classical antiquity to the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment, including many writings by contemporary thinkers. A broad range of art works will be studied. Students will engage with an off-campus organization of their choosing—an organization that represents one of four subject populations (school children, retired persons, the infirm, or recently arrived immigrants)—in order to explore ways in which they can enrich their personal reflections with direct observation on how individuals and communities value the arts.

Counts as Global? No

Topic Approved: November 2009