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Courses in Art History
Art
2570(01) / English 2440(02)
Images of Women in Art and Literature 1500-1900
*Offered in alternate years.
4
SEMESTER HOURS
Description:
We will study a wide range of literature and the visual
arts in order to see how women and the feminine are represented.
Our primary concern will be to analyze certain dominant themes
in these representations of women by placing the various images
in the historical and cultural contexts of early modern Europe
and by raising some theoretical questions about the different
forms of representation. We will consider what these images
tell us about women and men in western European cultures,
as well as what they reveal to us about our own ways of seeing
and knowing.
Instructor:
Elise
Smith
Syllabus
TEXTS:
The following texts are available in the bookstore:
- Madame
De Lafayette, The Princess of Cleves, trans. Walter
J. Cobb
- Elizabeth
Gaskell, Cranford
- Pamela
Norris, ed., Sound the Deep Waters. Women's Romantic
Poetry in the Victorian Age
- Images
of Women in Art and Literature Reader
GRADING:
Your final grade will be based on:
- a journal
(20%)
- a 5-7
page paper (20%)
- a midterm
(20%)
- a final
exam (20%).
- the
group project (10%)
- class
attendance and participation (10%)
REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance: Regular class attendance is especially important
in this course since it won't be possible to duplicate or
even approximate the experience of class discussions by simply
reading along in a text. If you miss more than 2 classes for
any reason your grade will be affected, which is a way of
helping you to understand how important I think it is that
you come to class on a regular and attentive and prepared
basis. Otherwise the course simply won't work for you as it
should. Those two excused absences cover minor illnesses and
just generally goofing off and spring fever. If you have a
major illness that requires extended absence, be sure to let
me know as early as possible and we'll work out some way for
you to make up the time you miss. Over my years as a teacher
I've become more and more perturbed by chronic lateness. Certainly
I'd rather you come late than not come at all, but habitual
lateness shows a significant lack of respect and courtesy
for the class enterprise--so each late arrival will count
as half an absence
Deadlines:
No late work will receive full credit and no make?up exams
will be given, except in cases of genuine emergency.
Exams:
The midterm will probably consist of a take-home essay as
well as an in-class exam. The final will primarily be an in-class
exam. Both exams will include essays as well as identification
of visual images and literary passages, for which you'll be
asked to give the artist/author, the title, the nationality,
and the century.
Group
Project: You'll be working in small groups (two or three to
a group), and each group will be responsible for presenting
material and leading class discussion for about 20 minutes
during the week listed on the class schedule. Your group will
be given a section from Sound the Deep Waters and will choose
a selection of poems for the class to read in advance; you'll
also select slides of Pre-Raphaelite or Victorian art works
dealing with similar (or opposing) themes to bring in to the
discussion as visual parallels. This obviously will take time
to organize, especially since you might need to have slides
made for your presentation, so you'll need to turn in to me
by Thursday, March 19, a list of the poems and art works you're
planning to use.
Paper:
As individuals, each of you will write a short paper (about
5-7 typed pages) dealing with a carefully focused idea or
theme derived either from your group work or from some other
topic related to the course. In this paper you'll explore
in depth a single poem and related image, making sure that
your paper has a clearly stated thesis, a logical argument,
specific, detailed references to the primary material, and
a conclusion. Your paper should include your own close reading
of the image and poem, but should also be supported by material
found through research in the library. This will entail the
use of parenthetical citations and a Works Cited list, written
in the MLA format. Before starting this process, please read
carefully the information in this syllabus about plagiarism
and the Honor Council. The final paper will be due on Tuesday,
April 14 (there'll be no revisions after this point, although
I'd be glad to read an earlier draft if you get it to me at
least a week in advance). I strongly encourage you to write
a first draft that is then read by outside readers (other
students in the class, tutors at the Writing Center, friends,
etc.). The revision process is crucial to writing a successful
paper.
HONOR CODE: I want to remind you of the following statement
made by the Honor Council:
Millsaps
College is an academic community dedicated to the pursuit
of scholarly inquiry and intellectual growth. The foundation
of this community is a spirit of personal honesty and mutual
trust. Through their Honor Code, the students of Millsaps
College affirm their adherence to these basic ethical principles.
An Honor Code is not simply a set of rules and procedures
governing students' academic conduct. It is an opportunity
to put personal responsibility and integrity into action.
When students agree to abide by an Honor Code, they liberate
themselves to pursue their academic goals in an atmosphere
of mutual confidence and respect.
The success of the Code depends on the support of each member
of the community. Students and faculty alike commit themselves
in their work to the principles of academic honesty. When
they become aware of infractions, both students and faculty
are obligated to report them to the Honor Council, which is
responsible for enforcement.
The pledge signed by all students upon entering the College
is as follows:
As a Millsaps College student, I hereby affirm that I understand
the Honor Code and am aware of its implications and of my
responsibility to the Code. In the interests of expanding
the atmosphere of respect and trust in the College, I promise
to uphold the Honor Code and I will not tolerate dishonest
behavior in myself or in others.
SCHEDULE
OF CLASSES AND ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1
T, 1/13
Introduction to the course
Th, 1/15
Images of Eve
READ: Reader 15-17 (Genesis), 18-30 (Milton)
Week 2
T, 1/20
Images of Eve
READ: Reader 31-37 (Nogarola)
Th, 1/22
Images of Eve and Mary
READ: Reader 38-41
Week 3
T, 1/27
Images of Susanna
READ: Reader 42-44 (Susanna)
Th, 1/29
Images of Judith
READ: Reader 45-55 (Judith)
Week 4
T, 2/3
Renaissance and Baroque Images of Marriage
READ: Reader 56-66 (Alberti, Bijns, and two anonymous poems)
Th, 2/5
The Princess of Cleves
READ: pp. 1-81
Week 5
T, 2/10
The Princess of Cleves
READ: pp. 82-162
Th, 2/12
Renaissance and Baroque Images of Witchcraft
READ: Reader 67-74 (Kramer and Sprenger)
Week 6
T, 2/17
18th-Century Aesthetic Categories of Feminine and Masculine
READ: Reader 75-86 (Kant and Burke)
Th, 2/19
Alternative 18th-Century Images of Women
READ: Reader 87-104 (Wollstonecraft and Montagu)
Week 7
T, 2/24 MIDTERM EXAM
Th, 2/26
Aesthetic Categories of the Naked and the Nude
READ: Reader 105-20 (Clark and Berger)
Week 8
T, 3/3
Aesthetic Categories of the Naked and the Nude
Th, 3/5
Victorian Images of the Proper Lady
READ: Reader 121-26 (Patmore, Nevill, "Letter on Corsets")
Week 9
SPRING BREAK!
Week 10
T, 3/17 Victorian Images of Women
READ: Reader 127-34 (Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott"
and "Mariana")
Th, 3/19
Victorian Images of Women
READ: Reader 135-46 (Keats' "La Belle Dame"; Prostitution;
D. Rossetti's "Jenny")
DUE: Group Project preliminary report
Week 11
T, 3/24
Victorian Images of Women
READ: Reader 147- (C. Rossetti's "Goblin Market")
Th, 3/26
Victorian Images of Women
READ: Gaskell's Cranford 1-89
REQUIRED ATTENDANCE: Lecture on Artemisia Gentileschi by Mary
Garrard
Week 12
T, 3/31
Victorian Images of Women
READ: Gaskell's Cranford 89-178
REMINDER: Your paper is due in two weeks!
W, 4/1
REQUIRED ATTENDANCE: Lecture by Audrey Flack, 7:30 p.m., AC215
Th, 4/2 NO CLASS
Week 13
T, 4/7
Group Projects on Sound the Deep Waters
Th, 4/9
Group Projects on Sound the Deep Waters
Week 14
T, 4/14
The Art of Edgar Degas
READ: Readings to be distributed
DUE: Paper
Th, 4/16
The Art of Edgar Degas
Week 15
T, 4/21
The Art of Mary Cassatt and Suzanne Valadon
READ: Readings to be distributed
Th, 4/23
The Art of Mary Cassatt and Suzanne Valadon
* * *
This syllabus is subject to change at the disgression of the
instructor.
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