Category: Liberal Arts Electives

Madness has been of interest to philosophers,,psychologists, social scientists – as well as to,artists. The history of art, culture and,literature is filled with “mad or romantic,geniuses.” This course proposes a comparative,examination of the transition of “marginalized”,forms of representation from “insanity” into the,field of aesthetic and cultural practice by a,consideration of the art and drawing of the insane,(from asylums), short story (Edgar Allen Poe),,poetry (Sylvia Plath), painting (Van Gogh,,Surrealism, de Kooning), and film (Ingmar Berman’s,”Through a Glass Darkly”). The course seeks a,balance between critical theory (Plato,,Romanticism, Avant-Garde, Feminism), close reading,(engaging each person’s affective response), and,developments in the changing status of the,scientific, social and intellectual situation of,works. Course credit may be used as English or,Philosophy.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: Take one 3.0 credit, 200 level course from one of the,following subjects: DAH (Art History), DEN (English), DAS,(Academic Studies), DVC (Visual Culture).

This interdisciplinary course is an examination,of the cultural systems, history, and art of,human beings who espouse the world’s great,religions: Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and,Christianity. The broad course objective is to,introduce students to the differing ways that,humans organize and express their culture and,beliefs, their relationship to nature and the,cosmos, and to each other, through the making and,use of religious concepts, ideologies, art and,architecture.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: Take one 3.0 credit, 200 level course from one of the,following subjects: DAH (Art History), DEN (English), DAS,(Academic Studies), DVC (Visual Culture).

Since classical antiquity in the Western,tradition there has been a central dialogue,between philosophy and poetry on the question of,genre: What is philosophy? What is poetry? In,what way might philosophy and poetry be related? ,Do philosophy and poetry point to different kinds,of experience or different kinds of knowledge?,Through a selection of texts from Plato and,Aristotle to Heidegger, Derrida, Lacoue-Labarthe,along with the poetry of Surrealism, Paul Celan,,J.H. Prynne and Anne Carson, this course will,look at the way in which the mutual interrogation,of poetry and philosophy has been central to the,thinking about modernity and the nature of,experience as social or resistant to the claims,of the social.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: Take one 3.0 credit, 200 level course from one of the,following subjects: DAH (Art History), DEN (English), DAS,(Academic Studies), DVC (Visual Culture).

Care of the City: Detroit is an introduction to,Social Practice and Post-Studio art which through,an exploration of spaces of marginality and,collapse in cities in relation to durational,collaboration with communities as a response to,collapse and as evidence of an ethics of care. The,main question pursued: what does it mean to care,for a city? And: is care a choice? We shall make,numerous visits in Detroit as well as extended,comparisons with Chicago (Theaster Gates), New,Orleans (Paul Chan and Joshua Decter), Houston,(Rick Lowe), and Los Angeles (Suzanne Lacy). We,shall explore the image of the city in Social,Practices through music (Marvin Gaye), poetry, and,film (the League of Revolutionary Black Workers).,Short readings in philosophy, theology, and,psychology will complement cultural, historical,,and aesthetic texts in an attempt to develop a,critical practice distinctive to the new,experiences emerging in Social Practice and,post-studio forms and the ethics of care.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: Take one 3.0 credit, 200 level course from one of the,following subjects: DAH (Art History), DEN (English), DAS,(Academic Studies), DVC (Visual Culture).

The Special Project class is offered on an,occasional basis, with course content specific to,the area being explored.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: