What isHumanities?

Mr. Kelly &Mr. Rasavongxay

Humanities

The humanities are those academic disciplines which study the totality of the experience of being human and living human lives.

• History• Literature• Philosophy• Religion• Visual Arts• Music/Dance• Film

What are the goals of the course?

• To make humanity come alive (thus, interesting, engaging and meaningful).

• Develop the reading, writing, and analytical abilities which you’ll use in college.

• To understand and challenge one’s belief systems.

• To work hard and have some fun.

Humanities Questions

• What is the importance of civilization and what factors support or destroy its fabric?

• What is creativity and what is its importance for the individual / the culture?

• Is humankind inherently good or evil?• What does it mean to be human?

Challenges Facing Humans

• Nature• Survival• Communality• Self Knowledge

What makes us human?

“Man in the rudest state in which he now exists is the most dominant animal that has ever appeared on this earth. He manifestly owes this immense superiority to his intellectual faculties, to his social habits… and to his corporeal structure.”

– Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, 1871

What makes us superior?

• Brain – uniquely large cerebral cortex– Reasoned Behavior– Memory– Abstract Thought– Intelligence

What makes us superior?

• Hand – nimble fingers and opposable thumb–Allows for tool use

What makes us superior?

• Bipedal Locomotion– upright walking

What makes us superior?

• Social Habits–Moral Sense

(Right versus Wrong)

–Working Together–Living Together

Humanistic Tradition

Humankind’s cultural legacy – the sum total of the significant ideas and achievements handed down from generation to generation.

• Social and Cultural Institutions

• Religious and Philosophic Systems

• Forms of Self Expression (The Arts)

• Science and Technology

Journaling on Art

• Reasons for journaling– Used for writing, art, discussions, reading…– Get thoughts on paper– Force yourself to look at detail– Begin to formulate an argument

• Steps to journal– Take a look at every aspect of painting– Write the entire time– Begin with observation

• Color choice• Images in the text, etc.

– Move on to the less obvious• Tone, mood, historical context

Journaling

• Journal on the following image for four to five minutes:

Wheatfield With Crows

Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

Oil on canvas

Journal

• Share your journal with the person next to you.• Discuss, what did you notice?

• Now, journal on the same image with the additional context

This is the last painting Van Gogh painted before he committed suicide.