Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Humanities & Visual and Performing Arts Component

Assumptions

1.  Every institution of higher education will adopt a core curriculum...

2.  ...a core curriculum should contain courses that establish multiple perspectives on the individual and the world in which he or she lives... 

Definition

The objective of the humanities and visual and performing arts component of the core curriculum is to expand students' knowledge of the human condition and human cultures, especially in relation to behaviors, ideas, and values expressed in works of human imagination and thought.  Through study in disciplines such as literature, philosophy, and the visual and performing arts, students will engage in critical analysis, form aesthetic judgements, and develop an appreciation of the arts and humanities as fundamental to the health and survival of any society.  As a strand running throughout the core curriculum, the essential skill of critical thinking which is embodied in this component, embraces methods for applying both qualitative and quantitative skills analytically and creatively to appropriate subject matter in order to evaluate arguments and construct alternative strategies. 

Exemplary Educational Objectives

The way in which colleges and universities achieve these outcomes will thus vary in accordance with the particular circumstances of the institutions.  The outcomes for student learning provide both guidelines for instruction and also a profile of the student . . . The student will be able to:

1. demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in arts and humanities;

2. understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within an historical and social context;

3. respond critically to works in the arts and humanities;

4. engage in the creative process or interpretive performance and comprehend the physical and intellectual demands required of the writer or visual or performing artist;

5. articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities;

6. develop an appreciation for the aesthetic principles that guide or govern the humanities and arts;

7. demonstrate knowledge of the influence of literature, philosophy, and/or the arts on intercultural experiences. 

Texas State University-San Marcos Humanities & Visual and Performing Arts Component 

Definition

The Texas State  Humanities & Visual and Performing Arts Component encompasses three perspectives: the Fine Arts Perspective, the Philosophy Perspective and the Literary Perspective. 

Fine Arts

The Fine Arts perspective introduces students to the elements, principles, and history of art, music, theatre, and dance from pre-history to the present. 

Philosophy/Critical Thinking

The Philosophy perspective introduces students to certain key matters which are foundational for all areas of human inquiry and experience including the nature of knowledge, belief, and value

and the norms governing correct thought and action.  Its content consists of specific views philosophers have developed about these fundamental issues, and its methodology includes the foundational and synoptic nature of philosophical inquiry. A component of the philosophy requirement, the essential skill of critical thinking is the ability to use the principles of good thinking in the development and evaluation of arguments or the reasons offered to support a claim.  Its content consists of the nature of an argument, the types of reasoning, the features of clear, correct thinking and the fallacies of reasoning.   

Literary

The Literary perspective introduces students to literature as an academic discipline-teaching basic methods of critical analysis, promoting understanding and appreciation of literature as an art form, and illustrating the role of literature in its historical, social and cultural contexts. 
 

Requirements

All students will complete one Fine Arts, one Philosophy and one Literary course from the following list: 

Objectives

Fine Arts Perspective

- expose students to a wide variety of works in the arts and humanities.

- present and explain the historical and social context in which a given work of art was created; articulate the meaning(s) of a given work of art within a historical and social context; present and  explain the given works of art in the context of an individual artist's career, aesthetic convictions  and/or personal history.

- articulate the elements which make up works in the various artistic disciplines; comprehend historical and social influences upon critical procedures and values applied to the arts.

- apply the principles of critical and aesthetic judgment.

- comprehend the concept of aesthetic principles, articulate the elements which make up works in the various artistic disciplines, and define principles within the artistic discipline.

- comprehend the influence of philosophy and its impact on various arts across cultures and within cultures; to enable students to comprehend the relationships between literature and arts across cultures. 

Philosophy and Critical Thinking Perspective

-  identify philosophical issues.

- read philosophical texts.

- understand the foundational and synoptic nature of philosophical inquiry

- understand contributions of major philosophers.

- understand and evaluate the reasons philosophers have offered for their views.

- understand and apply basic guidelines for good thinking and proper action.

- identify, construct and evaluate arguments.

- understand the nature of inductive and deductive reasoning and valid and sound arguments

- assess claims, hypotheses, theories, theses, and beliefs with reference to the evidence and reasons which support them.

- identify and avoid confused thinking in their study of such common fallacies and ad hominem, equivocation, hasty generalization, and false cause. 

Literary Perspective

- emphasize survey - rather than specialized knowledge - about literature.

- lay the groundwork for advanced study, giving students the facility to ask increasingly sophisticated questions of literary texts.

- equip students with basic tools of textual analysis, teaching them to read literature closely with attention to form, syntax, and language.

- heighten students' awareness of literature as art and its capacity to order experience in aesthetically pleasing and moving ways.

- place literary work in context - historical, social, cultural - exploring particular works as a record of human experience and as part of a definable tradition.

- read a literary text with a grasp of its content - for example, details of plot and character, major structural divisions, key images and ideas.

- analyze a literary text in order to explicate its meaning and to identify significant formal and linguistic features.

- explain ways in which a particular literary work reflects and shapes the historical, social and cultural circumstances in which it was produced.

- identify representative authors and works in a particular literary tradition.

- recognize significant themes and techniques shared by works in a particular literary tradition. 

Assessment

In evaluating students' success in meeting the objectives of the requirement for the Humanities & Visual and Performing Arts Component, faculty will rely on a variety of assessment tools.as noted below. To help determine instructor, course and program effectiveness, use will be made of faculty surveys, including peer review of syllabi and tests, mid-course student assessments, and end-of-course student evaluation. 

    Fine Arts Perspective 

- Objective exams will test students' comprehension of arts terminology and trends.

- Critiques of gallery exhibitions, concerts, recitals, and dramatic productions will be used to  measure students' abilities to articulate aesthetic aspects in specific contexts.

- Review of syllabi and other written course materials by the Fine Arts 2313 Coordinating Committee will assure consistency across the four departments and across sections within departments. 

Literary Perspective

- Essay questions and exams that determine whether students have achieved a satisfactory grasp of content and achieved minimum competence in reading and analyzing literature.

-Papers, essays and other writing assignments that determine whether students have achieved minimum competence in reading and analyzing literature, and present a central idea that is adequately developed and competently organized. 

Philosophical and Critical Thinking Perspective

-Students will be able to demonstrate improvement in their critical and moral thinking skills.

-Using a pre-test/post-test model, students will be substantially improved in their ability to identify      principles of good argumentation and approaches to solving moral problems.

-Through analysis of end of semester portfolios, student work will demonstrate the ability to identify principles of good argumentation and approaches to solving moral problems.

-Students will be able to demonstrate the foundational and synoptic nature of philosophical inquiry.

-Using a pre-test/post-test model, students will be substantially improved in their ability to demonstrate the foundational and synoptic nature of philosophical inquiry.

-Through analysis of end of semester portfolios, student work will demonstrate an understanding of the foundational and synoptic nature of philosophical inquiry.