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Approaches to Interdisciplinary Studies in the Arts & Humanities


[HUMA 5300]
Professor Rainer Schulte
Email: schulte@utdallas.edu
Tel. 972-883-2092
Fall 2005

Addressing the Humanities

Interpretation as translation
Methods of reading
Comparative approaches: formation of general statements
Multiple translations and multiple interpretations
Inside of a text and outside of a text
Communication as translation
The interpretive perspectives
The dimensions of literacy in the 21st Century
Verbal, visual, musical
Forms of verbal, visual, and musical expressions
New media
Promotion of scholarship and research in the humanities
The role of the university presses
The scholarly monograph
The scholarly journal
The Websites
The ethical dimension
The aesthetic dimension
The study of the future
The building and function of a discipline
Resources for research in the humanities
Databases
Conferences
Scholarly and artistic associations
Scholarly journals
Research centers
Institutes for promoting and recording the humanities
Archival libraries
Museums
Library of Congress, Bibliothèque Nationale, et. al.
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Syllabus and assignments


Throughout the semester, the instructor will provide bibliographical information
and additional texts in the form of photocopies, floppies/CDs, or on the Webct.

At the beginning of each seminar session, students will offer short reports on
scholarly journals. Students will also give presentations about scholarly
monographs and articles.

All of this seminar’s essays, articles, and monographs are related, which means
that discussions will not be restricted to one text during a seminar session.
Rather, we will strive for a continuous interaction among the various verbal,
visual, and musical texts.

Session I General orientation


Presentation of reading lists
Reference journals
Emerson. “Culture”
Nabokov
Copland
Back to the Essay
Latin American texts

Assignment
Vladimir Nabokov. "Good Readers and Good Writers"
Robert Con Davis-Undiano. “Back to the Essay”
Exercise: Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay. “Culture”
Translation of an English text. Full text of essay on Internet

Session II Aspects of interpretation


The structure of the Emerson Essay: “Culture”
Discussion of seminar requirements

Assignment
Short stories from: Continental Short Stories: The Modern Tradition.
Charles Frankel. “Why the Humanities?”
O. Paz. “Translation: Literature and Letters”
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Session III Approaches to reading a text


Texts by Aichinger, Kafka, Benn, etc., in Continental Short Stories
The technique of horizontal reading
Reference o rientation: Erich Auerbach, Mimesis
Schulte , essay: “Translation and Reading”

Assignment
James Paul Gee. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning
and Literacy.

Session IV Concept of perspectives


Exercise. Preparation of an abstract (book and article)

Assignment
Begin Bernstein’s The Unanswered Question
(Charles Ives)

Session V
Exercise: writing a book review

Assignment
Huizinga, Homo Ludens

Session VI The concept of play in culture


Exercise: Annotation

Assignment
L. Bernstein, The Unanswered Question, continued
Aaron Copland, What to Listen for in Music
Richard Florida, The Rise of the Creative Class (paperback if available)

Session VII Multiple interpretations


Discussion of multiple interpretations of a musical text
J.S. Bach, Italian Concerto; Beethoven, Sonata
Erich Auerbach, Mimesis (continued)
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Session VIII Multiple translations and interpretive perspectives


Various examples of multiple translations and critical approaches

Assignment
Peter Burke. New Perspectives on Historical Writing

Session IX The concept of associative thinking


Exercise: M.A. and Ph.D. proposals

Daniel H. Pink. A Whole New Mind. ISBN 1-57322-308-5

Session X Research in the arts & humanities


Scholarship and research in the age of technology
Scholarly p ublishing
Electronic references:
The History Highway: A Guide to Internet Resources.
(Excerpts provided by the instructor)
Definitions of conceptual frames

Session XI Forms of expression in the arts & humanities


Verbal: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, drama, etc.
Visual: painting, sculpture, film, graphics, 2D, #d, etc.
Musical: opera, orchestral, jazz, vocal, etc.

Background references for visual interpretation


Studies related to that subject matter:
Rudolf Arnheim. Visual Thinking
Philip Yenawine. How to Look at Modern Art
David Fin. How to Look at Photographs
John Berger. The Visionary Eye
James Monaco. How to Read a Film
John Berger. Ways of Seeing

Background reference for musical interpretation


Bernstein, L. The Unanswered Question.
Aaron Copland. What to Listen for in Music
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Session XI ALTA conference

Session XII The concept of future-oriented research


Albert Camus: “The Myth of Sisyphus” (philosophical text)
Design of research for Camus: “The Myth of Sisyphus”
Concept of monograph; textbook; anthologies.
The function of the scholarly journal
Edward Cornish. Futuring: The Exploration of the Future

Session XIII Library orientation


The construction of databases in the humanities
The exploration of a specific concept
“Futurology”
Beginning to set up a “Guide to Internet Resources in the Humanities”
Exercise: research one important electronic database for the humanities
or interdisciplinary studies.
Student presentations of various projects

Session XIV
General summary of main concepts and an outlook on the future of the
humanities
The concept of a discipline and interdisciplinarity
Discussion of scholarly articles related to the concept of interdisciplinarity
Article: Swoara and Morrison, “Interdisciplinarity and Higher Education”
Schaefer, “Still Crazy After All These Years”
Stanley Fish, “Being Interdisciplinary Is so Very Hard to Do”
Bloom, “Our Listless Universities”

Requirements
Active participation in seminar discussions
Preparation of paragraphs
Preparation of exercises
Reports on scholarly journals in the arts & humanities
Presentation of book review: the recreation of thought processes
Creative or scholarly project or short essays

This is a tentative outline of topics to be discussed during the semester and is subject to change according
to students’ interests and needs.

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