Month: October 2021

“Be able to assemble or perform work that demonstrates standards of craftsmanship in the discipline. Accordingly, they will learn methods of writing, discussion, and critique of creative works of art or music”. This excerpt from the learning outcomes really sums up one of Boyer’s main goals and attributes of the enriched major. Many elements of the enriched major lie within this text, for example, Boyer’s need for a balance of vocational learning and critical thinking within a topic. This is shown through the learning objective above because it states that Art & Design majors will not only learn craftsmanship and assembly (vocational) but also learn skills regarding communication, discussion, etc. These important aspects make the major more organized and cohesive for students to understand. 

One class that may seem unimportant to the Art & Design major due to its lecture-like style would be Art in the Modern World, an art history class. However, while many students aren’t interested in a lecture when signing up for a mainly hands-on major, it’s paramount in their success and broad skillset outside of college. Boyer notes: “Scholars are busy sorting, counting, and decoding. We are turning out technicians. But the crisis of our time relates not to technical competence, but to a loss of social and historical perspective…”. This quote by Boyer truly encapsulates the meaning and weight behind having to take these classes. Classes like this one that is a deep dive into the tradition and culture of the 20th century truly help students develop a well-rounded career. Skills like the ones that are learned in this class such as cultural and art analysis, writing, and communication skills are just as important as the hands-on learning that fuels the Art & Design media major at UNE. 

Class-Related Paragraphs

Throughout Boyers’ article and the required core curriculum of the Art & Design Media major here at UNE, there are many similarities and differences. One parallel I found had to do with Boyer regarding the fact that professionals in almost every field – after practicing their craft – must be able to answer more specialized questions within the subject. For example, not just the what or how of the field, but also the why. These questions can often be complex but are geared towards those who have practiced their craft. The Studio Concentration Seminar class at UNE helps students focus their style and voice artistically. This allows them to become more aware and get to know themselves and the profession better, answering questions like those said by Boyer. 

One of the main questions asked by Boyer when identifying his “Enriched Major” is regarding how narrow or technical a major is and if it can be utilized in a Liberal Arts or university setting. While there is a solution to this stated later in the article, I feel like the Arts program at UNE helps students find this out on their own. The program here is the opposite of narrow, with junior and senior years giving plenty of time to focus on electives and explore the broad nature of Art & Design Media. This isn’t a specific class but encompasses many offered here, helping students merge technical and creative/ liberal arts learning. This allows for freedom and time to reflect on which branch of the major you want to pursue. 

Interview Questions

1. How (if it even does this) does the Art & Design Media major balance vocational and liberal arts thinking? 

2. How does this major enforce future career readiness? (Post College)

3. What is the ideal – if any – sequencing of the learning objectives mentioned in this major?

4. Would you say that the “hands-on” or more vocational side of the major is balanced with communication, research, and other skills? What is your personal experience during your education regarding this balance?

Learning Outcome Paragraphs

The first learning objective of the Art & Design Media major regards being able to create work in a hands-on manner and being versed in research, performance, and graphic or symbolic communication. This example fits Boyer’s definition of an enriched major by teaching students many different skills. Because of this split between more critical thinking-related skills and vocational skills, students’ experiences are broadened and healthier overall. This first learning objective fits the balanced piece of Boyer’s example, and truly intertwines the two different learning styles that have been argued over for so long. I believe that this balancing of vocational and liberal learning can help students find future career paths and promote career readiness.

The second learning outcome at hand regards the standards of craftsmanship within the major. This also includes discussion, writing, and critique of creative works. I think that history and tradition – Boyer’s first question of the enriched major – hold a piece of this outcome because history and tradition relate to said discussion in many ways. Ungar sort of agrees with this and aims it in the direction of career readiness because of the respect for classical traditions, the liberal arts can be described as an approach to the preparation of life. Not only can discussion of creative works be related to traditional art history, but according to Ungar, this study can also increase awareness and prepare students for the future.

Connection (Synthesis) Table – Boyer, Scheuer/Ungar, Major

Project 2 – LIL 120  (Fall ‘21), Cripps

	Boyer	Scheuer/Ungar (yup. Revisit those dudes.)	Art & Design Major Reqs
Career/Tech v. Liberal Learn	–	“It is far wiser for students to prepare for change–and the multiple careers they are likely to have–than to search for a single job track that might one day become a dead end”.	Graphic Design for the Working World (Helps adapt and utilize major into more “Vocational” careers)
History/Tradition	“Overlooked in such debates was the fact that most disciplines that now have status within the academy–modern languages, laboratory sciences, for example–were themselves once considered too novel for the academy to embrace”.	“On the contrary, because of its inclusiveness and its respect for classical traditions, the liberal arts could properly be described as a conservative approach to preparation for life”.	Art in the Modern World (ARH 210) (Understanding History)
Social/Economic Implications	–	“Hard economic times inevitably bring scrutiny of all accepted ideals and institutions, and this time around liberal-arts education has been especially hard hit”.	Fundamentals of Web Design  (Maybe ties with communications due to social media today?)
Ethical/Moral Issues	(This one was difficult for me personally)	–	Exhibition Concentration Seminar (Questioning ethical values of personal styles and focuses)
Personal/ Social Development	“Professionals is almost every field–doctors, journalists, lawyers, …–once they begin to practice their craft, must respond to questions that relate not just to the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the field, but to the ‘why’ as well”.	–	Studio Concentration Seminar (Honing personal skills & voice)
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Learning Outcome 1 (Art & Design Media)

“Be able to determine and demonstrate concrete methods and processes for research and creation, or performance, in the arts. Accordingly, they will be able to demonstrate skill in graphic and/ or symbolic communication”. 

Boyer Pg. 224 (Mid-Bottom Paragraph) 

“We are confident that the goals of general education, when properly defined, can be accomplished through the major. The liberal arts and the useful arts can be brought together in the curriculum just as they inevitably must be brought together during life”. 

These two excerpts are similar because each speaks of understanding different concepts and skills within one major. In the Art & Design learning objectives, one isn’t just to create art, but also learn research, creation, communication, and performance skills as well. The Boyer quote agrees with this because he states that goals of general education, such as communication and research skills, should be connected and defined through a major. These texts show how to use a variety of skills and assist in allowing efficient use of said skills.

One main tension that Boyer discusses in this chapter of his article is regarding the usually hostile discourses between professors of the “Liberal and Useful Arts”.

“The amount of misunderstanding and hostility crackling between the ‘two cultures’ is amazing and, considering our liberal arts mission, probably destructive. Each side needs somehow to be convinced that they are working for similar objectives”.

Because of the divide between the liberal arts and other “practical” majors, teachers of these fields have become hostile and often argue regarding these subjects. An example of this would be a business professor making fun of a professor or students who engage in learning/ studying the arts or literature. While this is a huge issue, both sides are fighting for somewhat the same thing: success and purpose for students outside of college. The arguing side was most likely created due to the influx of business majors and expanse of business-related majors from 1970 – 1985. This is why back then business and “practical” majors were seen as more useful and needed outside of college, while in my opinion, we are switching back to needing more creative thinkers today.

“By an enriched major we mean encouraging students not only to explore a field in depth, but also to help them put their field of special study in perspective.”

The response or solution to this discourse would be implementing a more self-aware model of education called the enriched major. This would consist of students asking themselves questions regarding their major such as what is the history/ tradition of my major? What are the social and economic implications? What are the ethical and moral issues to be confronted? By asking these questions students become more aware of the components of the degree they may want to pursue, and instead of competing with general education; intertwining with it to become broadened and more efficient outside of college.

QCQ #1

“Hence, proposition 2: Traditional biographers seek to profile an individual and recapitulate a life story, but microhistorians, tracing their elusive subjects through slender records, tend to address themselves to solving small mysteries, in the process of which a microhistorian may recapitulate the subject’s entire life story, though that is not his primary purpose”. 

I just thought this was a very interesting and provocative way to view microhistory as a practice. I personally had never heard of microhistory and was very surprised that I hadn’t because I feel like the basis of it is very common in historical analysis. In my opinion microhistory is just as important as biography because it essentially is just a more detailed, less broad version. I think that teaching microhistory would be a very interesting class because the skill can be used in many ways. Instead of researching the entire journey of someone’s life, we can instead pick notable parts and really dig to get accurate and precise information, which sometimes a broad biography lacks. It also has loose constraints which is also interesting, for example you could do a microhistory of someone’s entire life if you choose to do so, it just being very labor intensive. This proposition also ties into learning more of a person’s culture while untangling the detailed “small mysteries”, which I think is usually not mentioned as much in broad biographies. I think overall microhistorians are needed and that this type of analysis could be used more effectively by the general public of academics and historians. My question is: What do you think the world would be like if microhistory was discovered/ invented a couple hundred years earlier? How would our historical literature be different?

QCQ #2

“The biography-loving public does not want to hear that biography is a flawed genre.”21 Whether it annoys their readers or not, microhistorians, too, like to discuss the rights and wrongs of burglary while jimmying locks. But they are equally likely to pretend they were never in the house in the first place or, if they were, that they had a badge and a search warrant”.

I thought this quote was very interesting and true to many practices today. Many public groups are not shy to assert this type of hypocrisy and get away with it. This is a great comparison of microhistory and biography because it’s a very real one, and can be seen very often in not just these practices. Many enjoyers of a certain topic would easily turn a blind eye to any negativity and jump to shielding what they enjoy instead. This is easy, but in the end will usually end up causing more harm than good due these flaws being evident but not analyzed. When a group of people enjoy something it’s easy to look at it with rose colored glasses and ignore any issues with whatever it may be. However, because we are human nothing is bound to be perfect; therefore this logic is flawed yet very common in my opinion. Also very common and said above is the way that historians are likely to try and cover it up afterwards, which shows some similarity between microhistory and biography. My question would be: Regarding the general public, what causes this compulsion to defend a subject so blindly that you become unaware of its issues, and why do biography and microhistory both share this? 

QCQ #1  (Quotations by William Hazlett)                            

“ ‘Why do we always read the accounts in the newspapers of dreadful fires and shocking murders?’ Because, he answers, ‘love of mischief, love of cruelty, is as natural to human beings as is sympathy”. Pg. 97 – 98

I think this snippet from the reading not only relates to media culture today, but also shows how humans process and relate to suffering. First off, he begins speaking about how we are drawn as people to view the more dreadful and violent murders, accidents, or tragedies when browsing the news. I feel that this is absolutely true, and it is often even exploited by media outlets. We are drawn to these topics out of curiosity, and news outlets have catered to this by looking for the most gruesome stories to garner attention. Like I said in a previous QCQ, there is usually not much happy news in my opinion besides maybe a break for the viewer to breathe, and these darker stories do catch our attention and keep us glued to the screen effectively. This is because (the author goes to say) we process tragedy and cruelty just as effectively as we process sympathy, making it easy to do so. My question is as follows: If we process sympathy much like cruelty, why are these darker explicit news stories more interesting to us?

QCQ #2

“Flooded with images of the sort that once used to shock and arouse indignation, we are losing our capacity to react. Compassion , stretched to its limits, is going numb”. 
This is an extremely interesting quote that I think is the truth of our time in many ways. There are many people who live in today’s competitive and merciless world who would fit this outline. Many people who have undergone trauma and are conditioned to violence, many of those who serve(d) in the military as well. This is fairly common today, yet is seen as outlandish and isolating by societal norms. We all do feel compassion and sympathy in some ways, unless you of course are born with an impediment such as sociopathy. However all these aspects of environment and upbringing that can cause this outcome aren’t enough. Today, the media alone can numb us to sympathizing with others. This quote in my opinion culminates a main theme of Sontag’s writing regarding media and photography. A general outcome of being exposed to these horrifying and gruesome images is becoming completely numb. In many ways this in fact hinders one’s ability to Regard the Pain of Others, and that is why it’s so interesting. My question would be: “With the world being normalized to this competitive mindset (especially in the professional world), what do you think society would be like if we all sympathized with one another or were all in a way empaths? Would the world be better or worse than it is now?

QCQ #1

“Of course the photographer saw it. And unless there’s been some tampering or misrepresenting , it is the truth”. 

I think that this quote explains media and imagery in a very efficient way regarding it in today’s society. This statement before any photo manipulation means were created is absolutely true, but it goes to say that “tampering” (even years ago) is very possible. Yes, to a degree an artist drawing from a photo reference that a photographer took is the truth, but today it’s harder to explain than that. Because of the influx of media and accessibility to photography, the truth has become harder and harder to grasp. Much like the overstimulation of news publication, now anyone can edit photographs – making many not trustworthy as a solid depiction of reality (as Sontag states “an era of digital photography and Photoshop manipulations”). This statement could very well be said at any time in history, but it does allow us to question: are all photographs in some way the truth? Is there any way for artists like Goya to know that they are truly depicting reality with the art?

QCQ #2

“New demands are made in reality in the era of cameras. The real thing may not be fearsome enough, and therefore needs to be enhanced; or reenacted more convincingly”.

This quote to me explains a very unhealthy habit that we as a people often take part in today, while unfortunately it is also fed into by news publishers and media. While in today’s world everyone searches so desperately for the real truth, we also need something that will surprise us. The excerpt above speaks about altering the truth to make it more fearsome – more interesting – in a way. This contradicts what we look for in the media, but we nonetheless eat it up and hunger for more unrealistic, and exciting media. Sometimes the truth is boring and it will be altered to draw public attention, numbers, etc. This is a very unhealthy way to approach the media because it adapts the public to unrealistic expectations. One of the great hypocrisies of the 21st century is this hunger for adrenaline increasing, unrealistic media, yet we all search for the truth just as much. So much is produced and published today that it makes me wonder: what if photo manipulation was never invented and how would this affect media outlets or the public?