ART & ORGANISM
A SEMINAR
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grayed out notes with links below are from last year’s seminar and indicate how discussions emerge and interconnect.
They represent examples of topics that may be covered as we proceed. The exact offerings are determined by
● the basic course objectives (integration of ways of knowing the world at multiple levels of organization);
● specific interests of seminar participants;
● Emerging research and scholarship in constituent fields;
● specific interests of guest experts that may visit to explore their interests in the light of A&O.
A&O Spring 2022
Classes Begin Monday, January 24
Spring Break Monday, March 14 – Friday, March 18
Spring Recess Friday, April 15
Classes End Tuesday, May 10
Exams Thursday, May 12 – Wednesday, May 18
Graduation Date Saturday, May 21
| dates
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orange links are now LIVE grey links are from 2021 | topics drawn from following themes | likely activities |
| January 25 | A&O (1) | ● CONNECTIONS! Within and Between us ● The art and science of art and science– how they co-constitute our cognitive universe ● what do WORDS really MEAN? ● MEANINGS are DEEPER than WORDS | ● Check-in (who we are and our interests; 2-3 minutes at most) ● the IDEA of CONNECTIONS ● the PROBLEM with WORDS ● Check-out (what ideas stood out for you?) possibly by e-mail READ notes for meeting 1 |
| February 1 | A&O (2) | ● DEEP ETHOLOGY, real animals in the real world ● EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGY real people in the real world | ● Check-in (who we are and our interests; 2-3 minutes at most; comment on what stood out from last week) ● Continue with DEEP ETHOLOGY and the aspects of ART. Check-out (things that stood out this week, by e-mail from your diary notes, taken during class). |
| February 8 | A&O (3) | ● How do we know what to believe: COHERENCE and CORRESPONDENCE.
Patterns of influence between traits: PLEIOTROPY and POLYGENIC. Balance ● Essential Tensions ● INDIVIDUATION and SOCIALIZATION● SENSATIONS, PERCEPTIONS, CONCEPTIONS |
traits influence–and are influenced by–other traits (including between levels of organization) –how does that work? Human development, cultural transmission, “learning to learn” … Bias, congenital and acquired |
| February 15 | A&O (4) | ● first Powerpoint development discussion about behavior of your choice followed by comments on its DEEP ethology. (presentation due on Feb 22)
DEVELOPMENT, BIAS, and learning, ● congenital and acquired bias: how WEIRD we are; The “body bias”–Meaning and the Body |
EMERGENCE |
| February 22 | A&O (5) | ● Powerpoint presentations … NEEDS ● CHANGE: the maelstrom of perpetual disintegration and renewal;● key ideas that lead up to STRESS | consolidate DEVELOPMENT; and MIND MAPS What level of organization are YOU? |
| March 1 | A&O (6) | ● EMERGENCE and EXCEPTIONALISM … going between levels of organization. CONSCIOUSNESS
ART and SCIENCE and TRUTH;● when TRUTH is a LIE; ● is SAPIENCE and SENTIENCE: accurately represented by math & art? see: A&O’s ART & MATHEMATICS notes, |
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| March 8 | A&O (7) | ● A Stroke of Insight … PLAUSIBLE STORIES,
● TRUTH and BELIEF (correspondence and coherence) ● KEY EVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS: RITUALIZATION; ● PERCEPTION: BRING EXAMPLES of ART representing an anchor for an aspect of your topic (could be a short narrative of a personal experience) |
“How do we know?” — Perception and stimuli;
“adaptation”, “fitness”, “selection pressure,” NEEDS & STRESS. |
| March 15
spring break |
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| March 22 | A&O (8) | ● What will we learn from CAVE ART about the creation, transmission, and reception of art & artifacts engendered in such an alien context by people we can barely imagine? | POSSIBLE guest appearance by anthropologist, Jan Simek , speaking to “art and artifact in paleolithic cultures.” (Dr S. is an internationally known expert on paleolithic European as well as American cave art) |
| March 29 | A&O (9) | ● FILLING-IN gaps in perception and conception… connected to stories?
RITUALIZATION and key insights in EVOLUTION EVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS; ● CAUSES and CONSEQUENCES, beginnings and endings. |
what can ancient cave art tell us about the cognitive competencies of the artists?
what can PAREIDOLIA tell us about PERCEPTIONS and BIAS ? (“filling-in”) what can RITUALIZATION tell us about BRICOLAGE and EVOLUTION ? |
| April 5 | A&O (10) | ● CONTINUING last week emphasizing TRUTH and BEAUTY. Does RITUALIZATION explain our assessment of beauty? | ART & ARTIFACT ,,, WHAT is in the mind of the artist? does it matter? why do we want to know about our ancestors |
| April 12 | A&O (11) | BEAUTY- its attributes, its evolution, its “attractiveness” & “Gorgeous trumps Everything.” | POSSIBLE guest appearance by ethologist, Gordon Burghardt speaking to “play, art, creativity, and consciousness) (Dr B. is an internationally known expert on reptile behavior and the ethology of play) |
| April 19 | A&O (12) | Follow-up, follow-through. | |
| April 26 | A&O (13) | POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS | Please post powerpoints April 24-25 as attachments to e-mail
final versions with changes if any after considering feedback: April 29 |
| May 3 | A&O (14) | WHAT DO WE WANT? WHY DO WE WANT IT? How do we get it? whatdoes it feel like?
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS and DEBRIEFING: what has stood out? what has changed? Powerpoint perfections |
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| May 10 | A&O (15)
Final Exam and au revoir! pot-luck off campus adieu, adios, arrivederci, sayonara |
FINAL “EXAM” “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch” |
be prepared to create a mind-map.
DEADLINE for Semester Report: (paper or Artwork+artist’s statement) is May 18 (registrar’s scheduled final exam time) |