ART & ORGANISM
A SEMINAR
Providing 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.
(notes from last year’s offerings are provided as clues about how discussions emerge and interconnect)
.
| orange links are LIVE | examples of topics | ||
| January 26 | 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 |
| February 2 | 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 9 | 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 16 | A&O (4) | ● DEVELOPMENT, BIAS, and learning, ● congenital and acquired bias: how WEIRD we are; The “body bias”–Meaning and the Body Read: Chapter 1 from K Greenberg et al 2019. | Guest appearance by scholar of teaching-learning theory and practice, Professor Katherine Greenberg . |
| February 23 | A&O (5) | ● 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 2 | A&O (6) | ● ART and SCIENCE and TRUTH;● when TRUTH is a LIE; ● is SAPIENCE and SENTIENCE: represented by math & art? see: A&O’s ART & MATHEMATICS notes, discuss with Dr Nolt, think about it. | philosopher, John Nolt, will join us to speak to the aesthetics and mathematics (Dr N. is author of several books and a well known expert on logic and environmental ethics) |
| March 9 | A&O (7) | ● A Stroke of Insight … PLAUSIBLE STORIES,● TRUTH and BELIEF (correspondence and coherence) KEY EVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS; PERCEPTION: BRING EXAMPLES of ART representing an anchor for an aspect of your topic (could be a short narrative of a personal experience) | “adaptation”, “fitness”, “selection pressure,” NEEDS & STRESS. |
| March 16 | A&O (8) | ● Play and the development of creativity; ● COMMUNICATIONS internal and external | guest appearance by ethologist, Gordon Burghardt speaking to “play, art, and creativity) (Dr B. is an internationally known expert on reptile behavior and the ethology of play) |
| March 23 | A&O (9) | ● A STROKE OF INSIGHT and key insights in physiology and consciousness;
● RITUALIZATION and key isights in EVOLUTION EVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS; ● CAUSES and CONSEQUENCES, beginnings and endings. |
what can Jill Taylor’s story tell us about PERCEPTIONS and CONCEPTIONS ?
what can PAREIDOLIA tell us about PERCEPTIONS and BIAS ? (“filling-in”) what can RITUALIZATION tell us about BRICOLAGE and EVOLUTION ? |
| March 30 | A&O (10) | ● CONTINUING last week emphasizing BIAS, RITUALIZATION, and the connections between PAREIDOLIA and CONSCIOUSNESS … then asking if levels of organization represent layers of meaning | ART & ARTIFACT ,,, WHAT is inthe mind of the artist? does it matter? why do we want to know about our ancestors |
| April 6 | A&O (11) | ART and ARTIFACT: What can we know of the mind of the creative artist? does it matter? Last year’s notes | 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) |
| April 13 | A&O (12) | Follow-up, follow-through. Loose ends about paleolithic art. STUDENT PRESENTATIONS | 3-5 presentations by seminar participants of their of project powerpoints – presented to solicit feedback for a better final project |
| April 20 | A&O (13) | STUDENT PRESENTATIONS | |
| April 27 | A&O (14) | STUDENT PRESENTATIONS and DEBRIEFING: what has stood out? what has changed? | Last Meeting; classes end April 28; Final Report=EXAM; DEADLINE Wednesday, May 5 |