Course Instructor: T. Scott Frank
This seminar is an investigation into the processes of creativity, as an attempt to understand the nature and purpose of art. Further, the course will examine art in its various forms with an emphasis on the dramatic arts-particularly theatre and cinema. The course will also investigate the question of what it means to be civilized. Texts include plays such as Yasmina Reza's Art, films like Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, short stories like Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find," and classic texts on the purpose of art and the uses of a Liberal education. The course will require each student to keep a journal and to create some artifact commensurate with his or her talents. The creation can include but is not limited to a paper, a short film, a 10-minute play, a painting, a musical composition, a performance, etc. Attendance at theatre performances and museum trips is required.