CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS I Humanities 101 Fall 2015

Why Liberal Arts?

Artes Liberales

Quadrivium Arithmetic Geometry Astronomy Music theory Trivium Grammar Logic Rhetoric Artes Liberales

Middle Ages The seven liberal arts were adapted to a program of basic Christian education. Scholarship focusing on the human and art declined. Critical thought was often restricted.

Renaissance An important distinction was made between the Humanities and theological discourse. Revival of classical literature as the source of humanism.

The Enlightenment Humanities and the natural sciences as complementary and not contradictory disciplines.

Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Influence of the natural sciences gained prestige

Disciplinary Areas of the Humanities English and American Studies Middle Eastern and African Studies East and South Asian Studies European Studies Cultural Studies Linguistics Other Languages and Literatures Philosophy History and Philosophy of Science History of Ideas History Classics and Ancient History Archeology History of Art, Architecture, Design Law Theology and Religious Studies Communication and Media Studies Music and History of Music Film Studies Drama and Theatre Studies Studies of other Performing Arts

The Flood Tablet, relating part of the Epic of Gilgamesh From Nineveh, northern Iraq, Neo-Assyrian, 7th century BC

Paleolithic cave paintings of the Lascaux Cave in France, ca. 17,000 B.C.

Lascaux 17,000 B.C.

Göbekli Tepe, ca. 10,000 B.C.

Achilles and Hector Greek Vase, ca. 490 B.C.

Studying Humanities Today: Fetishism of the Present as an Endpoint 1991, history ends with “liberal democracy” -Taking today’s political system as natural, not historical - Abolition of (the sense of) history - No alternative, what we have is permanent - Also, it is absolutely new and unique

Fetishism of the Present as the only “viable” economy

Fetishism of the New as embodied by technology (mostly) Apple CEO Tim Cook introducing iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and the new Apple TV in California on Sep. 9, 2015

Apple Cube (store) on the 5 th Avenue, New York Fetishism of the New as created and satisfied by commodities What is the promise of each new iPhone? A new life, a new look, a new style? A new “prosthesis” transforming the whole self? Does this ever really happen through smart-phones? What makes them camp outside the Cube? (just new applications?)

HUM101: Why read texts from 2000 BCE through 1400 CE? 35 BCE Despite our fascination with our present moment as an endpoint and with the new as represented by commodities, de te fabula narratur suggests - A deep connection across ages and spaces of the world - A much broader and longer story of humans, human social existence - Recurring clashes, preoccupations, and deep-seated structures in human history and societies - Continuity with difference; history hasn’t ended, major human questions are still with us: Justice, equality, freedom, ethical living, autonomy, relation to nature and so on

What is representation?

Definition one : a representation is “a likeness, picture, model, or other reproduction” Definition two : a representation is “(1): an image or idea formed by the mind (2): an idea that is the direct object of thought and the mental counterpart... of the object [or referent] known by means of it” (Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary). What is representation?

“superhuman strength,” “masculinity,” “virility,” “dominance,” “awe,” “admiration,” etc. Representation is twofold : it involves (1) mental imagery and (2) their psychological associations. For example: (1)possible pictorial image of Gilgamesh, as imagined: (2) possible associated properties:

What is representation? “strength,” “weakness,” “hierarchy,” “in-group/out-group,” “speed,” “social dominance,” “social submission,” etc. Representing a text recruits your own encoded memories from experience (your background knowledge about the world). E.g., (2) from play, we learn about: (1)playing embodies a sense of ourselves and others.

What is representation?

This is representation

And this is representation Old myths, old gods, old heroes have never died. They are only sleeping at the bottom of our mind, waiting for our call. We have need for them. They represent the wisdom of our race. –Stanley Kunitz

Epic Narrative, Modern History Romare Bearden, “Home to Ithaca” (detail), 1977

John William Waterhouse, “Ulysses and the Sirens” (1891 )

Romare Bearden, detail, “Siren’s Song” (1977)“Odysseus and the Sirens,” 340 BCE

Romare Bearden, “Siren’s Song” (1977)