1. Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map When we learn, several levels of learning take place, sometimes at the same time. But basically, most of what happens can be talked about by referring to three components. The first component is our motivation for learning, that is, why we are doing it. Often this component isn’t as clear as it should be and we end up using “to get a grade” as our motivation. Or sometimes our motivation is a pretty big one like “to get a better job,” which actually includes other areas of our life. But if our motivation comes from knowing what a particular learning situation can do for us then what you need to do and why you’re doing it is much clearer and, consequently, there is less frustration. The second component is the goals we need to set in order to accomplish the learning. These can vary from person to person depending upon what background he or she brings to the learning situation. If a person is a musician then she would NOT need to learn the vocabulary for a music appreciation class. But a non- musician would have to make learning the vocabulary used in music one of his goals for understanding the course content. And often there are little goals inside bigger goals.

2. Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map-2 The third component is the tools we use to accomplish the goals. This component includes any reading, activities, tests, lectures, presentations, etc. that we DO for the learning situation. Tools also include using a dictionary, practicing skills (such as using the library or the Internet, writing a bibliography, or practicing an instrument), watching a video outside of class-- that is, any object or activity we use to accomplish our goals. Now let’s look at these three components as they apply to HUM 210-- Motivation-- The main motivation for taking HUM 210 (and a large part of why the State of Illinois requires students to take humanities courses) is to help you master the thinking skills associated with the Arts. A good thinker, someone who can handle any situation which comes her way, has more than one way of thinking about things. The “logical” approach we gain from the sciences and math is not always the best way to deal with a situation. Sometimes we need to make connections between ideas, be more creative, brainstorm a little and this may require us to notice details and look for patterns, a skill we can acquire by engaging with the arts.

3. Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map-3 How we do this is through the approach called hermeneutics. Hermeneutics teaches us to look at a subject from many different perspectives and make connections between and among those perspectives. It is a very global way of looking at things--and very creative. But in order for the arts to help us think more hermeneutically, we must engage with them, really look and listen and touch. We must make decisions about them, see how they connect up, and discover how they are made. A second motivation for studying the arts which is a little harder to turn into a syllabus is that the arts make your life fuller, your imagination more detailed, and your sense of the world larger. We’re not talking about that “well-rounded person” line that is often given as a justification for studying the arts. What we’re talking about is the fact that “making things” is one of the most basic human practices there is and we just simply are meant to DO art. It may be, in the end, that thing which makes us most fully human. (After all, when’s the last time you saw a bear decorate his cave?)

4. Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map-4 Goals --An example of one of the specific goals included in this course is learning the vocabulary associated with hermeneutics and the arts. Although there aren’t long lists of words to memorize, there are terms which you will have to learn and will then be expected to use in your assignments. Another goal will be to become familiar with several examples of the arts from the Western European tradition. In order to do this you will be visiting various websites as well as using the material posted on the course website. Therefore, if you are not too familiar with getting around the Internet, one of your smaller goals within the larger goal will be to become familiar with how your browser works, how to save pages and images, and how to search for other material on your own. There are specific goals for the course, but everyone may have different smaller goals they need to accomplish in order to do the larger ones. But that’s where the teacher comes in. I am available (via email, the Agora, and the MOO) to give you any help you may need in accomplishing whatever goals you have.

5. Guide to HUM 210 Concept Map-5 Tools -- The tools for HUM 210 include the activities, readings/lectures, Agora postings, MOO sessions, related sites, etc.--any activity or object you use to work toward your goals. They may also include anything you use or do to reach the smaller goals, like instructions on how to use your web browser. That is, tools include anything used to accomplish a goal including material objects as well as tools for thinking. The “Object” Goals result in objects--something which demonstrates the accomp- lishment of the goal. An object can be a material thing or something less tangible such as a plan or idea. These objects also demonstrate the outcome of your motivation. So here’s the real deal. If your motivation is just to get a grade then your “objects” will reflect that. But if your motivation is to acquire the thinking skills associated with the arts, your “objects” will be well-thought out and demonstrate your best efforts. Now, on to a concept map to help you connect all this up- ah, we’re using hermeneutics already!

6. Concept Map HUM 210 Motivation- To acquire the thinking skills associated with the Arts Goal- To become familiar with examples of the Western European arts Goal- To understand the role of the Arts in our lives Goal- To learn the methods of hermeneutical analysis Goal- To understand the arts as cultural practices

7. HUM210 Concept Map-cont. Goal- To understand the role of the Arts in our lives-e.g.Visual Discrimination Tools- Read “Art and Culture: Who We Are” Tools- Respond to the fonts used in the syllabus Tools- Design flyer for lecture by Geertz and Langer Tools- Read Lecture materials for Unit One Tools- Do an activity from the “Eyes on Art” website Objects- Agora posting based on your activity in “Eyes on Art” and the flyer assignment. Writing Assignment One

8. HUM 210 Concept Map--Summing Up I’ve only created a concept map for the first goal to give you an idea of how things connect up. I also only included the tools found in the first unit, but there would be tools from each unit that would help you to reach this goal. Yet another tool for you to use would be to make your own concept maps for the other three goals. Many of the tools go with more than one goal. For example, the article “Art and Culture: Who We Are” will also be a tool for the fourth goal--understanding the arts as cultural practices. The visit to the website “Eyes On Art” will also help you toward the goal of learning representative examples of Western European artworks. One of the reasons we use hermeneutics is that it prepares us for dealing with material that does not neatly break down into separate categories. As you make your concept maps notice how many tools work for more than one goal or how sometimes goals temporarily act as tools for other goals--e.g., learning to understand the role of the arts in our everyday life acts as a tool for understanding the arts as cultural practices. This course is going to allow you to do something many other courses do not--create your own knowledge and present your own reactions to that knowledge. And you will do that by making connections and commenting on those connections.

9. As a friend of mine once said-- the arts help us to know what may be thought.