Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Michael Olson
W6A, Room 723
by appointment
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
12cp or admission to GDipArts
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
What is the relationship between philosophy, art, and literature? What can paintings, music, novels, and poems tell us about perception, emotion, language, and meaning? Can art and literature do philosophy?
The unit examines some of the classic problems in the philosophy of art (aesthetics), as well as contemporary theories of art, culture, cognition, and emotion. We investigate the nature of art and explore how our experience of art and literature offer a way of understanding the self and broadening our cognitive engagement with the world. We begin with the core problems of beauty and pleasure, examining whether aesthetic judgments about art are merely subjective or in some sense objective. We consider the nature of aesthetic experience, exploring how art engages our perception, emotion, imagination, and cognition. We explore how literary texts can stage complex philosophical thought experiments or explore ethical problems or moral questions in depth and detail. Finally, we consider the idea that art and literature can explore philosophical issues in their own right and exercise our moral imagination in complex ways. These philosophical theories will be examined in conjunction with a discussion of contemporary works in a variety of media from painting and music to novels and poetry. |
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Assessments deadlines are hard deadlines. Late work will not be accepted. If you have concerns about your ability to complete the work on time, contact me no less than 24 hours before the deadline.
All work should be submitted via ilearn.
Name | Weighting | Due |
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Art Reflections | 25% | Ongoing |
Online Quizzes | 25% | Ongoing |
Essay | 35% | Week 13 |
Online Participation | 15% | ongoing |
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 25%
In weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, each student will post an image of a work of art to an online discussion forum on ilearn. Along with this image, she will post a 200-300 word reflection on what she finds interesting about the work she has chosen.
These posts will be marked on a pass/fail basis.
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 25%
In Weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, students will complete short online quizzes on the unit readings.
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 35%
In the final essay, students will use the critical methods and aesthetic insights discussed over the course of the term to analyse a work of art of her own choosing. This essay, which should be approximately 2000 words, will be workshopped in a peer review exercise in tutorial in Week 13.
Due: ongoing
Weighting: 15%
Online discussion replaces traditional hour-long weekly tutorials and so will serve as a means for students to discuss each week's material. External students are expected to spend approximately one hour each week contributing to online discussions. This includes posting questions and comments about the material, responding to others' questions and comments, or posting relevant links to material that might enrich our engagement with the matter at hand. A passing mark for online participation will require at least 3 substantive posts each week.
N.B: online discussion should track the lectures as closely as possible so that we're all reading and discussing the same things at as close to the same time as possible. To that end, students will only earn marks for participation in online discussions when posts are made within a week of my discussion of the topic in lectures. For example, your participation mark for Week 2 (on Vasari and Wilde) will be determined by your contributions before the end of Friday in Week 3.
For lecture times and classrooms please consult the MQ Timetable website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au. This website will display up-to-date information on your classes and classroom locations.
(In case you're interested in popping by) Times and Locations for Lectures:
Weekly readings will be available via iLearn.
Electronic Resources
There are some excellent online resources that will be useful for browsing through images of works of art you are not already familiar with. These will be particularly useful for your semi-weekly writings about specific works. Here are a couple excellent websites that provide high quality images of a broad range of art works:
Further electronic resources, including articles, websites, and images, will be made available via the PHL250 Aesthetics ilearn website.
Online units can be accessed at: http://learn.mq.edu.au
The unit uses the following technology: iLearn website; ilecture recordings; online discussion boards; weblinks, etc.
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.
This graduate capability is supported by:
Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.
This graduate capability is supported by:
As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.
This graduate capability is supported by:
We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.
This graduate capability is supported by: