Connecting Arts & Society RAP Fall 2012

 

Investigate how arts, culture and history shape our lives!

This RAP is available in two locations - students may join the RAP in either Cance Hall or Baker Hall (see details in column to the right).

When you join this RAP you will...

  • Enroll in a pair of Gen Ed classes as well as a 1-Credit RAP Seminar. 
  • As part of your Music 150 class you will attend Fine Arts Center Performing Arts Series events and guided visits to University Gallery exhibitions of sculpture, painting, and photography.
  • Explore intersections between arts and identity. 
  • Share your living-and-learning experience with other students who are curious and interested in studying about arts, identity and ideas.
  • Make connections with faculty and graduate students from Anthropology and Music.

This RAP is ideal for any first-year student whether you are entering UMass Amherst with a declared major or are undecided. 

Art has a thousand faces - and we encounter and experience them everyday, whether it be in the museum, concert hall, books, propaganda, or graffiti on the bathroom wall. The arts have always been an important vehicle for self expression, social commentary, and communication; they have played and continue to play crucial roles in the history of humanity. How do we define Art and how does Art define us?

Discussions will embrace topics such as:

  • The intersections between arts and identity
  • The nature of symbols and signs
  • Self expression and communication in art
  • Art with a mission or a message

In the seminar students will have an opportunity to:

  • Get involved in creating a syllabus that represents their own interests
  • Think together as a group and have dynamic discussions
  • Develop a language to talk about art and its various roles in society
  • Share their own artistic creations, performances, and experiences with each other in small "show-and-tell" presentations
  • Play some creative games on the side!


Be sure to visit the How to Join page on this website to learn about the process and important timelines you must follow to become a member of this fantastic program! 

 

Classes & Locations

Fall 2012

All students will enroll in:  

RAP Seminar (UNIV 190R), 1 credit, in the residential area

AND 

"The Lively Arts" - Music 150 - Gen Ed ATG

AND an Anthropology course (see below for which Anthro class - based on residential location)

Students living in Cance Hall in the Southwest area of campus will enroll in: 

"Culture through Film" -Anthropology 106 Gen Ed SBG

============

Students living in Gorman Hall in the Central area of campus will enroll in:  

"Ancient Civilizations" -Anthropology 150 Gen Ed HSG

 

Spring 2013

"College Writing" - English Writing 112 - will be offered in the residential area

 

Pamela R. Marsh-Williams, Ph.D.
Assistant Provost & Dean

This website is part of Undergraduate Advising & Learning Communities. We provide undergraduate students a variety of opportunities and services designed to facilitate the best academic experience possible. 609 Goodell Building, UMass Amherst.

UA&LC Units: Undergraduate Advising, Residential Academic Programs, Domestic Exchange Programs, Five College Interchange