Syllabus

Prof Greg1 Comment

Patrons of the Arts
GET1019
GEC1035

Prof. Greg Dean Petersen (aka Greg/Prof Greg)

  • Office Location: YSTCM: Studio 16 (3rd fl, near lifts)
  • Office Hours: 8am-4pm unless I’m in a meeting or classroom.
  • Office Phone: (65) 6516-3363 (I’ll answer if I’m in my office)
  • Email: gregp@nus.edu.sg (response time typically 1-2 business days)

Dr Frances Lee (aka Dr Lee)

  • Office Location: YSTCM: Academic Staff Room (3rd fl, near lifts)
  • Office Hours: By appointment (email to schedule)
  • Office Phone: (65) 6516-7507 (I’ll answer if I’m in my office)
  • Email: franceslee@nus.edu.sg (response time typically 1-2 business days)

INTRODUCTION

Course Description

This course is a conceptual and practical introduction to the complex networks that drive “patronage,” including multifarious kinds of patronage. Issues raised and debated include exploring money, religion, politics, social classes, and many other social constructs that influence what art people support, and why they, especially you, support different kinds of art.  Critical thinking and expression skills will be developed through written assessments, classroom discussions, and contributions to blog postings related to the module materials.

Course Objectives

  • Identify major western historical leaders and their influence on the arts, including core knowledge of names, places, and dates.
  • Summarize, interpret, and predict how money, religion, politics, and social status affect the arts.
  • Assess and discriminate between and among these issues.
  • Integrate the knowledge and draw reasonable conclusions using supporting evidence.

Required Materials

ASSESSMENT

Grading Criteria

  • Comprehension: To what extent do you know and understand the basic meaning and significance of the information?
  • Analysis: To what extent do you recognize the various components of the information and their relationships?
  • Evaluation: To what extent do you understand the validity and value of the information?
  • Inference: To what extent are you able to make decisions and predictions based on your Analysis and Evaluation?

ASSESSMENT

Short Writing Assignments: 20%

  • To strengthen your thinking and writing abilities, you are invited to do short writing assignments (one paragraph of roughly 100-150 words) demonstrating your critical reflection of the homework the assignment each week.
  • Location: These should be posted on the Blog associated with the required homework for the week. The weeks you choose to post you must post by 11:59pm Sunday evening. For example, if you wish to post for week 2, you must post on the week 2 Blog by Sunday evening, 16 Aug 2020, by 11:59pm.
  • Scoring: Each post is worth a maximum of 6 points. Please review the material from week one and use the following guidelines:
    • Your own main idea must be your own, i.e. no quotes (0-1 point).
    • You should have one or more supporting ideas from the assigned homework material (0-2 points).
    • Your paragraph should have at least one substantive supporting detail from y/our present circumstances (0-2 points).
    • To facilitate critical thinking about the material, you are encouraged, but not required, to incorporate an evaluation or inference question (0-1 point).
  • Grade: You must earn at least 30 points to pass this component and participate in the NUS curves at the end of the semester.

Classroom Participation: 20%

  • Everyone ready to begin class on time begins with the same neutral/”C” score.
  • You can add to your score by making a notable positive contribution to a class environment by asking an evaluation or inference questions, responding to classmates with counter-arguments or counter-questions in a respectful manner, and answering question using clear ideas and strong supporting details, etc.
  • You can deduct from your score by arriving late or leaving early without an official excuse, being unable to respond to question when posted to you, answering comprehension or analysis questions incorrectly, responding to classmates disrespectfully, etc.
  • Classroom activities (Zoom break-out sessions, PollEV and similar activities) are an important component of your classroom participation grade.

Classroom Presentation, 20%

  • Each student sign up for one 5-7 minute presentation on a specific case study related to the materials for the week.
  • Your presentation should have an overarching argument (main idea), that has several supporting idea and supporting details.
    • The main idea should be yours.
    • The supporting ideas should come from the course materials.
    • The supporting details should be primarily from your case study.
  • Deadline: Variable, depending on sign-ups. However, uploads to the LumiNUS “Presentations (recorded)” folder must be completed by Thursdays at 11:59pm for the upcoming week. For example, if you are presenting on Tolstoy, week 2, your presentation must be uploaded by Thursday, Aug 13 at 11:59pm so your classmates have time to review your presentation in preparation for class.

Philanthropic Statement, 20%

  • Each student is to complete a Philanthropic Statement (will cover these in detail in the early weeks of the semester).
  • Deadline: The end of Week 6 in the “Statements” LumiNUS folder.

Grant Proposal: 20%

  • The final assignment in this course is a proposal to complete a meaningful art project. Details will be provided in Week 7.
  • Deadline: Wednesday of Reading Week in the “Proposals” LumiNUS folder.

STIPULATIONS

Absences and Late Work

  • You are responsible for the material assigned and covered in class. If you miss class, it is not my responsibility to give you a personal class. Students wishing to discuss missed discussions with me must first meet with two classmates and bring your notes with you to be used as discussion points.
  • Late work will not be accepted without official documentation. Students failing to do so will receive a “0″ grade for the missing work.

Academic Integrity

  • NUS publications, guidelines, and consequences govern all matters pertaining to academic integrity.
  • Please see the documents listed in the Student Handbook and the eModule on Plagiarism.

Final Grading

I reserve the right to give you your own personal curve using the following two rules:

  • “Constancy over aberration.” (I reserve the right to average out the peaks and valleys in your performance.)
  • “Speed isn’t everything, direction counts.” (For students who struggle to catch on to the teaching/learning style used in this course, but put in a good effort and make significant improvement, I reserve the right to weigh the end of the semester more heavily than the beginning of the semester.)

You will be assigned a final grade based on your total score at the end of the semester using the NUS grading scale and curve.

SCHEDULE

  1. Introduction
  2. Tolstoy, What is Art?
  3. Frey, Art: The Economic Point of View
  4. LeMay, Generosity Plan
  5. Muth, Philanthropy for Dummies
    1. Gary, You the Philanthropist
  6. Tindall, Mozart in the Jungle
  7. Karsh, The Only Grant Writing Book You’ll Ever Need
  8. Sayre, Entertainment and Society
    1. Barnard, Consumers: Markets, Public, and Audiences
  9. Singh, Cultural Patrons in the Developing World
  10. Barnes, Status Groups
  11. Danziger, Political Beliefs
  12. Young, World Religions
    1. Colbert, Marketing culture and the arts
  13. Nochlin, Why are there no great women artists?