This art history video discussion examines Andrea Mantegna's "Saint Sebastian", oil on wood panel, ca. 1456-59 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).
This seminar focuses on the cognitive science of moral reasoning. Philosophers debate how we decide which moral actions are permissible. Is it permissible to take one human life in order to save others? We have powerful and surprisingly rich and subtle intuitions to such questions. In this class, you will learn how intuitions can be studied using formal analytical paradigms and behavioral experiments. Thursday evening, meet to learn about recent advances in theories of moral reasoning. Overnight, formulate a hypothesis about the structure of moral reasoning and design a questionnaire-based experiment to test this. Friday, present and select 1-2 proposals and collect data; we will then reconvene to analyze and discuss results and implications for the structure of the moral mind.
This art history video discussion examines Mark Rothko's "No. 3/No. 13", 1949, oil on canvas (MoMA).
This art history video discussion examines the Painting Techniques of Mark Rothko: No. 16 (Red, Brown, and Black). Abstract Expressionist New York (The Museum of Modern Art) October 3, 2--April 11, 2011 MoMA.
Everyday we are bombarded with the word "global" and encouraged to see globalization as the quintessential transformation of our age. But what exactly does "globalization" mean? How is it affecting the lives of people around the world, not only in economic, but social and cultural terms? How do contemporary changes compare with those from other historical periods? Are such changes positive, negative or simply inevitable? And, finally, how does the concept of the "global" itself shape our perceptions in ways that both help us understand the contemporary world and potentially distort it? This course begins by offering a brief overview of historical "world systems," including those centered in Asia as well as Europe. It explores the nature of contemporary transformations, including those in economics, media & information technologies, population flows, and consumer habits, not through abstractions but by focusing on the daily lives of people in various parts of the world. This course considers such topics as the day-to-day impact of computers in Silicon Valley and among Tibetan refugees; the dilemmas of factory workers in the US and rural Java; the attractions of Bombay cinema in Nigeria, the making of rap music in Japan, and the cultural complexities of immigrant life in France. This course seeks not only to understand the various forms globalization takes, but to understand its very different impacts world-wide.
Students examine Martin Puryear's "Ladder for Booker T. Washington" and consider how the title of Puryear's sculpture is reflected in the meanings we can draw from it. They learn about Booker T. Washington's life and legacy, and through Puryear's ladder, students explore the African American experience from Booker T.'s perspective and apply their knowledge to other groups in U.S. History. They also gain understanding of how a ladder can be a metaphor for a person's and a group's progress toward goals.
This art history video discussion examines Francesco di Giorgio Martini's (attributed), Architectural Veduta, c. 1490, oil on poplar (Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin).
This art history video discussion examines Masaccio's (Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone) "Virgin and Child Enthroned", 1426, tempera on panel (National Gallery, London). Ser Giuliano degli Scarsi, a notary from Pisa commissioned this altarpiece for the chapel of Saint Julian in Santa Maria del Carmine, Pisa.
This art history video discussion examines Masaccio's "Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden", Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy, Fresco.
This art history video discussion looks at Masaccio's "Holy Trinity", c. 1427, Fresco, Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
This art history video discussion looks at Masaccio's "The Tribute Money", 1427, fresco (Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence).
Close study of a limited group of writers. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication. Topic for Fall: Willa Cather. Topic for Spring: Oscar Wilde and the 90s.
This art history video discussion examines Henri Matisse's "Luxe, calme et volupte", 1904, oil on canvas, 37 x 46 inches (Musee d'Orsay, Paris). Painted while the artist stayed with the pointillist painter, Signac, at his home in Saint-Tropez on the Cote d'Azur. Matisse's title comes from Charles Baudelaire's poem, L'invitation au voyage (Invitation To A Voyage) from his collection, The Flowers of Evil. Luxe, calme et volupte translates just as it sounds in English, Luxury, calm, and voluptuous(ness).
This art history video discussion examines Henri Matisse's "The Piano Lesson", 1916 (The Museum of Modern Art).
This art history video discussion looks at Henri Matisse's "The Red Studio", oil on canvas, 1911 (MoMA).
Poet. Orator. Actress. Activist. Writer. Singer. Phenomenal Woman. These and many more superlatives are used to describe the incomparable Maya Angelou. Gone too soon in 2014 at the age of 86, Dr. Angelou's legacy will live on through the words she used to eloquently, powerfully, and honestly express emotions, capture experiences, and spread hope.
This book explores the philosophical views on the meaning of love. The text explores a variety of topics used to define love, including attraction, relationship satisfaction, emotional, and ethical considerations. The author takes a rational, logical, analytic, and scrutinizing look at experiences and other forms of literature on the subject of love.
This art history video discussion examines Medea Sarcophagus, 140 - 150 C.E., marble (Altes Museum, Berlin).
In this course students create digital visual images and analyze designs from historical and theoretical perspectives with an emphasis on art and design, examining visual experience in broad terms, and from the perspectives of both creators and viewers. The course addresses key topics such as: image making as a cognitive and perceptual practice, the production of visual significance and meaning, and the role of technology in creating and understanding digitally produced images. Students will be given design problems growing out of their reading and present solutions using technologies such as the Adobe Creative Suite and/or similar applications.
This course explores the ways in which humans experience the realm of sound and how perceptions and technologies of sound emerge from cultural, economic, and historical worlds. It examines how environmental, linguistic, and musical sounds are construed cross-culturally. It describes the rise of telephony, architectural acoustics, sound recording, and the globalized travel of these technologies. Students address questions of ownership, property, authorship, and copyright in the age of digital file sharing. There is a particular focus on how the sound/noise boundary is imagined, created and modeled across diverse sociocultural and scientific contexts. Auditory examples will be provided. Instruction and practice in written and oral communication provided. At MIT, this course is limited to 20 students.