HUM 130 - Major Works in the Humanities
Welcome to the course. I have posted separately the Grading Policy, Marks, Requirements. That's required reading.
I always prepare long course introductions, in the belief that you've got a right to know what you're getting into. Truth in packaging! But also, if you're unfamiliar with the American university tradition, reading this will give you an idea of the professor's values, how he marks, what kind of work he's looking for in this class.
This is a perfect course for beginners. When I say 130 is for beginners, I don't mean the course is easy. I just mean, no previous experience in the Humanities is necessary. The lectures won't assume you have any.
It's a wonderful course to take and to teach, because it's virtually a "Greatest Hits" album for culture East and West. I've chosen works that are not only great, they also open the maximum number of doors for you after the course.
In college, we don't "give you an education." We can't! Whatever we "gave" you would soon be obsolete, in our rapidly changing world. Just think of how much America has changed since 9/11, and since the Silicon Valley job boom of the 1990s. Look back at history and you'll see that's happened constantly-- "the only constant is change." The people who survive the changing world and workplace are the ones who know how to re-educate themselves and evolve.
That's why a college education makes so much difference in life. In college, the most important thing we do is teach you HOW TO KEEP EDUCATING YOURSELF for the rest of your life. The works we study are far less important than the methods we use studying them. In a humanities course like this, you'll get the methods that you need to understand books, paintings, operas, works of art forever.
You'll see quite a few works on the reading list, but don't feel overwhelmed. You'll discover the books are either short, or that only selections are assigned. And these are great books to own, exactly the books to start with, the keys to the greatest number of possible future doors.
HOW HAS THIS PROFESSOR BEEN EVALUATED BY STUDENTS?
During the past twenty-two years over 3300 students have, after Prof. Leonard's classes, filled out anonymous computer evaluations administered by SFSU, given to the professor only after the marks have been mailed. They are kept on departmental file. In answer to ten specific questions like "Was his grading fair?" "Was he available at stated office hours?" "Did he know his subject?" and so on, replies have averaged, with amazing consistency, about 80% "excellents", 17 percent "very goods," with 1 percent "good," 1 percent "poor" 1 percent "no opinion."
Here are all the optional anonymous written comments in full (both positive and negative comments) exactly as written, added to computer forms in last evaluation, Fall 2003 (compiled by Dept. Secretary Annette Speed):
/Best course ever! I feel that having someone as qualified and experienced as Professor Leonard has allowed me to fully experience this class and its material. I dont think that I would have reaped the benefits of this class as much if I had a less knowledgeable professor.
/Having someone who is so passionate about the subject makes this class a great experience. Dr. Leonard has truly inspired me and now I am thinking about possibly taking up humanities as a major. I loved visiting the museum because it made everything seem real, not just a lecture.
/Keep this teacher where he is. Leonard really inspired me and I'm sure the rest of the class that life is full of spectacular knowledge beyond our wildest dreams. The museum trip really opened my eyes and helped me understand art a lot more.
/Having a humanities teacher like this not only added loads to my knowledge but made me admire someone who knows so much about the subject. I also enjoyed our museum trip!
/I believe that being taught by a graduate instructor will not be beneficial to teaching students with as much effect as a full professor. This course needs a professor with as much knowledge and experience as possible.
/Professor Leonard has opened my eyes to see the deeper meaning in life through art and music. I can honestly say that I have truly walked away with valuable knowledge about life and myself. I hope that he continues to teach this course and expose young people to thinking and visualizing the truth about the world around them. I have enjoyed the course and would like to take further courses with him as my instructor.
/The veil is lifting.
/Dr. Leonard is one of the most inspirational teachers I have had. His passion reached me like no other professor has to see life in a better and brighter way. For a beginning humanities student I strongly recommend taking his course.
/This class was very inspirational to me. It changed how I approach or rather why I am motivated to really learn. It improved my writing skills and opened me up to new subjects that I had never been exposed to or exposed to in the right way. It was great to have the chance to visit a museum which I would not have probably gone to otherwise.
/I enjoyed this class very well. I would not want to have a graduate student teaching me because when I start learning a new subject I want to know the person teaching me knows a lot about the subject.
/This instructor was very effective and is one that I have not experienced in the two years I have been a student. I feel that I have benefited a lot from the topics covered in class and my first time experiencing the museum was in this class.
/I thought Dr. Leonard did a great job with the class. I liked how we went on a field trip to the Legion of Honor. That experience helped my knowledge of art clearer because I was able to fully have a feel for the different artists and their paintings. I wish other classes would do this!!
/Very entertaining class, finally gave a chance for students to really appreciate art, most art classes don't accomplish this. Great teaching because the teacher knows the subject so well. Museum was a fun experience because of the meditation. I felt like we did more than just go to look at art. In this class we weren't forced to appreciate anything which is great.
/The teacher is quite possibly one of the best that I have had during my three semesters at State. No college graduate would have been able to put the amount of knowledge and experience that this teacher has. I have learned so much from this teachers first hand experience, trips to Europe, etc. In addition, the museum trip was amazing, I've never had a teacher show so much passion and knowledge for art. It made me learn how to appreciate art.
/Dr. Leonard makes this class very interesting and it is extremely helpful having an experienced, tenured professor teaching this beginners Humanities course. Someone without the experience and knowledge of Dr. Leonard could not as effectively teach and get across to us, the students, information presented in this course. Museum visit to Legion of Honor was extremely beneficial, and helped with understanding lecture material presented in class. Thank you to Dr. Leonard, Jason Holden.
/I feel this class has enriched my knowledge as to where to begin in getting real far ahead again. I need to take steps back from myself at certain times in my life in order to take fuller strides in the future. This is the sensation I feel is the gift of this course - everything has its place and although I admit I was slightly disappointed we were not able to more fully explore many of the topics in class, I realize there is a time for that later. There will always be time if you make it available to yourself, this is what I'm learning, learning to learn more completely. Thank you for teaching and allowing me to question what is being taught. Hope to see you again.
/I think all his lectures are filled with something we students had to know in our entire life. Since I am an international student, I can get the education about the most famous and great American movies, for instance. Also, it was a good experience for me to visit the museum outside the classroom because I could understand and know the good works directly. It makes my education deeper.
/Good teaching skill, but please speak louder. Sometimes it's hard to hear from the back. Museum trip is wonderful. Should have more.
/Prof. Leonard is a great teacher for Humanities 130 because he has so much knowledge about the subject. He teaches in a way that you become more interested every minute. The museum trip was great, there should be more field trips or hands-on activities.
/This was one of the best classes I could imagine. I feel that I have learned an incredible amount of useful and valuable material. Leonard demands respect and discipline which was effective in my learning. I didn't dare fall asleep in this class. I learned a lot of material that most professors would skip over, yet to me, it was the material I need to be a thinker and art participant. I learned so much about art and beauty and how to see things for myself. It was an invaluable lesson. The field trip was also useful. Leonard rocks!!
/It has been hard for me to write down the contents of class because the teacher only explains verbally. I'm not good at dictating nor understand English well.
/Passionate lectures, both moving and inspiring. Mind expanding philosophy in a very easy and understandable manner. I'm changing my major because Dr. Leonard is the most inspiring teacher I've had at SFSU. Normally it's hard to come to class because teachers are not interested or engaging. A superb teacher.
/I feel very strongly that I should not have to be taught by graduate students. My parents do not pay for an education that I could just as well get from reading or watching public television. Please demand that teachers who are passionate, knowledgeable and desire to pass this on to students teach. And also.. .although I understand how great a trip to the museum is, I know that many students didn't even know where they are. So please allow such field trips to take place. They are an essential element to any discussion of art history (or even history).
/And lastly... more poetry. I know nothing about it.
/The professor can be intimidating but he's a wonderful teacher. This class has taught me so much, and I think that freshmen and sophomores should take this class and they need a full professor to do it. Beginning professors can't teach this kind of class, it's too intense, you need somebody good like Prof. Leonard.
/Professor Leonard's humanities 130 class has been one of the best classes I have taken thus far at SFSU. The subjects were great and diverse and contributed greatly to my knowledge. The museum trip was a wonderful experience and I hope to go again soon. He should be allowed to teach these lower level classes because he is a very inspiring person and professor.
/Dr. Leonard is amazing. I admire his intelligence and vibrancy. I never wanted to miss a class session, lectures made me always want to come back for more.
/Enjoyed the class by Professor Leonard. It's actually quite a treat to be taught by a true {professor{ and not a {teaching assistant{ which is happening in many classes. The actual museum visit was a valuable experience.
/He was very funny and at the same time taught very effectively. The museum trip was great. It was a pleasure to actually have a professor teach my class.
/I found Professor Leonard's astute perspective and knowledgeable experience inspirational in the classroom. Of all my professors this semester, I found myself interested and excited by the majority of what he chose to teach.
/This was my favorite class this semester. Since this is a beginners course I feel that I really benefited from having Professor Leonard and all his experience. I don't think I would have learned anything from a graduate student because they don't have Professor Leonard's experience. And I loved the museum trip!
/Professor Leonard opened my mind to thinking creatively and taught me how to enjoy art. Taking the trip to the museum was a great way to present to us different artworks and it allowed us to absorb the information and made a greater impact. His lessons are very valuable, stimulating, and interesting. He has been my best teacher and the one I have learned the most from.
/Very intense class and teacher! Really enjoyed the artwork and getting to know the painters and backgrounds. It really helped to grasp the situations in which the painting was created. You do retain information!! I was able to carry out a two hour conversation argument about Degas and impressionism, and boy, did I feel smart! The museum trip was invaluable, I bought myself a year pass and keep going back for more.
/I think it is better not to have a graduate student teach these types of courses because what good is it to have a new teacher teach new students? It is like the blind leading the blind. I really enjoyed the museum trip it was very helpful in my learning experience.
/As a beginners course I enjoyed this class very much. Prof. Leonard taught at a level that made it comfortable for someone who has little or no knowledge of art. His experience and commitment to the subject has enabled me to get a good sense of what art represents and what my feelings are towards this form of expression.
PAPER, MUSEUM AND READING ASSIGNMENTS:
Though in the bookstore you saw only one or two book(s) assigned so far, there will be at least two other books assigned. That's to give me a chance to read the bios that you write in class, and look at the results from the computerized "Needs" survey we'll take. Only then will I know what you as individuals need. You've also told me that if a book isn't rare, you can find it cheaper on-line than if I assign it at the bookstore.
We use our location in a major American city famous for culture. There will be a museum trip (see below) and one unusual campus student production-- usually excellent, by the way-- will probably turn up. They even do opera here and kabuki and tea ceremonies-- yes, the campus has a real Japanese tea house hidden inside it! Great opportunities. Cost is usually about six dollars per ticket.
IN ADDITION TO THE BOOKS, CERTAIN WEBSITES WILL BE ASSIGNED IN CLASS AS "PLACES" YOU ARE TO VISIT, AND READ. THESE ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOT NECESSARILY IN THE ORDER THAT WE'LL DO THEM THIS YEAR. WE MAY HAVE A GUEST SPEAKER, AND I HAVE TO JUGGLE OUR SCHEDULE. LISTEN IN CLASS FOR THE FINAL ASSIGNMENT.
One of our first assignments will be in Alan Lakein's "How to Get Control of your Time and Your Life." Selections to be assigned in class. Students have really liked this book, because it isn't about how to force yourself to do all the items on your to-do list. We'll work on helping you find more time to enjoy yourself, as well as to work, by learning that you have the right to stand up for yourself. (You don't have to take that girl's whining phonecalls just because you were best friends in middle school.)
MUSEUM WORK: A meeting at the SF Museum of Modern Art, next to the Metreon Center downtown. I will lecture there. The paper you have to write is not optional, but the meeting itself is. Listen in class.
Download, print, and bring this museum assignment sheet to the museum with you.
Download and print this handout that contrasts A, B and C essays
Travel Project
The course prepares you, ideally, to keep learning all your lives. A trip to Europe, even just for a few weeks, is an essential part of that learning. In this class, we'll help you take the first steps towards it. Listen in class, but to start, see my Travel Projects page.
About this point you'll be asked to buy an Eyewitness Guide to a European city you dream of visiting some summer soon, a book you can use in class, and then use there. You're going to go home and tell your parents that white-collar people are expected to have gone to Europe for two or three weeks. I've been teaching here for twenty years, I know your economic situation. But this isn't optional if we're serious about your future success. Let's get serious here and start preparing for the trip. The Eyewitness guide series makes great art books and history books, so even if, god forbid, you never get to Europe, it's a great book.
Other
Museum Skepticism
"Elegy for an Age," by John D. Rosenberg
With George Orwell's 1984, we watch the animated film: George Orwell's "ANIMAL FARM." Long before there were serious "anime" this cartoon version of Orwell's Animal Farm was a classic. An excellent companion to 1984.
I've prepared a writing guide called "Break Your Writer's Block" which will give the writing advice needed for this course. It also works with our time-planning book.
MAUS, by Art Spiegelman. A graphic novel, the first comic book to win the American publishing world's highest honor, the Pulitzer prize! This year we are reading both Maus and Maus II. Buy the book that's called THE COMPLETE MAUS. If you buy the volumes separately, it will cost you much more money. It's widely available used, but used books take forever to arrive, so order early if you go that route.Since I don't use MAUS right away, I wanted to save you money by letting you order used copies over the internet.