HU 390 Mass Media and the Arts 3 credits The purpose of this course is to develop an understanding of mass media and popular culture, primarily in the United States since the 1890s. Various forms of mass media are defined and the shared techniques by which these forms seek to communicate are analyzed. Finally, the values, both aesthetic and social, embodied in both these media and popular culture will be examined in relation to social and economic change. Composition and Theory 3 credits Students' poems are discussed, criticized, revised, and improved. Principles governing the decision to change a poem in various ways, the study of poems by American and English poets, the reading of some criticism, and concentration on the basic principles of craft are all included.
Theories involve sound, content, meaning, and purpose of student poems and of poetry in general.
The poet's sense of an audience also figures in the discussion. HU 411 B Shakespeare 3 credits The dramatic works of the supreme writer of the English Renaissance-Shakespeare. A selection of his comedies, histories, tragedies, and romances are read. The course focuses on the plays not only as literary accomplishments but also as theatrical performances existing in three-dimensional space. Thus the course is concerned both with the parameters of the original Renaissance stage and with modern translations and transformations of the plays.