If the content you are seeing is presented as unstyled HTML your browser is an older version that cannot support cascading style sheets. If you wish to upgrade your browser you may download Mozilla or Internet Explorer for Windows.

image


MAIS 601: Making Sense of Theory in the Arts and Social Sciences

Delivery mode: Grouped study.

Credits: 3 - Integrated Studies 1

Centre: Master of Arts Integrated Studies

Program: Master of Arts Integrated Studies

Introduction

MAIS 601 provides students with an opportunity to explore the origins and roles of the various theories that inform the contemporary arts and social sciences-it provides the foundation for subsequent studies in the Program.

The first half of the course is sociohistorical in nature and introduces students to the foundational role theory played in shaping understanding, framing debates, and resolving differences during a crucial period of Western development: the Middle Ages.

The second half of the course invites students to reflect upon the first from the vantage point of interpretive, critical, and post-modernist perspectives that have called into question the modernist worldview that informed Western thought from the seventeenth century on. Through a careful consideration of the theories that inform modern educational practice and literary studies, students will be provided an opportunity to learn that the issues at stake in contemporary theoretical debates are far from new, many having been sources of dispute during, and even prior to, the Middle Ages. This is a required course.

Course Objectives

Making Sense of Theory in the Arts and Social Sciences has two central goals. One goal is to familiarize students with the foundations of contemporary theory in the arts and social sciences. The second goal is to promote thinking, dialogue, and writing about theory in an interdisciplinary manner. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to

  1. identify the theoretical foundations of the Western tradition.
  2. demonstrate a critical understanding of the forms of authority, past and present, that have been used to legitimate the various theories that inform the Western tradition.
  3. explain the impact of politics, economics, and culture on the development of theory, and discuss how these and other factors have contributed to the success of certain theories over others.
  4. explain the medieval precursors to contemporary theoretical debates over authority / legitimation.
  5. explain how a single world view shaped theory prior to the advent of modernity.
  6. describe the role of the Renaissance and Reformation in displacing the Christian world view.
  7. discuss how modern world views such as science, ethics, and aesthetics came to displace Christian cosmology and form the basis of today's academic disciplines.
  8. identify and distinguish among four contemporary world views (positivist, interpretive, critical, and post-modern) and situate a range of contemporary theories (structuralism, new historicism, hermeneutics, critical theory, reception theory, feminist theory, Marxism, postcolonial and multicultural theory, postmodernism, etc.) within those world views.

Student Evaluation

Students should be prepared to devote the time necessary to complete the various activities in this course: reading actively and critically; writing succinct, critical commentaries and posing insightful questions; moderating online discussions; researching and writing academic papers that are both critical and integrative. To help students develop these skills, the course professor will provide feedback on each activity. Students are expected to demonstrate a willingness to work.

In this foundation course, students will be assessed on a pass / fail basis. To help students plan their individual study schedules, each activity is weighted proportionately. Your work in this course will be evaluated according to style, thesis/argument, research, background/context, conclusion and grammar/mechanics.

To receive credit for Making Sense of Theory in the Arts and Social Sciences, students will be required to complete successfully each of the following activities.

  1. Read the assigned texts and readings.
  2. Actively participate in online conferences structured around the assigned readings (20%).
  3. Prepare a 1,000 to 1,250 word reflective analysis of one aspect of the Cantor text, due Week 5 (10%).
  4. Prepare two reaction papers: one in response to an assigned reading from Weeks 7 through 11, the second in response to an assigned reading from Weeks 12 through 15 (15% for each paper, for a total of 30%).
  5. Moderate two online conferences, each structured around the reading selected for the reaction paper.
  6. Write a 2,500 to 3,000 word term paper on a course-related topic (40%).

Course Materials

The course materials for Master of Arts-Integrated Studies 601 include the items listed below. If you find that any of these items are missing from your course materials package, please contact Course Materials Production of Athabasca University at (780) 675-6366, or 1-800-788-9041, ext. 6366 (toll free from anywhere in Canada or the United States). You may also write in care of Athabasca University, 1 University Drive, Athabasca AB T9S 3A3; or direct your e-mail to cmat@athabascau.ca.

Textbooks

  • Bonnycastle, Stephen. In Search of Authority: An Introductory Guide to Literary Theory. 2nd ed. Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1996.
  • Briton, Derek. The Modern Practice of Adult Education: A Postmodern Critique. New York: State University of New York Press, 1996.
  • Cantor, Norman F. The Civilization of the Middle Ages: A Completely Revised and Expanded Edition of Medieval History, the Life and Death of a Civilization. New York: Harper Perennial, 1994.

Athabasca University materials

Course Guide: contains the course introduction, objectives, reading assignments, participation activities, assignments and evaluation criteria, and other information students will need to complete the course successfully. The "Course Schedule" identifies the course activities and assignments that students are to follow each week. The Assignment File section at the back of the Course Guide explains the assignments you will have to complete to get credit for the course. Students should take time to review the information in this document in order to become familiar with the design of the course.

Reading File: The assigned readings, which supplement the course textbooks, are included in the Reading File. The Study Schedule in the Course Guide will direct you to each of the readings.