Latin America Through Art and Literature (dual credit course) Syllabus

For two academic years I had the pleasure of co-teaching a dual credit course; Latin America through Art and Literature, designed for senior level students to explore the beauty and conflict in Latin American Culture through works of Literature and work of Art. Ultimately I found this to be a very rewarding and interesting experience, where students really came out their shells, pushed boundaries, and created meaningful dialogue.

Here is a loose syllabus for the first semester we tried this combination out:

Quarter One (MAJOR focus: English, Minor Focus: Art)

Literature:  Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende

Guiding Questions:

-How art is influenced by the colonialism? How were the native people effected? Are there good impacts? How would you describe the interest in ‘art from other cultures’ What IS That? How can you be influenced by it? This will set the tone.

Focus: Materials and Meanings

In Class Art Project: “Mobile Timeline” 

To gain perspective on what is happening in Chile and other parts of the world, we will make a hanging time line that coordinates with the timeline in the Book, Ines of My Soul. What was really happening around the world during these years?

Student Work; Hanging Timeline 

In Class Art Project: Creative Jewelry design => "Statement Piece" using elements from the Literature

Task Design :

The Statement Piece
Goals: Create an accessory that makes a statement showing an interesting perspective relative to themes in Ines of My Soul using influences from: Ancient Inka, Spain (1400-1600), and  your PERSONAL aesthetic!

The possibilities are endless!

Theme choices you could pull from the novel: Power, Female Conquisatador, Love, Animal Symbolism, Jungles, Mountains, Battle, Relationships. . . 

Rubric for “Ines-of-My-Soul-Statement-Piece”

1. Please attach any and all images and resources used for inspiration (should have at least 2; Incan and Spanish)

2. Also, attach all evidence of planning and brainstorming

3. Please explain the idea behind your statement piece:

Investigating the World	Communicating Ideas	Recognizing Perspectives	Taking Action/Presentation
Student shows clear evidence of investigation, using resources to follow personal interest and make exciting and interesting discoveries	The idea/statement guiding the piece is creatively and dynamically reflected in the piece. The response is far from obvious or expected but is a clear reflection of the initial idea.	Student shows evidence of thoughtful and purposeful planning, envisioning the final product. Includes purposeful revisions, makes a special effort to recognize and express a personal perspective.	The Final presentation of the piece shows forethought, planning and respect. All details are taken into the effect of the presentation, and student is able to verbalize reasons for artistic choices.
Student made a moderate effort to do some research for this piece	The Idea is reflected in a visually pleasing way, but does not show as much exploration, or may seem obvious	The work shows the student’s artistic voice, but there is less evidence of planning, or revision.	The Final presentation lacks some attention to detail.
Little or no evidence of self-motivated research	The idea is not clearly reflected in the work	The students individuality is not recognizable	The work was not ready in time for the final presentation, was lacking in detail or finesse.

Student Examples:

Outside of Class Art Themed Written Assignment:  Formal Analysis.

Basically, this is to practice analysing, and interpreting art from both formal and conceptual angles. I will post resources and bi weekly assignments for this that use works of art from our selected Latin American artist list. (see artist list attached)

Bonus Activity: Boats Installation (Inspired by and with support from contemporary Latin American Artist and educator, Muriel Hasbun) Concepts: Immigration, Family, Travel. **possibility for visit from the artist**

Artist Muriel Hasbun had a simple yet beautiful concept for an installation piece; building paper boats, and activity she shared with her father in South America to pass time and reminisce about family history. She used this activity with student groups and collected the boats, resulting in a traveling exhibition that we experienced in Dallas. With the artist`s support we created our own installation, getting to know each other a little better, about interests, families, and immigration. Each boat was a unique representation of "family" and involvement spread beyond our class to include other students, teachers and administration.

finally

we installed the finished piece as a group in one of the main entrance hallways

serving as a thoughtful and dreamy entry to and exit from the school day

Quarter 2 (Major Focus : ART, Minor Focus: English)

Literature:  Latin American Women In Visual Arts and Poetry

In Class Research: Choose a Latin American Nation, present about the art/art history there (informal)

 In Class Assignments:

          1. Creating a Surreal Self Digital Collage and/or a “Living Painting” 

   

2. Classroom Discussions, written and artistic responses to the reading

            3. Compare and Contrast the work of Frida Kahlo and Cindy Sherman 

                     FOCUS: Self, Identity, Painting vs. Photography, Modern Art Era Mexico vs.           Contemporary Art Era USA

            4. Creating a Marisol-esque Sculpture (using wood scraps)

            Formal Analyses of works by a female Latin American artist from the list or approved choice

Examples of Surreal Self Digital Collage Student Work:

Quarter 3 (Major Focus:  ENGLISH, Minor Focus: Art)

Literature: 100 Years of Solitude

Magically Real Colombia and Brazil!!!

Movie clips and Formal Art Analysis to Introduce the Unit

         Art Component to correlate with reading:

(1-2 partial class periods for explanation, bulk of work to be done outside of class, at the end of the quarter we can have a small scale exhibition)

Every two weeks students will create a small artistic response in the form of: 

Botero  (Columbia) or Vik Muniz (Brazil) or Surreal Response*

*FOCUS: Temporal Art, the idea that nothing is permanent...art that changes over time
RE: Oscar Munoz's drawings on water, Adrian Piper's All of This Will Disappear

Found Object/Arrangement (documented via photograph), or multimedia sculpture, emphasis on Fiber, fabric and stitching. 

In Class Movie Clips and Response "WASTELAND"
In Class discussion; Magical Realism vs. Surrealism 
*This may be the most difficult :) *

Quarter 4 (Major Focus: Art, Minor Focus: English)

Literature: TBD -- driven by the students here-
possibility to look at writings BY the artists mentioned below,  also interesting possibility to discuss Journalism, considering contributions by Posada (comparison to today and modern media)

            Art Component: Focus on Major Mexican Modernists

            Field Trip(s) to: Meadows, DMA, and/or LCC

            Artist Highlights:  The big FIVE: Rivera, Tamayo. Orrozco, Siquerios, Posada

            Major questions: What did these artists want to say about the world around them? How did they raise awareness or advocate change through their art? How are they similar, how are they different, and why.

            Art Projects: Animated Monologues based on Natasha Gelman Portraits (This is also an English component) taking cues from information learned about the artists above
PROCESS:
1. Choose a Natasha Gelman portrait painted by one of the above artists (replacing Posada with Frida Kahlo for this assignment)
2. Get to know the artist, and the woman in the portrait. What is the nature of this relationship? How might it differ from artist to artist (keep in mind one relationship here is female to female...?)
3. Write an Internal Monologue from the perspective of Natasha Gelman. Edit, Revise, Peer Review, Instructor Feedback, Finalise
THEN, you have the option to 1. Paint a copy of the portrait and create a voice over (you or a friend? maybe you have someone in mind) reading the monologue. 2. You, or a friend, performs the monologue (recorded or live) in costume allowing for artistic license :)
ASSESSMENT:
Final presentations/ performances will be reviewed by both instructors (and or more if available) and classmates. Criteria based on evidence of factual research, creativity of interpretation, clearly communicated narrative and idea, and finesse.

          This was just half of a one year plan! This course really was SO much fun, and I learned a lot as the instructor!!  Although it was challenging to get all the material in from both sides (Art and Literature) there was much collaboration and intellectual exchange between the two instructors, as well as with the perspectives of students that made it all possible. There were many more projects and discussions, if you are interested in resources, or further projects, please ask! I am more than happy to discuss!!!