Body Stories 

What Is A Body?

Schedule of Assignments

Instructor:  Connie Schrader

Contact Information:  Office- 208 HFC, 232-5652.  Email: cschrade@unca.edu. 

Web page:  http:/facstaff.unca.edu/cschrade

Class Meetings:  T TH 1:45-3.   Tuesdays the class meets in KH, Thursdays we meet in the Dance  studio in the HFC

Required Text:  Body Stories , by Andrea Olsen

Course Premises

• The body is a self-regulating event that takes place in relation to the earth’s gravitational field
• Our perceptions, our patterns of coordination and the meanings we ascribe to our movements are all stories that create our physicality
• By creating and discovering analogous structures in art and nature, we will learn to embody imagery which will in-form our own physicality
• By exploring the human body’s physical structures we will gain insights into the text and subtext of human movement

Goals

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• apply an understanding of anatomy to movement outcomes
• describe the inter-relatedness of physicality, perception, coordination and semiotics in human movement

• create and recognize metaphors to describe the principles of human anatomy
• care about cultivating conscious care of their own body

 Arts 310 Outcomes

Course Structure

 The course will include theoretical examination, physical exploration, reading and discussion, journaling and project-based inquiry.  On Tuesdays the class will meet in our classroom in KH to consider the topics of the week, then on Thursdays we will meet in the studio in HFC to explore these same topics experientially.   Students will demonstrate mastery of the material in six ways:

·         regular participation in class discussion and activities (50 points)

·         weekly journal entries and chapter prep’s  (5 points each; 100 points total)

·       three quizzes (15 points each)

·         three applied projects 

·         Final writing (20 points)

Participation in Class Discussions and Activities

Full credit will be given to students who have fewer than three absences and have regularly and generously contributed to the class and its progress.  Generous participation in the discussions and activities will be expected of all students.  You should arrive to Tuesday’s class having prepared the reading for the week including any of the workbook exercises.  Occasionally there will be additional readings beyond the Olsen text and these will be on e-reserve.  Absences will seriously affect your progress in the course as well as our success in establishing a learning community.  Absences beyond three will immediately lower your final grade.  It is not possible to “make up” any of the classes; however, should you anticipate being absent you are advised to make arrangements with a peer to get up to speed.  There are no “excused” absences.  If you are not in class you are, by definition absent.  (50 points possible)

Weekly Journal Entries

These Journal Entries actually have two parts to them.  One part is your response to the chapters you are to read.  A discussion of the chapter preparations is linked here:  How to Prepare a Chapter.   The second aspect of the journal process is the writing that helps you create connections between the topics covered and the core concept of the course—the interrelationships of physicality, perceptions, coordinations and movement meaning.   This writing will also help you regularly brainstorm ways that you might transform your ideas into art.  Full credit will be given to reflections which show active engagement with the concepts of the week's focus and application of these concepts beyond the confines of the class.   We will often use class time for these writings so bring your journals to each class meeting.  

 Quizzes

There will be three quizzes during the course of the semester.   These are your opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the basic anatomy we are discussing.  For those of you encountering anatomy for the first time, rest assured that the main goal of the course is to acquire basic anatomical principles.   Quizzes cannot be made up after the day of the quiz.  (15 points each) 

Give us the Science

The text does not pretend to be an Anatomy or Physiology textbook, but rather is a guidebook for facilitating the reader’s experience of many of the body’s structures and systems.  At times Olsen assumes an in-depth knowledge of anatomy and at other times her descriptions are misleadingly simplistic.  Teaching others is often an excellent way to learn something yourself.  Students are invited to expand on the concepts of our text by preparing a 10-15 minute presentation to clarify, illustrate and otherwise deepen our understanding of human anatomy.  This is an extra-credit opportunity.  All of these will be assigned in the second week of class.  (20 points possible)     

Applied Projects

This is the guts of the course (pardon the pun).   Through these projects you will explore ideas raised in the presentations, readings and workshops offering your perspective on the body’s stories in a completed work of art.  You are not under an obligation to make a brilliant work of art.  In fact, you are more strongly encouraged to experiment with an art form that stretches you.         

Of the three pieces you will create, only one is required to be a finished work.  The other two can be experiments. If you are doing performance work you are obliged to present work that has been rehearsed.  The goal of the applied projects is to offer your audience an original perspective on the human body, and in so doing challenge the audience’s perceptions or stories they tell and hold about the body.  These projects will be presented on Feb 12, Mar 19  and April 28 and 20^th.  As these are intended as contributions to our learning community, it is not possible to receive full credit for work that is submitted on dates other than these.  As these projects represent nearly half the weighted points for the course you are advised to carefully read the full guidelines about these projects at this link.  (50 possible points each)

Please consider scheduling an appointment to discuss your projects in conference with me. 

 Final Writing

This will be your summative review of the course: your observations about the nature and evolution of your participation, your assessment of what you now know, what you are now able to do and what you now care about.  The prompt for the final writing does not yet exist but will be posted in the second half of the course.  (15 points)

 Evaluation and Grading

There are 425 points possible in the course.  Although I reserve the right to modify the list of evaluative tools, the parameters for awarding a grade will remain as follows: 

A= 93% and above      B=92-86%       C=85-75%       D=74-65%       F=below 64%