BOB LANE & DIANE EINBLAU

ARTS ONE: 1975-76 A Gentle report

Once upon a time during the summer of '75, three instructors from English,

Philosophy and Sociology got together to talk about the development of

an exciting Interdisciplinary offering. They talked. Ideas, books,

approaches, past experiences, personal idiosyncracies, prejudices and

methods of ego-massage were flashed about. Slowly but surely a pattern

emerged from the formlessness and was immediately abandoned in favour of

formlessness. For purposes of economy and marketability a thematic

approach was chosen, based on the 41's: Initiation, Identity, Indivi-

duality, Interrelationship. Once a theme was agreed upon, a book list

was not difficult to come by, although it had little to do with the

ordering of the I's. Bob was particularly pleased with the selection

of first semester books since they were among the books he liked best in

students the excitement and brilliance of the Arts One program. Many

the world. Others trusted his taste, out of fear as well as deep respect.

From th~t point on it was merely a matter of communicating to potential

students bought this line. The Counselling and Advising staff were

particularly helpful in placing students in the program without discrimi-

nating on the grounds of sex, creed, race, or intellectual ability. As a

result Arts One started with 46 students. These students read, discussed

and wrote about:

EcclesiastesRomeo & JulietSongs my Mother Taught MeHuckleberry FinnPortrait of the Artist as

A Young ManThe StrangerKing LearHeart of DarknessMemoirs of MontparnasseCandide

EcclesiastesShakespeareA. ThomasM. Twain

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J. JoyceCamusShakespeareConradJ. GlasscoVoltaire

In addition to the lectures given by the three instructors and guest

speakers on the topics raised by these books, students were also urged

to present seminar materials on themes or ideas raised by the books,

lectures and discussions. Films, slides and other A/V materials were

used to supplement the reading.

two students took a video camera and spent two days at the Monastery in

A number of interesting student projects emerged during this time: e.g.,

Mission, B.C. as a response to James Joyce. The result, after editing

and voi~e-over work, was a 50 minute videotape which brought into the

classroom a real sense of the kind of initiation that Joyce is talking

about.

A number of students became involved in the production of "Midsunnner

Night's Dream", and Shakespeare came alive for them. One student built

a model of the Globe Theatre out of toothpicks, and the theatre came

alive.

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Writing assignments were of varying kinds. All students were required

to write a critical analysis of at least three of the works studied

during the semester. In addition, students were required to write on a

specific work in a way that looked surprisingly like a mid-term examina-

tion. They also wrote reports, journals, and research papers, as well as

some poems, short stories, and graffiti.

At the end of the semester one of the students said: "Arts One are fun!"

and we decided we needed a grammar review tutorial.

Three of the 41's that we started out with were completed but only 2 of

the 31's who were doing the teaching remained, which means that 2 of

the I's had now to deal with one of the I's, while 3 of the I's had

dealt with 3 of the I's in the first semester, which reminded 1 of the 2

remaining I's that one of the thieves was damned and one of the thieves

was saved. The I that was not reminded that one of the thieves was

damned and one of the thieves was saved suspected that the one of the

three who was gone believed that risking his life was better than risking

his sanity. At this point the 2 remaining I's were reminded of Samuel

Beckett's warning: "No meaning where none intended."

The second semester's theme was Interrelationships: A study of Capitalism,

Socialism, Native Indian Culture and China since 1949. The book list

for the second semester was even more carefully conceived than that for

the first. Everything progressed nicely from Melville's Billy Budd with

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its Western concern for separation of State and individual, to The Red

Guard with its emphasis on the individual's service to the State, via

Mill, Rousseau and Marx. Between the conception and the creation fell

the shadow: Melville and Mill never showed up in the bookstore. Rousseau

showed up but was tardy. This meant that the students read:

Excerpts from Rouseau's Social ContractExcerpts from Mill's On LibertyEconomic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Karl MarxThe Struggle for Survival, La VioletteThe Ecstasy of Rita Joe, George RygaRed Guard, John Potter et. al.Politics in China, PyeBethune, Rod Langley

During this semester more guest lecturers appeared. They came from

S.F.U.'s Philosophy Department, a local law firm, Human Resources,

Malaspina College English and History Departments. They included the

author of a book on Indian Crafts, plus a large number of guests for

seminars and tutorials who represented specific areas of interest and

expertise.

Students were required to and prepared to work on an individual basis in

doing research, delivering reports, seminars and tutorial projects.

This meant, for example, that students were largely responsible for

setting up topics for seminar discussion, bringing in guest speakers

(e.g. the Habitat lady) who was awful, and Hilary Stewart who was excellent,

and for developing and presenting dramatic adaptations of Indian myths.

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In addition, the students were taking more tutorials than they had to (a

good sign), were making films and videotapes, and were generally wearing

out the Instructors.

One of the exciting, innovative and expensive elements of second semester

was Project Week. Four major group projects were born after months of

labour, having been conceived in the minds of students. These projects

were: Strathcona Lodge three day alternative education program, a tour

of contemporary Art Galleries in Vancouver, a reconnaissance patrol to

the U.N. Habitat location in Vancouver, and an Elizabethan newspaper.

Three of the four survived, and with some success.

At the end of the second semester instructors and students met to discuss

the impact of the program as well as to evaluate performance throughout

the year. A general picture of this year's Arts I class began to emerge

from these discussions.

First observation: the students identified on the basis of seminar

groups, i.e., their strongest feeling and loyalty was to the smaller

group rather than to the combined Arts I class. The formal nature of

the lectures balanced the intensity of involvement in seminars. Lectures

were experienced at times by instructors as well as students as a relief,

because involvement in seminars was so emotionally and intellectually

demanding.

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Seco~~ a:scrvation: many students were surprised that the semester was

oVer. ~~e lectures, seminars and tutorials had become, instead of a way

of ~ea~ __~~g out curriculum, a way of life, a way of life that had

~e~O=e s_ i=portant to them that they discussed ways of continuing the

~er~~~e~ e.g. through an Arts II program, or through some special

~3~e=e5~ cOJrses. Instructors took this as an indication that they'd

Cz_ a 5~=2es5=U: year.

Reca::::::le:l:::ations:

~ts I should continue.

2. nrts I is interdisciplinary in nature and should be staffed accordingly.

3. Interdisciplinary offerings at the first year level should be

expanded.

Observations:

1. Interdisciplinary studies is a learning experience for instructors.

2. Team teaching among compatible people is the best way of improving

instruction.

3. Arts I provides survival kits for many bright students who were

?reviously skeptical of any form of higher education.

!. Morris began to recover.

THE END