The core examination is designed to test the student’s general understanding of concepts and materials implicit in the program of core courses (minor). The goal is to demonstrate an ability to relate general issues and concerns common to all the arts.

The Following Questions Represent the Types of Issues Assigned by Examination Committees During the Past Years (most recent questions are listed first).

1. Theatre directors occupy a curious position. On the one hand, the director is an interpreter of a text – namely, the play’s script – and as such is forced to consider the sorts of questions that arise for all interpreters: To what extent does the meaning of the text depend on the author’s actual intentions? Is the meaning of a text something that awaits discovery, or is meaning constructed by the interpreter?

On the other hand, the director is a creator (or co-creator) of works of art – stage performances. (Compare: a movie projectionist, who does not create works of art.) The director’s choices for a performance, then, are at once acts of interpretation (of the play’s script) and acts that are themselves evaluable from the aesthetic point of view; the eventual performance is at once the responsibility of the director and the playwright. (Not to mention the contribution of the producers, the actors, and the myriad other forces that contribute to the eventual production of a performance.)

What is the director’s responsibility vis-à-vis the play’s script? Are the author’s intentions to be respected? To what extent? How and to what extent does a play’s script constrain performances of it? Who, if anyone, is ultimately responsible for a performance? How are theatre directors different, in this regard, from other sorts of artists – painters, novelists, musicians?

2. Discuss the notion that art defines culture. How can art be used to help people experience and come to an understanding of the world? Does knowing about art, or doing art help a person learn about the world, or refine skills that are useful in functioning in the world? In your response, address both contemporary and one historical culture, including music, philosophy, theatre, and visual art (excluding film and TV) in your discussion.

3. What subjects are essential to a primary school education? Incontrovertibly, English, mathematics, and science (say), but it is not obvious to most that music belongs on this list. And while literacy is incontrovertibly crucial in a person’s education, music literacy (i.e. the ability to read and write music notation) is not. Zoltan Kodály, for one, maintained that, on the contrary, an education in music is the right of every student, and that a successful musical education is part of a complete spiritual and intellectual life.

Does music belong on such a list of essential subjects? Suppose that it does; what explains the importance of music education? What does an education in music

teach one, other than how to create music? And what sort of music curriculum (if not the sort that is currently common) would warrant taking music as seriously as these other subjects?

Visual art and theatre, as much as music, are ‘inessential’ subjects in primary schools. (And certainly both are ‘inessential’ in high schools and colleges, inasmuch as they are not required subjects.) If there is currently a neglect of music education (and a neglect of a certain sort), is there a similar neglect of visual art and theatre education (and a neglect of the same sort)? Do Kodály’s claims about music (or yours, in reply to the questions above) apply, mutatis mutandis, to the visual arts and to theatre?

4. Certain critics of the current movie "Crash" have argued that the film is flawed because, in its concern with making a point, it hits the viewer over the head with its message; in some sense, it tells you what to feel rather than just having you experience the relevant feelings in some more authentic manner. Setting aside the question of assessing that particular film, consider the distinction between the different ways artworks have of communicating emotional qualities. (Some philosophers have, for example, tried to draw significant distinctions between expressing, betraying, evoking, and describing an emotion or such distinctions? Does it make sense at all, for example, to say that some modes of emotional communication are artistically superior (or better suited to particular art forms) than others? Why or why not?

Examining illustrations from visual art, music, and theatre, discuss emotive communication in the arts, and the question of whether there may be salient differences in such communication between the various arts.

5. While most people in the arts feel that federal or state funding for the arts is appropriate, and that such funding agencies often support programs of advocacy and education which help shape cultural policy, there are those who are opposed to such programs. Those who are opposed to federal or state funding often feel that the private sector should fund the arts and be advocates for artistic endeavors.

Discuss those areas of advocacy, policy, or education that are appropriate to government support and those that might more properly seek support in the private sector. Identify at least one program from each side of the problem that illuminates your position. Is it possible for the arts to exist in early 21st century society without some form of governmental support? If art does, indeed, define a society, why is external support necessary? Be sure to include visual arts, theatre, music and philosophy in your discussion.

6. Some assert that racism and sexism continue to be major problems in the arts. Give us a brief overview of the history of black women in the arts, i.e., how we got to this point. Determine the extent to which racism and sexism constitute

contemporary issues for the arts. Are racism and sexism simply ethical and/or political problems, or are they distinctively artistic problems as well? Do race and sex challenge contemporary aesthetic principles? If so, how do they do this? Suggest changes and offer plans for creating those changes. Don't hesitate to refer to your own experiences, but provide, in addition, a logical rationale for a discussion incorporating art, music, philosophy, and theatre.

7. Theatregoing, in short, is one of a dwindling group of activities that bring Americans into communication with each other; it is, therefore, an enterprise that preserves some vestige of belief in the possibilities of society, if not of communion. It may also be one of the last remaining shreds of evidence that we are a people, and not just an isolated mass of frightened fantasists, barricaded in our homes, seeking safety from a sinister and threatening external world.

To my question, “Who needs theatre?”, then, I would reply, we all do – not for its superior aesthetic qualities, which it reveals so rarely, certainly not for its comfort or convenience, not even for its capacity to move forward in space and time in a culture of canned images, but because it represents social history in the making, both on the stage and in the audience. It signifies that community we have forsaken, the accidents and risks we would rather avoid, the sweat and gristle we prefer to disguise, the labor of humans working against odds.

--Robert Brustein, Who Needs Theatre: Dramatic Opinions. New York, 1987. 4.

How do the arts foster communication? Is that communication one-on-one – uniquely between the artist and the spectator – or is it plural: between the artist and the entire audience? Is communication among the audience a significant phenomenon? Is one of art’s central functions to reinforce society and its norms? Alternatively, should art have some other relationship to societal norms – for example, to criticize and challenge it?In your response, include specific examples from music, the visual arts, and theatre, making reference to ideas from philosophical aesthetics.

8. During the period between 1865 to 1935 (the end of the civil War to the end of the Harlem Renaissance), African-American arts gradually emerged into the awareness of “mainstream” Americans. In many instances, when they came into contact with commercialism at the turn of the 20th century, African American arts were taken over and controlled.

With an example of each, explore this phenomenon in music, theater, and visual art. Consider, also, whether philosophies of art extant during that era facilitated or created resistance to a greater awareness of African-American arts.

In what ways did commercial forces, art criticism, and philosophical positions affect African-American artists in terms of their artistic decisions and productions in this period?

9. Barnett Newman (the abstract expressionist artist) famously said "Aesthetics is for the artists like ornithology is for the birds."

Arthur Danto (who dabbled in abstract expressionism himself, apparently), art critic and philosopher, insisted that in the late 20th century art was sometimes almost indistinguishable from philosophy, and that in any case aesthetic theory was absolutely essential to the practice and understanding of art in this period. What do you take to be the proper relation between art theory (philosophical aesthetics) and the practice of art? Is what philosophers study and argue and propose at all relevant to the activity of artists? Is it relevant to the activity of art critics, or to others engaged in the practical aspects of the institution of art? Why might one think so (with Danto, perhaps)? Why might one think not?

In your assessment, examine arguments on both sides of this question and be sure to draw on illustrations from the various arts of theatre, music, and visual art.

10. Artmaking is such a widespread activity among members of our species that it has often been characterized as natural--a universal (or almost universal) product of human nature and evolution. But many forms of contemporary art seem hard to make sense of from such a perspective. Much contemporary art seems highly theoretical. Its comprehension and appreciation appear to require the possession of a substantive body of theoretical knowledge. And even apparently non-theoretical contemporary art often seems to call for understanding in terms of a rich body of art history and art theory. Can this be squared with the putatively natural and universal character of art? If so, how? Or should we reject the idea that artmaking is a natural activity?

Make sure you address the visual, performing, and musical arts as well as philosophy.

11. Many theorists have thought that there are important distinctions to be made between fine art on the one hand and popular art or mass art on the other. Opposing theorists have dismissed the attempt to distinguish these categories. Are there significant distinctions to be made between these categories? More specifically, are there differences between these categories that are relevant for criticism (i.e., evaluation, interpretation, and appreciation)? If so, how might one go about making these distinctions? How are these distinctions critically important (or why aren’t they)? If you do not think the distinctions are significant, explain why the distinctions are still frequently invoked.

Make sure you reference examples in the visual arts, music, theater and dance, and provide a philosophical base for your position.

12. Some theorists have argued that knowledge about the context in which a work of art was made is crucial to our appreciation and understanding of it; others have argued that such knowledge is not important to our engagement with art.

How important is knowledge of historical context to artistic appreciation and understanding? What can one get from a work of art without knowledge of context? What might be missing? Is there an important distinction between knowledge of general historical context and knowledge of art-historical context (i.e., knowledge of the history of art)? Are there general answers to the aforementioned questions, or do the answers depend on the form of art in question?

Use examples from theater, music and the visual arts, and make reference to philosophical theorists that you have studied in your core classes.

13. At least twice during the last century, with the early 20th-century avant-garde and the much later conceptual art movements, artists have produced works that directly call into question the nature of art itself. Partly in reaction to such movements, philosophers have in turn been led to re-conceive their own efforts at defining art. Instead of focusing on time-worn criteria involving, for example, imitation or expression, certain theorists have suggested that we have to look beyond appearances to other factors in order to grasp that something is a work of art. Thus, Arthur Danto famously asserts that seeing an object as a work of art requires something “the eye cannot descry,” and other theorists, understanding it as a product of a cultural institution, or as part of an on-going historical narrative, and in any case against an understanding of its art-historical and perhaps, more broadly, cultural context.

Discuss one of these watershed periods in 20th-century art, using illustrations from across the arts. Go on to explain what it is about avant-garde or conceptual works that might be thought to suggest the inadequacy of traditional theories of art. Finally, spell out the particulars of one of the recent philosophical theories of art that might be seen to have arisen in response to the radical goings-on in the activities of artists.

14. Often, programs that purport to be interdisciplinary may, in fact, be termed multidisciplinary. What are the criteria for being “interdisciplinary” or “multidisciplinary”? Do meanings ascribed to the terms, or the importance given to the terms’ meanings, vary in their usage within specific disciplines? To the degree that you discover such disciplinary biases, provide a concise explanation as to why they may have developed.What should the boundaries of an interdisciplinary fine arts program be? What does it mean to have a program in the fine arts? Which arts should be included in such a program, and why?

Describe actual programs, if any, involving the fine arts that truly meet interdisciplinary expectations. Propose an authentically interdisciplinary program that involves the fine arts, specifying the ideal amounts of coursework in various arts and collateral areas, ideal models for inter-arts relationships, and ideal models for interdisciplinary relationships among arts and collateral studies. Identify reasons for disparities between actual programs and ideal circumstances. Include references and examples from visual arts, theatre, music, and philosophy.

15. The costume designs of Natalia Goncharova for the Russian ballet, Le coq d'or, fit unusually and importantly into the contexts of art, music, and even literature, as she was a descendant of the family of Aleksandr Pushin who first fashioned a folktale into a narrative poem as “Zolotoi Petushok” (“The Golden Cockerel”). Additionally Goncharova's consciousness was shaped by Marxism and Russian Revolutionary feminism as it impinged upon the emergent political context of the Russian theater.

How important is knowledge of historical context to artistic appreciation and understanding? Are appreciation and understanding of a work of art possible without knowing the political or cultural environment in which it was produced? Is it sufficient to have knowledge of the history of art or must the patron or observer have an understanding of the general historical context of the work?

Use examples from theatre, music, and the visual arts, and refer to philosophical theorists that you have studied in your core classes.

16. As under-prepared students become an increasingly central topic in the national K-12 educational debate, the arts have been largely ignored by those dictating curriculum reform and national standards. Using a philosophical argument supported by concrete curricular examples, discuss how recent trends and regulations have impacted K-12 arts education in the arenas of theater, dance, music, visual art, and aesthetics. How do such changes buttress or weaken content in the arts?

Discuss what policies you might promote to emphasize each of the arts as a vital contributor to general education. Include your rationales for these policies.

17. What is the relationship between performance and pedagogy? Does all performance have a pedagogical aspect? How important is it that pedagogues in the performing arts be performers themselves? Can pedagogy in the arts be divorced from actual performance? Are there essential skills or insights that can only be learned from performance, and not from any pedagogue? What is the most effective means of blending the two – effective regarding excellence in both performance and pedagogy – and what constitutes a blend that is not effective?

Use examples from music, art, theatre, and dance, and make reference to philosophical inquiry regarding such questions.

18. Discuss the notion of "anti-establishment art." An example would be to contrast the murals of Diego Rivera with graffiti art. Do works created to protest establishment principles have value as art? Present a philosophical rationale that supports your position and/or provides rational means to evaluate the effect of such works, whether they be termed "art" or "anti-art".

How do "out of the box" artists influence the traditional creative artist? Identify artists, playwrights, and composers who may be characterized as anti-establishment artists and discuss the effect their work has had on the mainstream artists in their disciplines.

19. Perhaps, in a perfect world, artists would always possess adequate resources to do their work; they would not need to rely on the financial backing of wealthy patrons or subsidies from the state in order to create artworks. Alas, that has never been generally the case and, for a variety of reasons, it has of course become commonplace for works of art and the exhibition / performance of works to be supported not only by wealthy, interested patrons, but by the general public through its payment of taxes.

Any such public support for the arts raises a number of questions. Consider two in particular: (1) What is the best way to justify the state subsidizing art through its collection of tax monies? (Why, after all, shouldn’t art pay its own way?) And (2) What special dangers do the arts face by virtue of such support? (In a democratic state, are there serious risks of censorship or, at a minimum, some untoward influence on artistic creativity in such a relationship?)

Emphasize one but discuss each of these questions by means of actual historical or current examples from each of the arts (music, theatre/dance and visual art).

20. The “modern system of the arts,” as Kristeller labels it, has been in place for a couple hundred years. This way of thinking of the fine arts of music, painting, sculpture, theatre, and the literary arts as somehow “of a piece” forms the basis of such things as the administrative association of the first four of them within a distinct college here at Texas Tech. But is there any special value to conceiving music, the visual arts, and theatre and dance as unified? In what sense are they unified at all? Do any of these art forms actually challenge the conception that they share important properties? Discuss both theoretical and practical reasons on both sides of the question of the integration of the arts. (If it helps, you might think of yourself as a college administrator arguing before a board of regents that your university should or should not be organized along such lines.)

Naturally, discussion of this topic will require consideration of works and processes that one finds across all of these art forms.

21. Peter Brook has said that "Social authority wishes for a nice, decent, convenient image to be given to the world." On the other hand, "the basic function of theatre is to be anti-government, anti-establishment and anti-social. What we all recognize as feeble theatre is the theatre that enters into the public lie of pretending that everything's okay."

It is often on the sexual level that artists have chosen to challenge social authority; "The Naked Maja", Ibsen's Ghosts, The Rites of Spring, Angels in America, jazz, and rock'n'roll, for examples, have caused controversy for their real or imagined sexual provocation.

To what extent is using sexual provocation to challenge social authority an appropriate goal for artists? Aside from the sexual, on what other levels might such agitation be considered appropriate? Can sexual provocation contribute to artistic achievement?

Discuss the ways art challenges authority, using examples from the visual arts, music, and theatre, and relating your discussion to your readings in philosophy.

22. Many works of art in the Western tradition were created with distinctively educational purposes in mind; other works that were not so created may be used to fulfill educational objectives. What sorts of educational purposes may artworks be used for? Are some forms of art more suited for educational purposes than others? Are the educational values of a work of art independent of its artistic or aesthetic value, or may educational values contribute to artistic/aesthetic value? For example, might an artwork be great for teaching with, but lousy considered as an artwork (or vice versa)? What would explain such a divergence, or conversely, what might explain the convergence of educational and artistic values? Make reference to examples in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance, as well as to the philosophy of art.

23. Philosophers often distinguish between two kinds of interpretation: critical interpretation (an activity engaged in by critics and ordinary audience members) and performance interpretation (an activity engaged in by performers). Explore the role of artists' intentions in both critical and performance interpretation. What is the relevance of information about artists' intentions to these two species of interpretation? Must interpretation be guided by information about intentions? Should it be so guided? Is it ever a good idea to take intentions into account in interpreting? Is it ever a bad idea? Make sure you consider whether performance interpretation (or something akin to it) has a role to play in the visual arts.

You should address the visual arts, music, theater and philosophy in your answer.

24. While images and sounds are generally accepted as the medium of expression in the arts, consider the notion of color in the arts. Visual arts, theatre and music all utilize color to generate or heighten an emotional response in the audience

member. Since color is another manifestation of frequency spectra it follows that the use of color as an expressive device can be central to all the arts. Discuss the distinct senses of “color” in the several arts: the term "color" is uniquely literal when it comes to the visual arts, and quite different from its use in music and other art forms. On the other hand, what does the use of color have in common in the arts to justify the similar label? How does color affect the senses to produce an aesthetic response? Identify uses of color in the various arts and discuss the emotional expectations of each.

Be sure to establish a firm philosophical base for your discussion.

25. In the 18th Century, a distinction was commonly made between the “fine arts” such as music, dancing, and painting, and the “useful arts” such as silvercraft and furniture-making. Article I of the Constitution affirms the power of Congress to “promote the progress of science and useful arts,” but makes no mention of the fine arts. Today, supporters of arts education often make their appeals to higher authorities to enhance or at least not to eliminate their programs on the basis of the utility of the arts and arts education.

What are the best arguments to support the argument that the visual arts, theatre arts, and music are useful? Are there other arguments for governmental support for the arts that do not relate to their usefulness? Is there some sense in which arguments based on utility are beside the point of the arts, or might be harmful to the cause? Furthermore, is there any sense in which arguments based on usefulness might be based on questionable cultural presumptions for example, that what may be useful to one class or sector of society is good for the country as a whole? Who and what is included or excluded by any given definition of utility?

26. When pursuing careers in the arts, young artists often face a conflict between their own personal artistic ideals and goals, and a society that may not recognize those ideals as viable and requires that the artist compromise ideals for practicalities.

How is the young professional to mediate between idealism and the need to become established? Is the product of compromise art if it does not fulfill the vision of the artist? Does compromise of this sort undercut the value of artistic production? Does such compromise call into question the very status of an object or performance as art? Might compromise lead to artistic benefit in the long run? Under what conditions?

Be sure that visual art, theatre, music, and philosophy are included in your discussion.

27. Explore some of the significant relationships between art and money. Can the concern for--and pursuit of--money be detrimental to artistic pursuits? Explain and give examples. Can the concern for--and pursuit of--money be good for art, art making, and our enjoyment of art? Explain and give examples. Why might

someone think that there is an inherent tension between art-making and the pursuit of money? Is there such a tension?

Be sure to include examples from visual art, theater art, and music in your discussion.

28. Many of us think of art as a singular process and the artist as a singular detached entity. Because of this, artists are often thought of and written about as loners, geniuses, as eclectic, and detached from cultural contexts. Explore how such traditional definitions of art/artists belie the realities of contemporary arts approaches and arts practices? How does collaboration impact contemporary definitions of art? What impact does cultural and/or political context have on the product or the process? Use your discipline as an example/guide, applying examples of music and the visual arts.

29. In the history of the arts there have often been groups of artists made up of practitioners of visual art, music, and theatre (or literature), who gathered together to discuss needed reforms, proposed new directions in the arts, offered criticism of trends, etc. Briefly identify several such groups and comment on their influence both immediate and long range. Chose one particular alliance of artists to discuss more fully, taking into account their individual contributions to their own art form as well as influences the group may have had on the condition of art in their own time.

As always, be sure to include visual art, theatre, music, and philosophy in your discussion.

30. With the full admission of performance art into the academy and the world of fine arts, we can see that the blurring of boundaries between low and high art, between popular culture and elitist culture, and between traditional art forms and contemporary art forms (modern and postmodern) is well underway. Over ten years ago, Philip Auslander (Presence and Resistance: Postmodernism and Cultural Politics in Contemporary American Performance) helped us understand how the mediatization of American Culture informed this blurring of boundaries within art forms.

Fine arts institutions and university academic departments are challenged to admit these new kinds of art to the fine art venues. Visual arts programs reluctantly admitted photography and later computer graphics, music admitted jazz studies and electronic music, and theatre admitted film and video. Now, the doors are flung open to consider performance art, tatooing, hip hop, and a host of new electronic media reflecting the cultural landscape as legitimate candidates for cultural presentation.

You, as a fine arts administrator, must develop a rationale for selecting among all these forces to maintain a standard of quality in your task of preserving and

promoting "good" art. What are the issues and what is your rationale on these matters? Select arts events that are "at the edge" of the issue as you see it to define your position.

31. Many theorists have thought that there are important distinctions to be made between fine art on the one hand and popular art or mass art on the other. Opposing theorists have dismissed the attempt to distinguish these categories. Are there significant distinctions to be made between these categories? More specifically, are there differences between these categories that are relevant for criticism (i.e., evaluation, interpretation, and appreciation)? If so, how might one go about making these distinctions? How are these distinctions critically important (or why aren't they)? If you do not think the distinctions are significant, explain why the distinctions are still frequently invoked.

Make sure you refer to examples in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance.

32. Discuss the relationship between art and society. In what ways does art influence events in society. In the reverse, how is art influenced by society? Is there a clear pattern of either art or society dominating the other? Identify and discuss several events that can be used to make your point. Be sure that visual arts, theatre, music and philosophy enter your discussion.

33. Photos in the New York Times of a current production of Henry V show actors costumed in 20th century combat fatigues. Hardly, I thought, historically true to the original Shakespearean production. But what, after all, constitutes historical accuracy? And what is (or ought to be) the object/point of such accuracy? Standard examples, drawn from practitioners of historically authentic performance in music, would focus on the use of period instruments and historically accurate performance practices, ornamentation, etc.

Consider and discuss alternative analyses (and their implications) of what goal might properly be served by such performances. Is the goal a reasonable one and, if it is, is it best served by what conventionally passes for historically authentic performances? You might also consider whether (and, if so, how) the standards used in historically correct performance fundamentally differ from the standards one should consider in any performance. In your discussion, be sure to include illustrations from, and applications to, the various arts. If you see differences between the arts with respect to this question, elaborate on those distinctions.

34. Discuss the responsibilities of art to society. Does it make sense to talk about art having responsibilities rather than individual artists? If so, explain the sources of the responsibilities-are they inherent to art, or do they come from outside the domain of art? If not, explain why one might think there are such responsibilities. How does the ability of art to influence society bear on the question of responsibility?

Compare issues in Taiwan with those in the United States. What are the similarities and differences between the two cultures in the use of art and the responsibilities of artists? Be sure that you include visual art, theatre, philosophy and music in your discussion.

35. Because artists commonly challenge the thinking and values of conventional society, their works often occasion controversy.

How does controversy impact a work of art? How does controversy about a work of art impact the culture? For example, can it detract attention from the work’s essential value? Choose individual works from music, the visual arts, and theatre (as well as written drama) and discuss controversies they have aroused. To what extent did the artists seek, welcome, or abhor these controversies? Do their intentions matter? To what extent did their opponents call into question the art forms themselves (e.g. painting, theatre) as well as the artists’ particular statements?

36. It is a commonplace that exposure to a wide range of the fine arts is crucial to fully understanding and appreciating any individual form of fine art. In addition, many people believe that knowledge of the fine arts also aids in understanding and appreciating the popular arts.Critically ex-am-ine these views, making sure that you clarify your approach to distin-guishing the fine arts from popular art. Then consider whether (and under what conditions) knowledge of the popular arts aids in our understanding and appreciation of the fine arts. Make reference to examples in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance, as well as to the philosophy of art.

37. There appear to be two distinct kinds of interpretation: performance interpretation (an activity engaged in by performing artists) and critical interpretation (an activity engaged in by critics and ordinary audience members).

Characterize these two activities, and then explore their relationship(s). What are the similarities and differences between the two activities? Do they share a common purpose (or common set of purposes)? How can the two activities interact? Is it misleading to call both activities ‘interpretation’, or does this capture something important? Do the differences between the activities underlie any important differences between the arts? Make reference to examples in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance, as well as to the philosophy of art.

38. What is the relationship between performance and pedagogy? Does all performance have a pedagogical aspect? How important is it that pedagogues in the performing arts be performers themselves? Can pedagogy in the arts be divorced from actual performance? Are there essential skills or insights that can only be learned from performance, and not from any pedagogue? What is the most effective means of blending the two effective regarding excellence in both performance and pedagogy and what constitutes a blend that is not effective?

Use examples from music, art, theatre, and dance, and make reference to philosophical inquiry regarding such questions.

39. Many theorists have argued that art is essentially a matter of the expression of emotion. Even if this is false, it seems plausible that many works of art involve expression. What is it for a work of art to express emotion? Do all forms of art express in the same way? How does the fact that a particular work of art expresses emotion bear on its evaluation and interpretation? Be sure to include examples from visual art, theatre art, music, and philosophy in your discussion.

40. Some visual and performing arts are highly valued. Historically, institutional privilege and power has been given to select groups, and disciplines have established rhetoric defining arts categories, as to which of them are to be valued, and even specific characteristics to be valued. A correlative of this is that academics and critics often describe mainstream culture(s) as inundated with bland/uneducated audiences that prefer low-level arts experiences (such as kitsch art, muzac, Hollywood movies, etc.) over museums, symphonies, etc.

Who is/are responsible for defining which arts really count as real arts? How might that situation be changed? What theoretical issues might be implicated? How do race, class, and gender relate to these issues both practically and theoretically? Is the academy complicit in the existing state of affairs? Be sure to include examples of music, philosophy, theater, and the visual arts in your answer.

41. In the 18th Century, a distinction was commonly made between the "fine arts" such as music, dancing, and painting, and the "useful arts" such as silvercraft and furniture-making. Article I of the Constitution affirms the power of Congress to "promote the progress of science and useful arts," but makes no mention of the fine arts. Today, supporters of arts education often make their appeals to higher authorities to enhance - or at least not to eliminate - their programs on the basis of the utility of the arts and arts education.

What are the best arguments to support the argument that the visual arts, theatre arts, and music are useful? Are there other arguments for governmental support for the arts that do not relate to their usefulness? Is there some sense in which arguments based on utility are beside the point of the arts, or might be harmful to the cause? Furthermore, is there any sense in which arguments based on usefulness might be based on questionable cultural presumptions - for example, that what may be useful to one class or sector of society is good for the country as a whole? Who and what is included or excluded by any given definition of utility?

42. When pursuing careers in the arts, young artists often face a conflict between their own personal artistic ideals and goals, and a society that may not recognize those ideals as viable and requires that the artist compromise ideals for practicalities.

How is the young professional to mediate between idealism and the need to become established? Is the product of compromise art if it does not fulfill the vision of the artist? Does compromise of this sort undercut the value of artistic production? Does such compromise call into question the very status of an object or performance as art? Might compromise lead to artistic benefit in the long run? Under what conditions?

Be sure that visual art, theatre, music, and philosophy are included in your discussion.

43. Explore some of the significant relationships between art and money. Can the concern for--and pursuit of--money be detrimental to artistic pursuits? Explain and give examples. Can the concern for--and pursuit of--money be good for art, art making, and our enjoyment of art? Explain and give examples. Why might someone think that there is an inherent tension between art-making and the pursuit of money? Is there such a tension?

Be sure to include examples from visual art, theater art, and music in your discussion.

44. Many of us think of art as a singular process and the artist as a singular detached entity. Because of this, artists are often thought of and written about as loners, geniuses, as eclectic, and detached from cultural contexts. Explore how such traditional definitions of art/artists belie the realities of contemporary arts approaches and arts practices? How does collaboration impact contemporary definitions of art? What impact does cultural and/or political context have on the product or the process? Use your discipline as an example/guide, applying examples of music and the visual arts.

In the history of the arts there have often been groups of artists made up of practitioners of visual art, music, and theatre (or literature), who gathered together to discuss needed reforms, proposed new directions in the arts, offered criticism of trends, etc. Briefly identify several such groups and comment on their influence both immediate and long range. Chose one particular alliance of artists to discuss more fully, taking into account their individual contributions to their own art form as well as influences the group may have had on the condition of art in their own time.

As always, be sure to include visual art, theatre, music, and philosophy in your discussion.

45. With the full admission of performance art into the academy and the world of fine arts, we can see that the blurring of boundaries between low and high art, between popular culture and elitist culture, and between traditional art forms and contemporary art forms (modern and postmodern) is well underway. Over ten

years ago, Philip Auslander (Presence and Resistance: Postmodernism and Cultural Politics in Contemporary American Performance) helped us understand how the mediatization of American Culture informed this blurring of boundaries within art forms.

Fine arts institutions and university academic departments are challenged to admit these new kinds of art to the fine art venues. Visual arts programs reluctantly admitted photography and later computer graphics, music admitted jazz studies and electronic music, and theatre admitted film and video. Now, the doors are flung open to consider performance art, tatooing, hip hop, and a host of new electronic media reflecting the cultural landscape as legitimate candidates for cultural presentation.

You, as a fine arts administrator, must develop a rationale for selecting among all these forces to maintain a standard of quality in your task of preserving and promoting "good" art. What are the issues and what is your rationale on these matters? Select arts events that are "at the edge" of the issue as you see it to define your position.

46. Many theorists have thought that there are important distinctions to be made between fine art on the one hand and popular art or mass art on the other. Opposing theorists have dismissed the attempt to distinguish these categories. Are there significant distinctions to be made between these categories? More specifically, are there differences between these categories that are relevant for criticism (i.e., evaluation, interpretation, and appreciation)? If so, how might one go about making these distinctions? How are these distinctions critically important (or why aren't they)? If you do not think the distinctions are significant, explain why the distinctions are still frequently invoked.

Make sure you refer to examples in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance.

47. Discuss the relationship between art and society. In what ways does art influence events in society. In the reverse, how is art influenced by society? Is there a clear pattern of either art or society dominating the other? Identify and discuss several events that can be used to make your point. Be sure that visual arts, theatre, music and philosophy enter your discussion.

48. Photos in the New York Times of a current production of Henry V show actors costumed in 20th century combat fatigues. Hardly, I thought, historically true to the original Shakespearean production. But what, after all, constitutes historical accuracy? And what is (or ought to be) the object/point of such accuracy? Standard examples, drawn from practitioners of historically authentic performance in music, would focus on the use of period instruments and historically accurate performance practices, ornamentation, etc.

Consider and discuss alternative analyses (and their implications) of what goal might properly be served by such performances. Is the goal a reasonable one and, if it is, is it best served by what conventionally passes for historically authentic performances? You might also consider whether (and, if so, how) the standards used in historically correct performance fundamentally differ from the standards one should consider in any performance. In your discussion, be sure to include illustrations from, and applications to, the various arts. If you see differences between the arts with respect to this question, elaborate on those distinctions.

49. Because artists commonly challenge the thinking and values of conventional society, their works often occasion controversy.

How does controversy impact a work of art? How does controversy about a work of art impact the culture? For example, can it detract attention from the work's essential value? Choose individual works from music, the visual arts, and theatre (as well as written drama) and discuss controversies they have aroused. To what extent did the artists seek, welcome, or abhor these controversies? Do their intentions matter? To what extent did their opponents call into question the art forms themselves (e.g. painting, theatre) as well as the artists' particular statements?

50. It is a commonplace that exposure to a wide range of the fine arts is crucial to fully understanding and appreciating any individual form of fine art. In addition, many people believe that knowledge of the fine arts also aids in understanding and appreciating the popular arts.

Critically ex-am-ine these views, making sure that you clarify your approach to distin-guishing the fine arts from popular art. Then consider whether (and under what conditions) knowledge of the popular arts aids in our understanding and appreciation of the fine arts. Make reference to examples in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance, as well as to the philosophy of art.

51. There appear to be two distinct kinds of interpretation: performance interpretation (an activity engaged in by performing artists) and critical interpretation (an activity engaged in by critics and ordinary audience members).

Characterize these two activities, and then explore their relationship(s). What are the similarities and differences between the two activities? Do they share a common purpose (or common set of purposes)? How can the two activities interact? Is it misleading to call both activities 'interpretation', or does this capture something important? Do the differences between the activities underlie any important differences between the arts? Make reference to examples in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance, as well as to the philosophy of art.

Fine Arts Doctoral ProgramCore QuestionsArchive

1. The anthropologist, Ellen Dissanayake, in her book, Homo Aestheticus (1992), in addition to hypothesizing that the arts were necessary for human beings for species survival, complained about the excessive use of words to explain artistic experiences: “I suggest that hyperliteracy, like mercury in fish or DDT in mothers’ milk, has insidiously permeated all twentieth-century Western thought and is in large part responsible for its excesses. All contemporary philosophy, not just continental poststructuralism, is characterized by a fundamental and thoroughgoing preoccupation with language, particularly the relationships between language and thought, and language and reality.” (p. 216) She complained that writing, “. . . falsifies to the extent that it turns the natural products of mentation-fluid, layered, dense, episodic, too deep and rich for words-into something unnaturally hard-edged, linear, precise, and refined.” (pp. 218-219) She suggests that this hyperliteracy both tries to explain in words what cannot be expressed that way and at the same time encourages people to make “art” that is only a primary opportunity for verbalization as statements” and “tests.” (p. 224) How do you resolve the state of tension between the apparent inadequacy of verbal explanations and the non-verbal experience of the arts. When does excessively scholarly discourse interfere with artistic enjoyment?

During various periods of history, the fine arts appear to have advanced separately and discreetly. During other periods, the arts appear to have developed in close relationship to each other. Select a period in history when you perceive the arts were close together in their evolution. Explain what major changes took place. What happened in each of the arts within that time frame? What lasting influences emerged from that period?

2. Sometimes works of music are said to represent particular subject matters. The specific subjects represented have ranged from man-made objects or events (like railroad engines or battle scenes to familiar natural objects or settings (like pastoral scenes of seasons of the year). Such descriptions always beg the question of how (if at all) it is possible for music to represent the visual qualities of objects.

Consider then the nature of representation in the arts. Discuss, in a basic way, some interesting theory of representation and then go on to explain how it would apply to the various arts. After this preliminary discussion, focus on music and discuss whether you see any special problems for understanding the purported representational properties of musical works.

3. After briefly describing each, consider the relationships between anti-intentionalism in art criticism, deconstructionism, and post-modernism. To what extent do their concerns appear to be congruent, and how do they seem to differ? Explore some of the potential weaknesses (or even dangers) of each.

4. The attached AAUP statement on academic freedom and artistic expression proposes policies designed to assist institutions in responding to several potentially troublesome issues. Discuss the four major area raised in this document and how they might apply to Texas Tech University.

What is it about art that keeps these issues alive? Why is it that there does not seem to be a final conclusion to these issues? Be sure to include art, music and theatre in your discussion.

5. Define a theory of art? How does one develop such a theory? Is a “theory of art” different from a “theory of appreciation?” How does the concept of a “theory of art” relate to the artist, to the art object, to the receptor? In what way does the performer relate to the issue? Be sure to include visual arts, music and theatre in your discussion.

6. At first examination, there seems to be a fundamental difference in the nature of the creative act for the performing artist and for the composer, or the poet, or the playwright, or the visual artist. Explore the similarities and differences that you discern between what might broadly be labeled the “recreative” and the “original” artistic act. Then, focusing more narrowly on performance, explain what you take to be the essential elements of creativity in performance: Does it properly merit the label “creative?” If so, where exactly does one find the creativity (from the perspective of both the artist and the audience)? What is its source? What is its effect? (You might wish to discuss here the art-craft distinction found in the philosophical literature.) Finally, return to the initial claim and draw some conclusions about whether there really are fundamental creative differences between these artistic activities. Clearly, you will need to provide specific illustrations drawn from the various arts.

7. Discuss the use of symbols in the arts. To what extent does the quantity and quality of symbols make an art work more or less accessible? Compare the use of symbols in the visual arts, theatre and music. In what ways do the practical utility of symbols and the aesthetic of “Symbolism” as a movement relate to each other? Are they one and the same, or is “use” a result of “thought?”

8. Artists frequently seem to enjoy dealing with the nature of art. Films like Babbett’s Feast, A River Runs Through It, and Dean Solid Perfect suggest that activities of cooking, fly fishing, and playing golf can, under certain circumstances, become artistic and the generator of the activities can become artists. Explain how your concept of art allows or disallows such a notion.

9. Take as your topic the relationship between morality and art. You should consider here not whether moral considerations should constrain societal decisions about what is acceptable art (i.e., issues of censorship), nor whether moral judgments are within or without the domain of the aesthetic (i.e., the nature of critical reasons), but rather the moral agency of the artist. Do artists have moral responsibilities to work for social justice just like the rest of us do? Should they be expected to do (or condoned in doing) that work within the confines of their art? (Are artistic and moral activity even compatible?) Do artists have perhaps even greater responsibility qua artist (because of the potential impact–emotional and otherwise–of artworks), or lesser responsibility (because their contributions of value to the world already exceed the rest of ours)? Can any answers to these questions be generalized across the arts? Consider the issues from the perspectives of visual arts, theatre, and music.

10. In a recent article, critic Arlene Croche declared a work of choreographer Bill Jones as “beyond the reach of criticism.” Is it possible for a work of art to be “beyond the reach of criticism?” Discuss the implications of the phrase and the issues raised in Croche’s attack on “victim art.” Do you feel that a critic has a responsibility to review any work in their field? Is Croche’s declaration really a critical review?

11. Among the central reasons that interpreters/critics sometimes give for appealing to the intentions of the artist is that it is only through such appeal to the artist that one can settle the question of the meaning of a work of art. The point is that, without the artist to provide a basis for meaning, the meaning of the work would remain always indeterminate. Thus, the intentionalist E.D. Hirsch says that the text means what the author meant by it, and that the alternative to reliance on authorial meaning is interpretive anarchy. But there are other interpretive positions, and among their advocates are those who hold that meaning can be determinate without requiring reliance on author’s intent (they typically invoke some one or more independent and purportedly objective interpretive standards); and there are also relativists, according to whom interpretive statements can be neither true nor false, because artworks are of a nature to admit always of conflicting and incompatible interpretations. Discuss the possibility of the objectivity of interpretation against the background of the dispute about intentionalist criticism, using illustrations of interpretive descriptions from a variety of artforms.

12. Descriptions of the creative act often fail to account for the delivery system or trajectory of communication required in some art forms. A musical composition or a playscript, for example, passes through the hands of several other artists before being received by its final audience. Describe the creative process in such a way as to account for the creator of an original piece of music or drama as well as the other artists involved in the communication chain. Is the creative act limited to the originator of a musical or dramatic piece? Are other artists creators or re-

creators? What relationship does their work have to the original piece? Finally, how does the delivery of an artifact of visual art differ from music and drama?

13. Consider the nature of aesthetic value, particularly as it pertains to works of art. Philosophers have attempted to account in various ways with the Janus-faced character of aesthetic value: on the one hand, one is struck by the personal nature (in terms of pleasure, preference, or the like) of the response to beauty, while on the other hand, it seems that the judgment that something is beautiful is indeed a judgment, i.e., possessed of greater intersubjective relevance than can be expected of a merely personal preference. Are these two aspects of aesthetic value reconcilable? Must one or the other be discarded in any correct analysis? What are the costs of dropping either the subjective or objective elements in one’s characterizations of value?

In your response, discuss how a couple of major philosophers have dealt with this problem, and use examples of critical responses to particular works of visual art, theatre and music to illustrate aspects of the problem apparent in artistic evaluation.

14. How analogous are the arts? Do they share the same basic elements, principles, historiography, critical methodology, and aesthetic values and theories, or are the similarities only superficial and mask fundamental differences?

Given your answer to the above question, what are the implications for joining the arts together under the rubric of “fine arts” for organizational as well as intellectual reasons?

15. Of what value is knowledge of historical, philosophical, or theoretical movements or implications in art to the performer? Of what value is such knowledge to performers’ audiences? In other words, what does the performing or working artist need to know about movements, styles, theories, or viewpoints regarding his/her art? If such knowledge is necessary, how does the performance teacher communicate that need--or not--to the performer?Cite advantages of such background knowledge to the performer.Cite disadvantages that might exist. Examples and illustrations will be essential in your discussion.

16. The fine arts components of liberal arts curricula are intended, among other things, to foster in students sensitivity to, and appreciation of quality in the experiencing of significant works of art. Consequently, fine arts study ought to emphasize modes of learning that facilitate such awareness and understanding of works of art that might lead to a greater valuation of art, however difficult that may be to evaluate.

Discuss in as much detail as possible, approaches to teaching at the college or university level which would foster such an increased valuing of the arts. What might form the instructional content of courses designed to accomplish this?

Should this content be specific to each of the various art disciplines, or more universal, straddling the various forms of expression, seeking to link them together within a larger cultural context? How might this content be structured and taught? What consideration should be given to the nature of the student? For example, should content decision and instructional strategies take into account differences in students with little or no artistic ability and those with well-developed aptitudes in the arts? If so, how could this be accomplished? Make specific reference to curricula content in courses pertaining to visual, musical, and dramatic art.

17. In two recent books, Suzi Gablik describes the degeneration of modernism from its defiant and revolutionary beginnings to an enervated market commodity and the rise of postmodernism which she perceives as being essentially deconstructive or reconstructive.

Establish the broad background for your presentation by defining briefly both modernism and postmodernism and by contrasting the roles of their artists. Examine the postmodernism’s deconstructive and reconstructive dimensions and the movements’ uses of pastiche and parody. Provide specific examples in theatre and music s well as the visual arts. Compare the two dimensions. Do they share certain basic characteristics, or are they exclusive?

Finally: As postmodernism draws heavily upon the philosophical wellspring provided by deconstructivism, please examine the latter as extensively as time allows. (You may wish even to make this the central focus of your presentation.) Consider its position concerning the signifier and the signified. How does deconstructivism differ (does it differ?) from anti-intentionalism? Is deconstructivism truly an art movement or primarily a “philosophy” upon which the arts draw? Does it derive from solid and internally consistent philosophical foundations, or is it a contrived vehicle for the advancement of certain and various political ends, as some have charged? If the latter should be true, does this diminish its status as art?

18. The dominant contemporary theories of art all center on the relationship between art and its cultural setting in their analyses of the concept of art itself. Thus, we have institutionalist theories (like Dickie’s) and historicist ones (like Danto’s) that take the concept of art to be deeply enmeshed in its particular cultural-historical setting. Discuss this prevailing tendency in art theory, first by explaining why theorists have moved in this direction (talk briefly about the perceived inadequacy of previous theories of art) and then by examining the particulars of one of the new theories. (Feel free, if time permits to examine what you consider to be the major merits and defects of the contemporary movement.) Then to a consideration of the relevance (if any) of this philosophical turn for issues and programs in art education. Your discussion, as usual, should make use of illustrations from the various arts.

19. In a famous example from the work of Kendall Walton, we are asked to imagine an alien species that has an artform called guernicas. What is characteristic of guernicas is that they all resemble Picasso’s Guernica (having all its shapes and colors) but, instead of being on a two-dimensional canvas, they are all varying sorts of bas-reliefs, some having rolling surfaces, some jagged, etc. The issue Walton raises (and later answers) with this unusual illustration is that of how members of such an alien culture would perceive Picasso’s work. To us, Picasso’s Guernica, viewed as a painting, has a dynamic, disturbing, violent quality. But viewed as a Guernica, would it possess those same qualities?

What does this sort of example tell us (if anything) about the nature and grounds of perceptual and expressive properties of works of art? Specifically, how important is categorizing a work to the proper perception of its aesthetic qualities? How is one to appropriately determine a work’s category or genre?

Discuss this issue and its significance using illustrations from art, music, and theatre.

20. Describe the creative act. What have artists said about their creative processes? Do there appear to be similarities/differences among artists in their creative methods? Do there appear to be truths that can be distilled from artists describing their creative procedures? Can these truths be distilled and taught?

21. In the areas of consumption, financial support, and participation, the Foundation for the Extension and Development of Professional Theatre wrote in 1992 that, within the American society, “The Fine Arts have moved from a position of benign neglect to a position of outright hostility.” (FEDAPT Working Papers, Spring, 1992.) The following fall, FEDAPT, one of the most powerful organizations in American supporting theatre, closed its doors. In view of this statement, answer the following questions. Make certain to include examples from art, music, and theatre in your discussion.

What role do the fine arts play in contemporary American higher education? How can the success of fine arts programs be measured? Where are fine arts programs most successful? Where are fine arts programs least successful? How do you account for the success of the best fine arts programs? What issues confront fine arts programs in higher education today?

22. Many philosophers, since Plato, have discussed the effects of the arts on their audience. From another perspective, one might ask a rather different question: What sort of qualities are to be expected in a ‘proper’ audience member, that is, an audience member who will experience the work of art in the best possible way? David Hume (among others) raised precisely his issue in his discussion of taste and the nature of the so-called qualified observer. Is the appropriate

auditor/viewer/reader one who is herself an artist, or an art critic, or a layperson with respect to the arts? Should one have a broad and detailed knowledge of the history of art, or is it better to come to the artwork with far less sophistication? Are there other sorts of qualifications that you consider to be relevant, or even necessary to proper appreciation? What, in your view, is the best vantage point from which to experience works in the various arts, and why?

In supporting your position, be sure to make use of examples from visual art, theatre, and music.

23. Contrary to the notion that the Fine Arts are merely an embellishment of decoration of life, some argue that consumption of the Fine Arts fulfills essential human needs. What role do you perceive the fine arts playing in the lives of contemporary Americans? What needs do the fine arts meet that cannot be met by other factors of life?

24. Why is it important for the Fine Arts to be integral to education? Using Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” as a locus, discuss the contribution that the arts make to human development.

Is it important to “do” art, or is “knowing” about art sufficient to development. Does being exposed to art have the same benefit as “doing” art?

Make use of examples from visual art, theatre, and music in your discussion.

25. On the one hand, one can argue quite convincingly that the quest for a definition of the nature of art which would adequately discriminate art from non-art is doomed to failure. Such an argument can be sustained on the basis of the many fundamental differences among objects referred to as art in music and theater as well as the visual arts. Indeed, some would hold that art has diverse natures and the best one might hope to achieve, or for that matter should try to achieve, is recognition of aspects of similarities among objects called art rather than definitive identities. In this sense, one would need to say that art has no nature; rather, it has many natures.

On the other hand, one can demonstrate just as convincingly that all works of art contain sensuous, technical, formal, expressive, and sometimes representational qualities and one’s judgment of a work is based upon a careful consideration of all these qualities. Further, these qualities can be identified by employing a search strategy frequently described in terms of four overlapping but fundamentally different operations: description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment.

As a result, one can conclude that the effort to identify the nature of art may be fruitless, while the effort to discover the sensuous, technical, formal, and representational qualities in a given work of art can result in the formation of a defensible judgment regarding that work’s aesthetic merit.

Now take the above propositions regarding the phenomenon of art and:1. Expand upon them by identifying and explaining their roots in

some specific theories of aesthetics.2. Explain what you believe to be the value derived from studying

the many theories on the nature of art, making certain to refer to specific theories in your response.

3. Use both propositions to critically examine and discuss the art work illustrated in the slide provided. Be certain that your discussion terminates with a judgment regarding its aesthetic worth.

4. Indicate how these propositions might be instrumental during future efforts to stimulate student discussions during critical encounters with works of art in music and theatre.

26. A disparaging view of the arts, most famously attributed to Plato, holds that art is worse than useless, it is harmful. In the Platonic scheme, this denigration of art is a consequence of an epistemology that holds logic (more particularly, the dialectic) to be the sole route to knowledge, and takes truth to be uniquely the fruit of a type of intellectual activity beyond the reach of artists. Actually, much of the history of aesthetic theory can be viewed as an effort to return artistic activity from the intellectual purgatory to which Plato condemned it.

Against this background, consider first the contrast between the Platonic view and some important twentieth century respondent(s) concerning the relationship between knowledge and art. (You might choose to look at positions on this topic held by Langer, Croce or Collingwood, or modern feminists.) Then discuss how these contrasting positions may be seen to be reflected (perhaps in distorted form) in the arts as we know them today. In this second part of your discussion, be very specific, citing particular illustrations of work (or movements) in music, theatre and the visual arts to make your points.

27. According to a certain long-standing, popular conception, the principal value to be sought in works of art is that they be beautiful. So one might, on this view, be inclined to focus on the pretty paintings in the museum, the most beautiful music at a concert, the most attractive (entertaining?) theatre or movie productions available, and in turn see them as models of artistic value. But, one can argue that such a view seems to leave out much that should properly be considered valuable in art. One can argue this even given a broad notion of beauty construed to include other sensuously satisfying qualities (e.g., the picturesque or the sublime).

Consider whether and how it might be that inherently unpleasant aesthetic qualities contribute to the artistic value of a work. Might one accept that they do while still maintaining that artistic value is, in the final analysis, a matter of

overall beauty? Or does an alternative conception of artistic value seem called for, one that eschews a fundamentally aesthetic approach?

In your discussion, make salient use of examples from the various arts, and consider some (one or more) philosophers whose views bear on this issue.

28. Consider the designer of an exhibit, whatever his job title. Is he merely a presenter or arranger of artifacts created by other artists, or is he, in fact, an artist in his own right who, by arranging a group of art pieces, creates a different form of art? Can you present a definition of art that would allow us to consider the exhibit designer as an artist and the product of his work as art? If so, does an exhibit designer follow principles that could provide the basis for criticism of the exhibit itself? Explain these. Does the exhibit designer have a close counterpart in music of theatre? If so, who is it? Does that person create a new form of art by following discernible principles that could provide the basis for criticism of that form?

29. Discuss the purpose and/or value of presenting works of art from the past to a contemporary audience. What responsibility does a performer/artist have to a work’s creator? What responsibility does a performer/artist have to the work itself? What responsibility does a performer/artist have to a potential audience? Offer both ethical and practical considerations regarding choices that must be made as part of those responsibilities. Cite instances from music, the visual arts, and theatre when choices or decisions about performing, displaying, or recreating works from the past have been challenged.

30. It is commonplace to speak of the meaning of words, of behaviors, of signs, and of dreams. We even say of tracks in the forest that they mean an animal has passed recently by, or of darkening skies that a storm is coming. In fact, a great variety of things, including works of art, are taken to be objects of interpretation. Is there anything, in your view, that is distinctive about the sort(s) of meaning that may be centrally attributed to works of art? Is there something peculiar about art works as interpretable objects, something that makes them stand out from natural objects or even other categories of human artifacts?

Take and elaborate a position on this issue, and then discuss the implications your position has for (1) the nature and definition of art, and (2) the task of the critic. Be sure, in your response, to make use of relevant illustrations from the domains of music, theatre, and visual arts.

31. While we all seem to accept the idea that some sort of interdisciplinary cooperation among the arts is desirable, what do you see are the real advantages? Consider ways in which the arts have already worked together. Are these isolated cases? Are there broader needs for inter-art cooperation that are rooted in some sort of aesthetic commonality? Are there possibilities for new forms of artistic expression that could result from inter-art cooperation?

32. Many theatre artists argue that some twentieth-century technology has negatively impacted the art of theatre. Some musicians argue the same about twentieth-century technology and music. In fact, many theatre artists would argue that motion pictures and television are not varieties of the theatre art form, but are, quite distinct art forms. Some technological developments in motion pictures and television, however, have had a direct influence upon the way theatre is created. Technological developments have influenced the aesthetics of theatre.

For each of the arts, Visual Art, Music, and Theatre, select a time in history when a technological development seemed to have a significant influence upon the art form. In each example, explain the nature of the technological development and the nature of its impact upon the aesthetics of the art form. Your answer may include a different time period for each of the arts. You need not avoid the twentieth century in your answer.

33. Aristotle laid down rules for the “perfect play.” Others have made similar statements about visual arts and music. Give several examples of such rules, or principles, in theatre, visual arts and music. How are such tenants derived and by whom? Should these principles serve as guidelines or “articles of faith?” What effect do such concepts have on the creative person? How does a creative person work within and beyond such rules?

34. In the middle of this century, philosophers (following on the work of Wittgenstein) began to systematically question the possibility of defining art. The questions they raised went beyond standard philosophical rejections of previous theories of art to suggest whole new ways of conceiving of the project of artistic theory. What are these new ways of conceiving of the role and significance of art theory, and how have philosophers in this century argues for their reconceptions? Explain, in your response, the idea of defining art in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions, the distinction between an honorific (or evaluative) definition and a classificatory one, and the relevance of purportedly non-exhibited properties to the definition of art.

Of courses in a number of important art movements of the twentieth century, artists themselves have also been understood to be raising questions about the nature of art, albeit in a less than philosophically systematic fashion. Using illustrations from each of the fine arts areas of music, theatre and visual art, discuss some of these revolutionary artistic movements and how they may be seen to be relevant to the philosophical issues of contemporary art theory.

35. Can judgments about the value or meaning of a work of art be right or wrong, better or worse? Are all such judgments “matters of subjective opinion” regarding which there can be “no disputing?” Or is there some way to distinguish correct and incorrect judgments? (How?) If there can be right and wrong judgments, what is the difference between them? How can we then account for the variability of

actual aesthetic judgments among people, and more especially over time and across cultures? If two judgments are inconsistent, how can we determine which is right, and which wrong? In your discussion of your thesis, you should use examples of aesthetic judgments regarding works of music, art, and drama.

36. Philosophy types like to bandy about the hypothetical case of an imaginary composer named John Shmarb who, in the late twentieth century, composes a symphony in the style of Johannes Brahms. The story goes that Shmarb first passes the work off as Brahms’ Fifth Symphony, discovered behind the woodwork in an attic in Vienna. So understood, the work is first hailed as a major work in the canon, simply filled with outstanding qualities, possibly even justifying its placement among the greatest symphonic works ever written. But, once revealed as Shmarb’s twentieth century work and not Brahms’ nineteenth century creation, all these critical judgments are reversed.

There is clearly a lot to chew on in this case, but I’d like you to consider just one issue that it raises: is artistic innovation overvalued as a quality in works of art? (Is it of value at all? If so, how so, from the point of view of artists or critics/auditors/viewers?) More specifically, is it a mistake to encourage in the education of artists or public (take your pick—do they differ in this regard?) a focus on innovation and radical breaks from the art of the past over the refinement of an existing artistic style or genre? (What might be the competing values to be produced by the latter rather than the former approach to the creative endeavor? Are there risks attendant to both approaches?)

Your discussion and argument should be sprinkled generously with illustrations of how the issue plays itself out in the fields of music, theatre, and the visual arts.

37. The field of art finds categorization by “isms” to describe, define, and analyze works of art to be very useful. How does the use of “isms” in visual art compare with such usage in music and theatre? How useful and accurate are such terms for the understanding of the arts? How well correlated are these terms among music, art, and theatre?

38. Wordsworth wrote, “All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings [of the poet]”, while Aristotle argued that the function of theater is the catharsis of the emotions of the audience.

Is there a necessary connection between art and the emotions? To be a good work of art, must the work of art express the artist’s emotions or arouse the emotions of the viewer? Is the expression or arousal of emotion 1) essential 2) helpful but not essential or 3) irrelevant to the aesthetic value of a work of art? Use examples from visual art, theater and music to help establish your thesis about the role of the emotions in art.

39. Discuss the interdisciplinary aspects of the arts. Are there enough common factors between the several arts to allow one discipline to be used to define another? Discuss the use of elements of one discipline of art to teach elements of another art.

What are the possibilities of using the arts to teach non-art subjects? Give some examples of using arts to teach science, mathematics, social studies, etc.

40. During the 1970s the phenomenon called Performance Art emerged, based to some extent on the “Happenings” of the 1950s and 60s. By what criteria are artists categorized as Performance Artists? What are some of the ideas and motivations which propel artists to work in multiple mediums?

41. John Cage (at Black Mountain College, theatre piece No. 1), Gilbert and George, the Blue Man Group, the LAPD, Laurie Anderson, Karen Findlay, and Joseph Beuys are a few of the artists recognized as Performance Artists, yet most of these are “claimed” by one or two disciplines, as evidenced by their appearance in surveys of that discipline. Using these artists and their work as examples, discuss what criteria music, theatre, and art use when including the artist as part of their historical development. What interconnections and overlaps exist among these criteria? What issues and implications do Performance Art and its connections to the various disciplines raise for the future of the arts?

42. In art, music, and theatre, it is common practice to exhibit or perform works which were originally created many years ago – sometimes centuries ago. Discuss the implications of this practice. In your answer, you should deal with the following related issues:

What is the justification for this practice? Shouldn’t we instead devote our efforts and resources to the support and presentation of current works?

How should present-day performers/producers/exhibitors deal with the differences between the context in which the works were originally created and the present-day context – differences caused by changes in technology, world view, and artistic tastes?

43. In the academic world of higher education, which seems to expect work to be at the innovative edge, how can a creative artist (composer, visual artist, playwright) find a new way to express an idea without losing some appeal to a potentially larger audience? To what extent is this a philosophical issue, a censorship issue, a personal integrity issue, a pragmatic issue, or an artistic issue?

44. Discuss the role of the arts in a religious setting. Is its purpose didactic, propagandistic, or simply enrichment of the experience? Are any media of expression or styles of approach inappropriate for religious purposes? Can art designed for use in purely secular settings be appropriately used for religious

purposes? Does the use of the arts for a specific religious purpose interfere with its artistic nature? Are aesthetic standards different for art that appears in a religious context from those for secular situations? Are there any differences in these answers for theatre, music, or visual art?

45. Can the arts be effectively taught through the 2-D medium of telecommunications? Is it possible for a person to have a valid contact with art without experiencing the actual art object? Is it possible that programs delivered from the museum or the concert hall will take the place of actual visits to the art venue? Will these programs build audiences or destroy them? Please be sure that visual arts, theatre arts and music are included in your discussion.

46. Many people have testified that an experience with art has transformed their lives. This testimony comes from those who create art as well as those who have come into the presence of art. How is it that art can have the power to transform a person? Is this power limited to the creator of art, or can it have an effect on one who attends (sees, hears, watches) an art event. Are there some established theories that may be applied to the understanding of this aspect of the nature of art? Be sure to include visual, theatre, and music in your discussion.

47. The relativist view that aesthetic judgments are simply a matter of personal opinion that are all equally good and cannot be true or false seems to raise difficulties for understanding the goals and methods of art education. For it seems to make decisions about what should be included in a curriculum or how to evaluate student work completely unjustifiable expressions of personal preference.

Show why these problems seem to arise for the relativist. Can the relativist overcome these problems? If so, how? If not, what makes some aesthetic judgments interpersonally valid? What criteria should be used to set and maintain standards in these matters?

In your response you should draw on examples from art, theater and music.

48. Explore the concept of technique: what is it, what good is it, who defines it, how does it relate to craft, how does it relate to art? How do technique and mastery relate—how do technique and emotion relate?

How does technique limit an artist? How does technique free an artist?

Use examples from visual art, theatre and music to illustrate your discussion.

49. Many people have testified that an experience with art has transformed their lives. This testimony comes from those who create art as well as those who have come into the presence of art. How is it that art can have the power to transform a person? Is this power limited to the creator of art, or can it have effect on one who

attends (sees, hears, watches) an art event. Are there some established theories that may be applied to the understanding of this aspect of the nature of art? Be sure to include visual art, theatre, and music in your discussion.

50. Certain works of art, music, and theater are often said to be expressive of abstract or philosophical ideas. But how can a work, especially of a non-verbal art such as music or painting, express abstract ideas? Using examples from art, theater and music, discuss whether and how works of art can express ideas. What determines which ideas are expressed in a particular work? How relevant are program notes, titles, or commentary by the artist in determining what ideas are expressed in a work? Could a non-verbal work express ideas even without such “external” aids? If so, by what mean?

51. To the creative arts, the question “what is creative” is often a critical component of discussion about the nature of art. After considering various aspects of creativity, focus on one or two to amplify for your discussion. Apply the chosen aspects of creativity to visual arts, theatre and music.

Is it possible or permissible to use definitions of creativity as tools for evaluation of the quality of art?

52. Given the current political concern with “family values,” explain your position on the likelihood of the arts being a threat to traditional values in American society. Can the arts be dangerous? If any sort of censorship or control of the arts should take place, who is being protected from what and why?

53. The work of Robert Wilson obviously crosses disciplines. Discuss how the theater arts and music are combined in his productions. What is the visual component? How are actors and artists from different sectors integrated into his performances? Are other opera impresarios emulating him? In your estimation, how did the tornado that hit Waco in 1937 (1938?) influence his psyche and reverberate in his art?

54. In the recent movie Babette’s Feast raises a number of issues, one of which is the relationship between the traditional fine arts and the “art” of cooking. Thus, one could say the film raises the question of whether Babette is herself an artist and, if so, what it is about what she does that justifies saying that she is an artist. Consider the general questions of (1) what makes an activity or product artistic, (2) what makes something an art form, and (3) how (more specifically) the relevant criteria of art (if there are any) apply to works of theatre, music, and the visual arts. Finally, consider the legitimacy of limiting the label “art” only to the standard areas of the fine arts, to the exclusion of (for example) culinary activities and products. What do you take to be the grounds of excluding hypothetical art forms that are purely olfactory, or gustatory, or tactile in their qualities? Is the absence of such art forms just a historical accident, or is there some logic to our current art-cultural taxonomy?

55. While we all seem to accept the idea that some sort of interdisciplinary cooperation among the arts is desirable, what do you see are the real advantages? Consider ways in which the arts have already worked together. Are these isolated cases? Are there broader needs for inter-art cooperation that are rooted in some sort of aesthetic commonality? Are there possibilities for new forms of artistic expression that could result from inter-art cooperation?

56. Presenting, providing, and promoting arts experiences in a private, church-related institution of higher education has certain risks. Discuss some of the limits, some of the possibilities, and some of the risks inherent in such an endeavor.

57. Is there real potential for raising or expanding the aesthetic consciousness of the community you serve? Describe some of the choices you would make (and have made). Be sure that music and theatre are included in your discussion.

58. To the creative arts, the question “what is creative” is often a critical component of discussion about the nature of art. After considering various aspects of creativity, focus on one or two to amplify for your discussion. Apply the chosen aspects of creativity to visual arts, theatre and music.

Is it possible or permissible to use definitions of creativity as tools for evaluation of the quality of art?

59. People consume art for various personal reasons. What are these reasons? Why do some people consume art and others do not? Assuming that one of our objectives in teaching the fine arts is to develop a market or a need for the fine arts, what can we, as art educators, learn from people who study consumer behavior? Are there concepts, techniques, or methods we could or should employ as teachers of the fine arts?

60. Focusing specifically on the effects of architecture on music, describe examples of how one art form may have an impact on another art form. Generalize your discussion to encompass all the arts. What is/are the basis/bases which link the arts in terms of mutual influence as evidenced by your examples?

61. Begin with the notion that theatre incorporates all the arts to a greater extent than any other single art form. How is this so? Why do you feel this way? Demonstrate evidence to support your argument. How do the disciplines of visual art and music contribute to theatre?

Discuss the quality, depth and process required to make the choices necessary to incorporate visual art and music into theatre.

Comment on the ways and genres in which music incorporates visual art and theatre. Comment on the ways and genres in which visual art incorporates music and theatre.

62. There is no policy on the arts in the United States. Recently some writers have disagreed and suggested that there is, in fact, policy on the arts that has not been articulated or publicized.

What would be the effect on the arts if a policy were to be implemented? What do you propose to be included in such a policy? Is the art world better off without a policy, or might conditions for the arts improve with a policy in place?

63. The relativist view that aesthetic judgments are simply a matter of personal opinion that are all equally good and cannot be true or false seems to raise difficulties for understanding the goals and methods of art education. For it seems to make decisions about what should be included in a curriculum or how to evaluate student work completely unjustifiable expressions of personal preference.

Show why these problems seem to arise for the relativist. Can the relativist overcome these problems? If so, how? If not, what makes some aesthetic judgments interpersonally valid? What criteria should be used to set and maintain standards in these matters?

In your response you should draw on examples from art, theater and music.

64. What should be the relationship of the arts to the community? To what extent can the arts serve in the role of healer and reformer of society? Is the value of a work of art to be measured by its (political) effects? If so, under what circumstances or to what extent? Cite examples from the arts that have addressed the circumstances of society, evaluate their impact and make a judgment about them as art.

65. The American tradition of borrowing its art forms from Europe appears to have given Americans feelings of inferiority about their Fine Arts. Are these feelings justified? Compare American with European Fine Arts in terms of quantity, consumption or attendance, and quality. Are there art forms that are uniquely American?

66. Discuss the proposition that film has become “contemporary culture’s most representative medium.” How is music used in film as a reflection of culture? To what extent does music help to convey the intent of the film as visualized by its director? How does music relate to the visual aspect of film? What would be the effect on the entire film if there were no music?

67. Imagine the following situation: You are casting a production of a well-known play, and you are trying to decide whether to cast an African-American into a role traditionally played by a white actor, or vice versa. (Come up with an interesting case, one in which this would at least on initial consideration suggest some potential problems—e.g., casting an African-American Desdemona against a white Othello.) What effect, if any, would such a so-called “color-blind” casting have on the meaning of the play?

Now broaden the question: Consider the extent to which a meaning of a work of art is a function of the external context into which it is thrust. (Or, perhaps more precisely, to what extent is a work’s meaning a function of the interplay between its “internal” characteristics and the broader “external” cultural and natural world which constitutes its backdrop.) Will different meanings be generated by changing these relationships? How exactly does this work? (Provide illustrations from various art forms to illustrate your point.) And if different and (most likely) incompatible meanings are produced, which meaning is THE meaning of the play, properly understood? In other terms, which external context (if that is the independent variable) are we to choose, and which way of displaying the internal structure is to be preferred? On what standard are we to make such choices? Which meaning, if any, are we to take to be the correct or authoritative one?

68. Discuss the influence, conscious or unconscious, of absolute formalism, absolute expressionism, and referentialism on curricular or methodological practices in public school arts education. Give specific examples illustrating underlying aesthetic assumptions. Include some examples from theatre and the visual arts.

69. Whether by having computer programs generate music or by allowing chance a strong role in the creation of visual or performance art, various 20th century artists have attempted to relinquish artistic control, testing the limits of what counts as art. Must art have a creator and be created intentionally? To what extent (if at all) is artistic control necessary for something to be art, or to be good art? Draw out a general view about the role of artistic control and intention in art, and then apply it to examples of works like these in music, theater, and art to determine whether such works count as art.

70. Polyphony and cacophony represent extreme aspects of organization. Applying these terms to the world of art, define them, give examples from each of the Fine Arts, and discuss the ways in which artists and the art public respond to those concepts.

71. Igor Stravinsky, writing about the creative spirit in the early 20 th Century suggested that artists were confronted by an “Abyss of Freedom.” Artists were given the freedom to accept or reject any or all rules of practice. They were allowed (even required) to make up new rules to suit the moment.

How was art changed by the response of artists to this “Abyss?” Choose a specific time or movement in 20th Century art. Define it; discuss the major figures from visual art, theatre and music who represent it, and comment on the effect on the art world this movement produced. Is the spirit of change implied by this notion good for the world of art? Would art benefit if there were a lengthy period of stability?

72. Many theatre artists argue that some twentieth-century technology has negatively impacted the art of theatre. Some musicians argue the same about twentieth-century technology and music. In fact, many theatre artists would argue that motion pictures and television are not varieties of the theatre art form, but are, quite distinct art forms. Some technological developments in motion pictures and television, however, have had a direct influence upon the way theatre is created. Technological developments have influenced the aesthetics of theatre.

For each of the arts, Visual Art, music, and Theatre, select a time in history when a technological development seemed to have a significant influence upon the art form. In each example, explain the nature of the technological development and the nature of its impact upon the aesthetics of the art form. Your answer may include a different time period for each of the arts. You need not avoid the twentieth century in your answer.

73. Some people claim that metaphor is the essence of literary art; and a case certainly could be made that the problem of explicating metaphors reproduces in microcosm the general problem of interpreting works of art. Discuss the question of explicating literary metaphors. Do this by identifying and assessing some of the primary directions previous theorists have taken and by presenting your own view. Then consider whether there are such things as musical or visual metaphors. If there are, give some illustrations and discuss whether metaphor is as central to musical or visual art as it is to literature. Finally, if you wish, consider the broader implications of your own theory of metaphor to aesthetic interpretation generally.

74. The artist defines the art. Must art be placed in relationship with the public? How does art come to this relationship? What factors must be considered in making the decision to put art in relationship with the public? What is the role of the presenter/mediator? Of the critic?

Consider both artistic and practical matters in your discussion. Include examples from all the arts disciplines.

75. What role, if any, do the fine arts play in the lives of American citizens? What impact do the fine arts have upon politics, behavior, or perceptions? What role should the fine arts play in American society? As you prepare your answer to these questions, explain the basis for your assumptions and include examples from Art, Music, and Theatre.

76. Quantity and frequency of arts events are often a factor in measuring the quality of life of a community. Whether it is a city, school system, college or university, the arts are often an element of a marketing strategy. Why are the arts considered a “marketing chip?” Is art somehow compromised by being marketed? Shouldn’t good art stand on its own? Are the arts being marketed for the wrong reasons? How can the struggle between the commercial and the inherent quality of art be resolved?

Make use of example from visual arts, theatre and music in your discussion.

77. Compare the role of curator in visual art with that of an actor or musical performer. Is the curator necessary to present visual art to the public in the same way as a flutist is necessary to present a Bach Sonata to the public? A playwright or a composer expects that a performer (or group of performers) will be necessary to present their work to an audience. Is the same true in visual art? What are the options? Is there an ideal way to bring the artist and the viewer together? Be sure to include theatre and music in your discussion.

78. Performing artists, particularly musicians, appear fearful of the impact of technological developments. In a situation wherein a musical performance could be created more perfectly by technology than by live performance, would the technological performance be aesthetically superior or inferior to a live performance of the same piece even though the technologically produced piece were perfect and the live performance contained imperfections?

79. One focus of performance practice in music for the last decade or two has been on historical accuracy of the performance. This has been especially the case regarding early music, but it has also been a lively concern with respect to more recent compositions. The notion of historical authenticity is central (and raises its own philosophical issues) here, but there are also aesthetic issues to be considered about the musicality of “accurate” performances. And the issues of historical accuracy are not confined to the performing arts of music, theatre and dance, but are also relevant to interpreters of the visual arts and literature in properly understanding those works as well. Consider the general justification of attempting to create historically correct performances/understandings of works of art: Why do it? Exactly what is the relevance of historical information in interpretation? (What do you see here as the goal of understanding works of art?) What problems, philosophical, aesthetic, or otherwise, are raised by the effort at recreating a historically accurate performance? Do the same problems apply to interpretation? In supporting your position, be sure to make use of examples from visual art, theatre, and music.

80. As a museum administrator, response to public pressure and taste will always be a major concern. What arguments must be considered when deciding to mount an exhibit? Is there an essential difference between a show that presents work of one artist in a “hothouse” environment and one that presents works of a number of

artists, perhaps dealing with a central “theme?” Discuss the purposes of such a presentation. Comment on the potential effect your exhibit may have on the sponsoring institution, the community and the audience. Include music and theatre arts in your discussion.

81. Aristotle’s Poetics is often thought of as answering, on several levels, Plato’s famous attack on the representational arts. Among other things, Aristotle uses a functionalist account of tragedy to argue that poetry is capable of beauty by means of its purity, which one needn’t fear the corrupting influence of poetry because morally bad art will make for aesthetically bad art, and that the emotions raised by tragedy are not damaging after all. “Catharsis” is considered the central notion in more than one of these arguments, despite the fact that the word only appears twice in the Poetics and its general reference is not really clear. (Does it refer to something about the action of the tragedy, or the state of the protagonist, or the response of the audience?)

Take as your topic the question of the nature of catharsis: Can the concept, as you understand it, be extended to arts other than tragedy? Can it be used successfully in a defense of any or all of the arts to which it is applicable? What is the relationship of catharsis to the idea that art is to be analyzed in terms of its function or purpose? Does art have a purpose?

82. As artists make decisions about the content and form of their artwork, how have they adjusted their decisions to accommodate the marketing needs of their products and presentations? What appeared to be the purposes of their artistic productions? Is the commercial value of art in conflict with artistry? What tensions result from balancing the need to be faithful to one’s art and the need to be acceptable to the public?

83. Consider the nature of artistic expression. Critics (and even more normal people) often describe works of art as possessing expressive properties, properties we associate with human emotional states, like joy and sadness, anger and calm. How are we to understand such attributions? Does it really make any sense to attribute emotional properties to inanimate objects? Are such descriptions just some sort of indirect way of describing the emotional states of the artist who created the artwork or the response of the audience confronting the work? Discuss the question both in general philosophical terms and with specific reference to particular works of visual, musical, and dramatic art.

84. Attitudes toward various pieces of art, theatre, and music have changed through time. Jazz, originally considered only a popular form of music, has now gained respectability with many serious musicians. What happens to the evaluation of pieces of art as they are viewed by subsequent generations? Does the quality of the art piece change, or does only perceived quality change? What artistic and sociological factors seem to be at work in this process? Finally, on the

basis of your discussion, are there current art works that will be viewed differently by future generations?

85. In determining public policy toward the arts, state and federal governmental representatives who oppose governmental funding for the arts argue, among other things, that the arts are “the plaything of the wealthy,” and that using governmental funds to support the arts constitutes subsidizing an unimportant element in the lives of people who least need subsidy. The argument stems from the notion that the arts are elitist; and that only wealthy, older, better educated citizens consume arts.

Are the arts in America elitist? What segments of American society consume arts today? Why do these segments of society consume art? Why do other segments of society fail or refuse to consume the arts? Finally, what implications does this have for artists and fine arts educators?

86. It is generally accepted that all works of art contain sensuous, expressive, and sometimes representational qualities and that one’s judgment of any single work of art is based upon a careful consideration of these qualities. Some aestheticisms, adhering to a position of moderate pluralism, might well contend that these qualities can be more readily identified in a work of art by referring to several broadly conceived theories on the nature of art as guides. Their argument would center on the belief that no single theory of art can be found that would prove sufficient in every aesthetic encounter.

Art critics would hold that the search for aesthetic qualities in a work of art would be enhanced by employing a search strategy consisting of several overlapping but fundamentally different operations. These art criticism operations consist of description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment.

Demonstrate how you would use both aesthetics and criticism to examine, judge, and defend your judgment of the work provided.

Explain where, if at all, art history might play a role in this decision-making process.

Explain how this same approach, or a modification of it, might be applied to critical encounters with works of musical and dramatic art.

87. In a recent position paper for the Southwest Theatre Conference, Paul Baker argues that, the fine arts are not simply important, they are central in elementary and secondary education. He argues for a system of secondary education, as explored by the Performing Arts Magnate School in Dallas, in which the fine arts provide the basis for all other studies. Chemistry, history, language, and all courses should be taught through the Fine Arts. Can you envision either an elementary or secondary school program that would incorporate the Find Arts to

such a degree? Describe the program. How could a specific course be taught from a basis in Fine Arts? What advantages and disadvantages are readily apparent in such a system?

88. In 1933 the well-known German filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to make a documentary of the Nazi Party rallies that were to take place in Nuremberg that year. Riefenstahl was known in Germany both as an actress and as a creative and innovative director, but she was not an expert in the documentary film style nor was she a member of the Nazi Party. In fact she was preoccupied with film as an art form and had little interest in German politics. Under this commission Riefenstahl made three films of Nazi Party rallies. The most famous, Triumph of the Will, portrayed the rally of 1934. This film won a number of awards, including the grand prize at the 1935 Venice Film Festival and the International Grand Prix at the 1937 Paris World Exhibition.

As an artistically and technically superb documentation of the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party, the glorification of German nationalism and the innate superiority of the Aryan race, Triumph of the Will has raised a number of criticisms and questions:

1. Is the film a documentary or a piece of propaganda? In general, can one distinguish between documentary and propaganda?2. Can a film disinterestedly record an event? What is the role of the editor or director?3. (a) Are documentaries works of art, or can they be? (b) Are pieces of propaganda works of art, or can they be? (c) Can one distinguish between art and documentary/fact, or art and propaganda?4. Can a great work of art represent or express evil, or can the subject matter and content of a work, especially when it is radically sexist, racist, or violent, irremediably damage the work? Should works that present inherently evil notions through aesthetically dramatic means be censored on that account?5. Can artists aesthetically distance themselves from an evil they portray in a positive or sympathetic way in an artwork, or are they somehow morally responsible for the way that evil is depicted, even in a work of art?

89. Discuss the role of art in a typical educational setting. What are the responsibilities of artists who present programs in the arts in an educational forum? Are the presentations obligated to inform, uplift, teach, comment, observe, challenge, and entertain? What are the difficulties? Rewards? Opportunities? In your discussion, specify the level of the educational setting. Include visual art, music and theatre arts in your discussion.

90. In your teaching at the secondary school level, you instruct a course in “integrated arts.” What, in your view, “integrates” various works of fine arts? That is, is there some characteristic shared by works of art which entitles us to classify such diverse objects as those of sculpture and painting, novels and poems, plays and films, symphonies and sonatas, all under the concept of art? If so, what is that characteristic? If not, what confusion underlies traditional efforts at such conceptual analysis? What do you think are the most important insights of the recent discussion of this topic?

After sketching your response to this classically philosophical topic, discuss in what way (if any) you have found that the philosophical questioning of the arts (as exemplified in the preceding topic) to be of relevance to your teaching of the arts to high school students. Can such investigation have a positive impact, directly or indirectly, on the arts education of young people? Or, to twist Barnett Newman a bit, is philosophical aesthetics for art students “like ornithology is for the birds?”

91. The Foundation for the Expansion and Development of Professional Theatre, in a position paper on the state of the Fine Arts in America, said “In recent years, the Fine Arts in America have moved from existing in an atmosphere of benign neglect to a mood of outright hostility.” Why do you agree or disagree with the statement? What implications does this statement have for the fine arts that exist in non-profit organizations in America? What are the funding, organizational and creative implications?

92. Regarding the question of “meaning” in the arts: where does meaning reside? Discuss several possibilities, including: meaning is found in the work itself, in the act of creating the work, in the action (or reaction) of the observer, or in the action of the interpreter. Please be sure to include visual arts, theatre arts and musical arts in your discussion. Comment on ways the three disciplines may be unique as regards the communication of “meaning.”

93. Discuss the role of artist in the community. Does the artist have a responsibility to develop a relationship with the community? Are there some precedents for this relationship?

If not, why not? Is there a risk of losing position from which to comment on or react to the community if the relationship becomes too intimate? Should the artist be in the community or of the community?

If so, what are some possible directions that might be taken as the artist develops and maintains a relationship to the community of which he/she is a part. Discuss the artist’s role regarding censorship of works to be presented to the community.

Be sure to include examples from the visual arts and music, as well as theatre in your discussion.

94. Assume that you are a faculty member at a liberal arts college and have been given the opportunity to design the program that will fulfill the Fine Arts requirement for undergraduate non-arts majors. Prepare a 15 minute presentation for your core committee in which you describe the kind of the kind of curriculum you would advocate. Consider the following in your discussion:

1. What number of credit hours can reasonably be allocated for the Fine Arts requirement?2. In developing the program, consider the relative merits of integrating the arts, dividing the hours equally between the arts, or concentrating on one of the arts.3. Briefly describe what is meant by a “discipline based arts” (D.B.A.) curriculum and justify your position that such an approach has distinct advantages over the programs usually available for undergraduate non-arts majors.

95. Briefly describe the purposes of the College Board Educational Equality Project and your involvement in it. Then, please address the following questions:

1. Are there historical precedents for including the arts in such a project?2. Is one of the purposes of the project to improve students’ overall academic achievement through the arts or are the designated competencies ones which are also central to student3. Although teachers participating in the workshops are to learn tasks for promoting these competencies in their specific disciplines, teachers from music, theatre arts, and visual arts are grouped together in a single workshop. What commonalities among the arts does such a grouping assume? Are such assumptions justified? Can we conclude that one “prescription” fits all the arts?4. If the project is directed toward high-risk students who are performing at a minimal level, art teachers will be trying to identify latent potential. How can one identify ability or creativity that has not been demonstrated?5. To what extent are different modes of learning and hemisphere preference considered in the design of the project?6. What is your critical evaluation of the project?

96. How would you characterize the relationship between onstage theatrical performances and film? By examining the historical precedence of the twentieth century, you may wish to place these two forms of art in relative positions on a continuum. Consider the following factors in your discussion:

1. Commercialism

2. Criteria for critical evaluation3. Relationships between author, artifact, actor, and audience4. Manipulation of time

97. Tolstoy, in What is Art?, describes in great and sometimes hilarious detail the enormous expenditure of attention, time and money that goes toward the arts. Artistic activities, performance and practice, criticism and museum space, schools and books command vast social and economic resources in many societies. Individual lives are more or less affected, but Tolstoy notes that some people’s lives are totally consumed and sometimes ruined by their absorption in one or another of the arts. In the face of these facts about the demands that art places on society, Tolstoy asks what it is about art “which is considered so important and so necessary for humanity that for its sake these sacrifices of labor, of human life, and even of goodness may be made?”

Discuss Tolstoy’s question in both general terms (Is their any single important value that characterizes all of the arts?) and in terms specific to each of the arts of music, theatre and visual art (Are there special values that are identifiably linked to certain of these arts and not to others?).

98. Discipline-based art education (DBAE) has been a major trend in art education literature for the past several years. Please explore its purposes, objectives, and proposed applications for the public schools.

As a focus of your own studies has been art criticism, center your presentation upon that component, considering other components: aesthetics, art history, and art production. This should include exploration of several models of art criticism and of aesthetics and the two major approaches to the study of art history.

Finally examine some possible relationships between DBAE and the other fine arts in regard to the preservice education of art teachers.

99. From the perspective of both the composer and the audience, what reasons are there to believe that the performance of a musical composition is enhanced by substantial elements from the visual arts and theater? Consider several significant collaborative efforts from both the first and second half of the twentieth century that utilize these combinations of art forms. Offer critical commentary on their success as musical compositions and also on their success in combining music with visual art and theater.

100. From the perspective of both the composer and the audience, what reasons are there to believe that the performance of a musical composition is enhanced by substantial elements from the visual arts and theater? Consider several significant collaborative efforts from both the first and

second half of the twentieth century that utilize these combinations of art forms. Offer critical commentary on their success as musical compositions and also on their success in combining music with visual art and theater.

101. As a promoter of dramatic festivals, you must concern yourself with aesthetic integrity, public taste, and commercial feasibility. In what specific ways have your core courses enlightened your task and provided insight into promotion that enhances both artistic integrity and fiscal responsibility? Let your answer embrace all the arts and the philosophy of aesthetics.

102. External factors influence artists during the creative act. Explain your vision of the creative act and the way it varies among playwrights, composers, and visual artists. Discuss the influence that dependency upon other interpretative artists has on the initial creative act. Also discuss the influence of potential commercial viability upon the creative act.

103. In his book entitled The Art of Administration, Kenneth Eble discusses the need to establish a balance between the two basic jobs an administrator must do: provide leadership and provide service to his faculty colleagues and their programs. Describe how an arts administrator in higher education must cope with this dualism. Also discuss other areas in which this dualism affects an arts administrator.

104. Select and discuss three works of art; one visual, one musical, one theatrical, each of which has a significant emotional quality. Please discuss how you decided that these works possess “significant emotional quality.” Does art require an emotional dimension to be “art?” Is there a scale of emotional quality or content? Are there works of art that have no emotional dimension? Do the concepts of “intent” and “communication” have a role in this discussion?

105. Explore “festival” as a concept that is often associated with organizing, presenting, and viewing art forms. Define the objective or purpose, examine the nature of the concept, and state both benefits and disadvantages of such organization. Suggest elements that comprise and characterize a festival. For whom and under what circumstances should a festival exist? Does the concept assist in raising standards in the arts? Does it aid in promoting and expanding the arts in society? What administrative and artistic principles should be present for a successful festival of the arts?

106. Discuss the role and responsibility of the performer in modern musical theatre and contrast with that of the performer in another era. How have critics evaluated the contributions of performers in each era? How do

art works from the two eras (modern and selected one) reflect aspects of everyday life as well as serve as vehicles for social comment?

107. Discuss the relationship and impact of commercialism on the creation and evaluation of the Fine Arts. In your response, discuss the role of the critic in determining commercial success. How does technology influence the status of the Fine Arts and what role do you predict for the live arts versus the electronic arts.

108. The communication that each art form goes through from its creation to its consumption by its audience has a profound impact on, and sometimes controls the art itself. Discuss the influence of the communication process on each of the art forms.

109. “Taste” has come to name the ability to recognize beauty or other aesthetic qualities. There is of course a history to using the word in that way, and such a label says a lot about what we tend to think about the nature of beauty and aesthetics generally. Give a brief overview of the background and implications of this concept of taste and then discuss the question of whether there is, after all, such a thing as good taste.

110. Gertrude Stein: “You can be a museum or modern. But you cannot be both.” Consider how this statement might be interpreted with regard to the visual arts, theatre arts, and music. Suggest arguments for and against the proposition, evaluate its validity, and discuss the ramifications for current arts programs of such a point of view.

111. There are many different things that go under the label “interpretation,” from the interpretation of dreams by psychologists to the interpretation of novels by critics to the interpretation of scores and scripts by performers. Focus on this last sort of interpretation and discuss how, in cases where the score or script gives no instructions, a performer should decide what constitutes a correct performance. Present your analysis in such a way as to be relevant to more than just your own experience in musical performance. Try, that is, to generate some general principle(s) of performance that would be as applicable to a director or actor as to a conductor or pianist. Then comment on whether you see any parallels to the other sort of interpretation that goes on with respect to works of visual art or literature.

112. In the state of Texas, citizens’ negative attitudes towards the arts seem to have an adverse impact on the development of the Fine Arts. The Texas legislature’s traditional lack of funding for Fine Arts agencies appears to many a reflection of these attitudes.1. What are the prevalent attitudes of Texas toward the Fine Arts and artists?

2. What are the attitudes of artists toward Texans and Texas?

3. What are the effects and implications of these attitudes toward developing the Fine Arts in Texas?

4. What responsibility do artists have in trying to shape attitudes of Texans toward art and artists?

5. What should Fine Arts educators do to shape these attitudes?

113. Sometimes organizations such as in the Van Cliburn Piano Competition attempt qualitative comparisons between performing artists. Can such comparisons be made? Assuming perfection (or a high degree of excellence) in technique, are there qualities in performance that could clearly mark one performer as being superior to others?

What role does the subjective evaluation of the judge play in making such a distinction? What is the relationship between the quality of performer and the quality of a piece of art to be performed? Is a piece (or play) of lower quality when performed by an artist of limited abilities and does it become greater when performed by an artist with greater skills?

114. The central purpose in the Ph.D. in Fine Arts program at Texas Tech University is to develop leadership in the Arts. Examine the core courses now offered in the curriculum and reflect upon your experience with those you have taken. Analyze and critique the current curricular content and structure. Discuss the requirements of arts leadership and the degree to which the curriculum contributes to the central purpose of the program. Suggest alternative approaches that, without increasing the 19 credit hour allocation, might better support the development of leadership in the Arts. Include a complete and persuasive rationale for your suggestions.[n.b. Please do not discuss particular instructors. Limit yourself to curricular structure, content, and philosophy.]

115. One role of the Fine Arts Administrator is to work as an advocate for the arts. Describe the various fronts on which this campaign must be waged. What are the central issues in arts advocacy and what should the individual arts administrator do about them?

116. Since at least the 18th century, thinkers have grappled with the question of a uniquely aesthetic value. That century saw the development of the concept of taste in an effort to accommodate the conflicting beliefs we have about the nature of aesthetic value. What is the character of the so-called objective-subjective conflict regarding beauty or aesthetic value? How have some philosophers tried to resolve it? Discuss the resolution of

this conflict across the arts. (That is, in your discussion, be sure to use examples drawn from each of the fields of visual art, theatre, and music.)

117. Igor Stravinsky commented that music need not reveal the composer’s inner personality or express emotions. Comment on that statement in a general way. Pick an era and discuss the concept of emotion in the arts. Select an artist in visual arts, theatre and music from that era and discuss their attitude toward emotion in art and comment on how that attitude is reflected in their own work. Discuss the role critics have played in the position about emotion in art.

118. Who, in American should train artists? What should be the nature and purpose of undergraduate and graduate Fine Arts programs? How would you address some of the real problems that arise from mixing the artistic with the academic community?

119. At various times in the history of the Arts, artists have attempted to show life as it really is. Pick a specific era for your discussion, and explain your choice. Discuss the issue of “art imitating life” using specific examples from the visual arts, theatre arts and music. What was the response of sciences and critics to this effort? Have any of these art works been generally accepted into the corpus of monuments in their discipline? Why, or why not?

120. Properly speaking, is the meaning of a work of art what it means to the audience or what it means to the artist? Or, perhaps neither of these two choices is acceptable. Is there some alternative? Discuss the question of aesthetic interpretation with regard to at least two of the fine arts (literature, visual art, theatre, and music). Be sure that you critically analyze a couple of the standard philosophical positions regarding this question.

121. Discuss the beginning of the individual creative process: what stimulates it; what controls the choices the artist makes; how does the artist focus in on the object being created?

How does the question of style enter into the process? What is “style?” Is style established by the artist and the choices he makes, or is style established by the era in which the artist lives and works?

122. Discuss the question of the relation of technology to the arts. How has technology impacted each of the arts? How have technical innovations brought about personal changes in the style of artists in general? In particular? How have critics reacted to the involvement of technology in the arts?

123. Amazingly, on a recent probe into outer space, an inhabited planet was discovered. The inhabitants bear a striking resemblance to human beings and are obviously highly skilled and intelligent. In fact, our astronauts observed striking evidence that these “people” have a level of technological excellence which far exceeds our own. Planet Gnu has obligingly sent an ambassador to meet with various heads of state.

Those responsible for the ambassador’s tour report that the subject which they are having the greatest difficulty explaining is the arts. There appears to be no word for “arts” in the Gnuian language and, judging from the ambassador’s puzzled reactions to the arts events on her tour, the guides have concluded that there must no be comparable phenomena on Gnu. Furthermore, the ambassador sees no value in introducing them. She has commented that it seems ludicrous that earthlings dedicate such an inordinate amount of time and resources on such valueless endeavors. “Why produce plays when there are real experiences to be had?” “Why paint or sculpt flowers and people when anyone can perceive real ones?” “The creation of abstractions is an absurd waste of energy!” “Why do so many people spend an evening playing on instruments or singing when there is no product at the end which cures diseases, defends borders, or speeds travel?”

An arts consortium from the United States is interested in sending artists and art works to Gnu as part of a cultural exchange program, but the Gnuian ambassador (and admittedly many Americans) sees no reason to dedicate private or public funds to such a project. The consortium has hired Elizabeth White to persuade both parties of the importance of the arts and the wisdom of supporting them. In order to prepare for this meeting, the “consortium” suggests that White consider the following:1. When “people” have had little or no exposure to the arts, how does one explain what they are?

2. Would it be possible to relate the kinds of experiences available through the arts to other experiences these “people” have probably had?

3. What contributions do the arts make to “human” existence that cannot be getter provided by other things?

124. “Suppose an artist recognized both as a painter (of the photo-realist variety) and a photographer takes a photograph of a street scene. The artist then paints a picture of the photography using an opaque projector to ensure that the painting is as accurate as possible. Finally, the artist photographs the painting. The three “works” are exhibited together. To the naïve eye they all look alike, they are exactly the same size, and they all appear to be photographs.

How many artworks, or kinds of artwork, do we have? Why? Should all these works be understood to convey the same meaning?”

125. A tension exists in Fine Arts programs in America between proponents of professional training (also termed conservatory or studio training) and liberal arts education. What are the issues involved? What implications do these issues have for administrators in Art, Dance, Music, and Theatre programs? How do these issues vary among the various disciplines? Can you identify any regional or national trends in Fine Arts?

126. When we talk about what it is we think artists do, we typically use expressions like “They create works of art;” “He creates imaginary worlds;” “She creates believable characters.” If we decide that they are great artists, we describe them as being “creative geniuses” and praise them for their exceptional originality.

By contrast, Zen artisans don’t sign their work, since they don’t believe that they have personally “created” anything at all; rather, they are receptors through which ideas and beauty can flow.

What changes, if any, might we expect if artists became convinced that they were discoverers instead of creators? Consider any or all of the following areas, and feel free to add others of importance to you:1. Definitions of art. What distinguishes it from non-art?2. Criteria for evaluating art.3. Process of artistic interpretation.4. Content of art.5. Relations and distinctions between composers, score and performers;

playwright, script, and actors, set designers, etc., painters, paintings, and exhibition curators, and their audience.

6. Role of artist in society.

Be sure your answer makes specific reference to fine arts other than music (art, theatre, and dance).

127. Consider the 18th century concept, basically British, that was to become the core of the concept of the aesthetic in philosophy: “disinterestedness.” Introduced by the Earl of Shaftesbury, Burke and Alison described and developed it fully; Kant integrated it into his own philosophy. (Aesthetics: An Introduction, Dickie.)

What have been the implications of these concepts and their derivations for late 19th century and 20th century visual arts generally? For Impressionism (Imitationalism)? Cubism (Formalism)? Expressionism (Emotionalism)? Fantasy (Primitivism)?

128. Many artists accept the premise that with support comes control. Do you accept this premise as necessarily true? If not, how do artists prevent patrons from controlling their creativity? If the premise is true, cite supporting examples through the history of each art form. Is the control implied in the premise inherently good or evil? If an artist wishes to struggle against the implication of control by a patron, what can he do to insure a maximum of artist freedom?

129. If an art work is universally judged to be “beautiful,” it often carries positive implications of pleasure, entertainment, concord, agreeableness, has a non-threatening quality, is accessible and possesses socially redeeming values. Choose examples of works from art, music and theatre that represent the antithesis of the characteristics listed above. Discuss the rationale for the art works. Comment on the general aesthetic and critical responses. Can the word “ugly” be used to describe these works? Do the works still have “beauty?”

130. Using the Dada movement as a focal point, first define it and discuss its roots and successors. Discuss the ways the movement was manifest in visual arts, music and theatre. Is a purposeful goal or idea necessary in the creation of art? Since Dadaism is performer oriented, is the meaning or essence of the art object perceivable from the standpoint of the viewer?

131. Discuss the concept of style in the Romantic era. Include examples from art, music and theatre in your discussion. How does an artist arrive at his own identifying style? What unifies the properties of several artists to contribute to the definition of a style? What influence did the public and the critics have on a particular artist or style in the Romantic era?

132. Discuss in detail the question of government funding of the arts in the United States. Give an historical overview, examine the issue of financial control versus artistic freedom, and evaluate the potential for political manipulation emanating from the grantor and from the grantee. Develop a position regarding legislative restrictions on the subject matter of works of art subsidized by tax funds. Address the matters of accountability to the public and freedom of expression.

133. Define and explain the interdisciplinary nature of performance art. Is evaluation of performance art possible through any existing models? If not, could an instrument be designed for the evaluation of performance art?

134. Some musical compositions, including non-programmatic and non-texted pieces, and some works of visual art, including non-representational examples, have been said to be “dramatic.” In what sense, if any, may

drama be present in such cases? Cite numerous specific examples to support your argument.

135. Compare the Ph.D. in Fine Arts program at Texas Tech, with the major doctoral programs in art, music, and theatre in America. What, if any, are the similarities? What are the major differences? Which programs seem to best meet the needs of students and which programs seem to best meet the needs of the various professions?

136. Performing artists, particularly musicians, appear fearful of the impact of technological developments. In a situation wherein a musical performance could be created more perfectly by technology than by live performance, would the technological performance be aesthetically superior or inferior to a live performance of the same piece even though the technologically produced piece were perfect and the live performance contained imperfections?

137. In what ways does a study of the history of the arts contribute to education of future artists? Is such a study an asset or a hindrance? What should be included in a history of art? Of what values is such a study to performing artists (actors, musicians, studio artists), to critics, to directors, to managers?

138. Sometimes we hear people describe a painting, or a text, or some other work of art as representational. And often aspects of those same or other works of art can also be properly described as expressive. In fact, these labels may be among the most commonplace of aesthetic descriptions. But what exactly do they mean?

Explain one or two of the dominant philosophical views of each of these concepts. Then evaluate the views by seeing how applicable they are to exemplary works of theatre, music, and visual art.

139. Describe the creative process as it differs in art, music, and drama. What happens in the creative process when the initial art object (piece of music composition, play script, etc.) must be interpreted by other artists before it can be consumed by an audience member? Are these other artists involved in creation or interpretation? How does foreknowledge of the need for layers of artists inhibit or liberate the initial creative process?

140. The United States Senate recently issued a policy statement on governmental support of the arts. What is the policy of the United States government? What ought to be the policy of the government? What issues are involved in establishing this policy? How are those issues reflected in all funding of the arts?

141. Discuss the element of immediacy in arts performance. How does this element influence the aesthetic and emotional reactions of the participant? What are the differences and similarities among visual art, theatre and music?

142. Some people claim that metaphor is the essence of literary art; and a case certainly could be made that the problem of explicating metaphors reproduces in microcosm the general problem of interpreting works of art. Discuss the question of explicating literary metaphors. Do this by identifying and assessing some of the primary directions previous theorists have taken and then by presenting your own view of metaphor. Next, consider whether there are such things as musical or visual metaphors. If there are, give some illustrations and discuss whether metaphor is as central to musical or visual art as it is to literature. Finally, if you wish, consider the broader implications of your own theory of metaphor to aesthetic interpretation generally.

143. Discuss the proposition that film has become “contemporary culture’s most representative medium.” How is music used in film as a reflection of culture? To what extent does music help to convey the intent of the film as visualized by its director? How does music relate to the visual aspect of a film? What would be the effect on the entire film if there were no music?

144. Attitudes toward various pieces of art, theatre, and music have changed through time. Jazz, originally considered only a popular form of music, has now gained respectability with many serious musicians. What happens to the evaluation of pieces of art as they are viewed by subsequent generations? Does the quality of the art piece change, or does only perceived quality change? What artistic and sociological factors seem to be at work in this process? Finally, on the basis of your discussion, are there current art works that will be viewed differently by future generations?

145. It has been said that Western art theory suffered for centuries under the “stranglehold” of Plato’s thought. The particular reference here is to the dominance of the view that art is essentially a matter of the imitation of physical reality. (For Plato, this carried with it the dismissal of the representational arts as inferior, as poor sources of knowledge, and as corruptive influences on the human psyche.)

Compare this thread of Western thought with the views of artistic representation and expression as understood within Chinese Confucianism and Daoism. Are there important differences between the Platonic and Confucian and Daoist views of the role of the artist in society? If so, how do those differences reflect their contrasting views of representation in the arts and of art’s essential nature? Be certain to include illustrations of a

sampling of relevant artworks (both Western and Chinese) in your discussion of this topic.

146. While most people in the arts feel that federal or state funding for the arts is appropriate, and that such funding agencies often support programs of advocacy and education that help shape cultural policy, there are those who are opposed to such programs. Those who are opposed to federal or state funding often feel that the private sector should fund the arts, and be advocates for artistic endeavors.

Discuss those areas of advocacy, policy, or education that are appropriate to government support and those that might more properly seek support in the private sector. Identify at least one program from each side of the problem that illuminates your position.

Is it possible for the arts to exist in early 21st century society without some form of governmental support? If art does, indeed, define a society, why is external support necessary? Be sure to include visual arts, theatre, music, and philosophy in your discussion.

147. The Western Christian religious tradition has long relied upon the arts as ways to communicate its important ideas to the world. Compare the artworks produced by visual artists, composers, and playwrights in terms of their relative effectiveness in explaining complex theological concepts and instructing the congregations. As a director of liturgy, which form of artistic expression would you choose to inspire the elect and proselyte potential converts?

148. Works of art seem to call for interpretation. In fact, it seems that in the performing arts at least two distinct sorts of interpretations are called for—critical interpretations and performance interpretations. Whenever interpretation is called for there seems to be the possibility of misinterpretation along with better and worse interpretations. (Call these the objectivist intuitions.) But it also seems that many different interpretations of works of art may be equally valid. (Call these the pluralist intuitions.). How can we make sense of the apparent tension between these intuitions? Should we be objectivists about interpretation (or some forms of interpretation) and give up the idea of equally valid distinct interpretations? After all, that seems like what we do when interpreting ordinary speech. If relativism seems a better option, how can it make sense of the objectivist intuitions? Should we ever simply take an “anything goes” attitude towards the interpretation of art? Refer to works of music, theater or dance, and the visual arts.

149. Art at the end of the 20th Century seems to defy assessment and evaluation. Debate over which standard to use, the relevance of standards

to art, the relevance of the economics of art, and how the politics of gender, diversity, and social standing sometimes diverts the discussion from art to theories about art. Some artists, in turn, tend to insist that her/his art be taken on its own merit, not in relation to any standard or anyone else’s art.

Is it possible to arrive at a common ground for assessment of art? Can traditional standards be applied to contemporary art, or is it only possible to evaluate new art with new standards? How are those standards arrived at? What are they based on? How are they applied to art at the end of the century? Be sure to include visual arts, theatre and music in your discussion.

150. It is sometimes said that works of art are sacred or are treated as sacred. The philosopher Ronald Dworkin made both claims about art in Life’s Dominion, his recent, important work on the abortion and euthanasia debates. Dworkin attempted to explain the sacredness of human life by exploring the sacredness of art. In a recent (on-line) polemic directed at Kenny G’s use of a Louis Armstrong recording, the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny claimed that Armstrong recording of “What a Wonderful World” is sacred. Without concerning yourself with what either Dworkin or Metheny specifically meant by their claims, answer some of the following questions: What is it to treat a work of art as sacred? Is it ever justified? How so? What is the source of this sacredness, or this attitude of reverence? Which works of art are treated this way? Which works of art are not treated this way? Does sacredness apply in the context of some forms of art and not others? Why? Be sure to include examples from visual art, theatre art and music in your discussion.

151. Examine the application of a style term like “Impressionism” to what was going on in visual art, music, and theatre during the era. To what extent does such a term fit the characteristics, assumptions, and chronologies of the various arts? To what extent does the use of such stylistic terms aid in the understanding, interpretation, evaluation, and criticism of the arts?

152. In theatre, and music theatre, sections of scripts are often cut out before they are performed. In music, cuts are almost never made. Is there anything inherent in the art form that allows that practice in one discipline and not another? Is there a cognate in visual art (i.e., the formal presentation of the art work)? What responsibility does the performer have to the creator of an art work in this respect? What responsibility does the performer have to the work of art itself? Does one supersede the other? Be sure to include examples from visual art, theatre art and music in your discussion.

153. Fine art is often contrasted with a number of other categories of art such as folk art, popular art, mass art, and middlebrow art. Focus on the relationship between fine art and folk art. What distinguishes fine art from folk art? What are their connections and similarities? Are the differences between fine art and folk art relevant for criticism (i.e., evaluation, interpretation, and appreciation)? If so, how? You may want to clarify the relationship between folk art, and the other forms of art that are contrasted with fine art. Make sure you make reference to examples of fine art and folk art in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance.

154. Often, programs that purport to be interdisciplinary may, in fact, be multidisciplinary. Why is this the case? What are the criteria for being interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary? Describe actual as well as hypothetical programs in the fine arts that meet truly interdisciplinary expectations. Propose an authentically interdisciplinary program that involves the fine arts.

155. Because artists have commonly challenged the thinking and values of conventional society, their works have often attracted controversy. Using examples of controversial works from the three arts, explain how the works offend and become more than an issue about “what is art.” Discuss what you believe are the motivations of the artists as well as the motivations of those who express high profile hostility to the artworks in these cases. In your opinion does the social benefit of such artwork outweigh the perception of public good expressed by the harsh critic? Justify your position.

156. How does the act of making and experiencing art differ from the act of making and experiencing routine activities? Discuss conditions of purpose, concept, expectations of ultimate outcome, anticipations of audience, and other situations which may help define the difference in the categories of action. Is it possible for an object to be both art and non-art? Do issues of sacred and profane enter into this question? Do questions of ritual and habit bear on the question? Be sure to include visual art, theatre, music, and philosophy in your discussion.

157. Is art inherently political or can it transcend social, political or economic contexts? Examine the relationships within the arts between context, content and form. Include specific examples from the visual arts, theater, music and philosophy.

158. Select examples of creative artists from music, art, and theatre, which, during some part of their artistic careers, produced art works under the pressure of commissions, sales, deadlines, or conditions of employment, and compare their artistic results with works they produced for more purely personal reasons that lacked the pressure of some sort of

extrinsic motivation. Does the motivation and intent of the artist affect or alter the aesthetic quality or innovative character of the product? To what extent do creative artists seem to cater to the wishes of those who sponsor the work? Can you establish a claim from these examples about what are the ideal conditions under which an artist can create?

159. Interpreting and evaluating any work of art is potentially problematic in numerous respects. There are questions of the existence and nature of critical standards, of the identification of which features of the work are relevant to interpretation and evaluation, of whether the entire process is too inherently subjective and idiosyncratic to admit of a real method, etc.

But such questions seem both different and especially acute when it comes to avant-garde works. In the case of what might be called “mainstream” works, works that fall nearly into a well established art genre or category (like 2-D painting, symphony, musical theatre, etc.), one could argue that the background categories themselves help us by providing schema for what ought to be taken to be relevant to interpretation and evaluation. For example, when it comes to conventional 2-D painting, the flatness of the canvas is taken for granted, so to speak, and it does not call for some special sort of interpretative comment. In such cases, it is only those properties which are expected to vary from one painting to another (e.g., the location of color patches, the relation of depicted objects to each other and to the picture plane, etc.) that we take to be relevant to our interpretive and evaluative tasks. But with avant-garde works, works which fundamentally break the molds of any established genres, the interpretive/evaluative playing field is itself broken wide open. When a work radically departs from all established categories, how are we to decide which of its features are relevant to its proper understanding? And against what sort of comparison class ought the assessment of such a work be broached?

Spell out what you see to be the special problems of interpreting and evaluating avant-garde works, and go on to sketch some thoughts on how (if at all) such problems might be solved. Be sure to make use of examples of works that fall firmly within, as well as ones that somehow play across various art forms.

160. Discuss the role of art in a typical educational setting. What are the responsibilities of artists who present programs in the arts in an educational forum? Are the presentations obligated to inform, uplift, teach, comment, observe, challenge, and entertain? What are the difficulties? Rewards? Opportunities? In your discussion, specify the level of the educational setting. Include visual art, music and theatre arts in your discussion.

161. Certain works of art, music, and theater are often said to be expressive of abstract or philosophical ideas. But how can a work, especially of a non-verbal art such as music or painting, express abstract ideas? Using examples from art, theater and music, discuss whether and how works of art can express ideas. What determines which ideas are expressed in a particular work? How relevant are program notes, titles, or commentary by the artist in determining what ideas are expressed in a work? Could a non-verbal work express ideas even without such “external” aids? If so, by what means?

162. One form of analysis of visual art developed along with modernism in the early twentieth century: formal analysis. Around 1890, artist Arthur Dow and historian Ernest Fenollosa, who had lived long in Japan, embarked on the invention of a method of art analysis that would enable one to discuss visual art regardless of its cultural origins. Their ultimate goal was pedagogical: teaching how to express ideas through the abstract means of lines, value, composition, etc. Their system was recorded in a book, Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art, 1963 (Dover reprint). So the study of the “elements of art:” line, shape, color, value or light, texture, space, and time or movement is only around 100 years old. Similarly new is the study of the principles of art: rhythm, repetition, economy, variety, balance and unity. Analysis of these “elements” and “principles” comprises formal analysis of art and forms the basis of teaching art in contemporary schools.

When and how did the analysis of form in music develop? How do the criteria and techniques differ from those in visual art?

Apply formal analysis criteria to exemplar works of art, music and theatre.

How is the “formal” analysis of music and theatre similar to and different from that of visual art? What do the differences reveal about the nature of the various arts? What can careful formal analysis reveal that is essential to understanding a work? What are the limitations of formal analysis?

163. In the literature of post-modern art, the notion of “displacement” is offered as a concept of artistic practice. The notion is referred to as a design principle, a conceptual strategy, as well as a political or psychological approach to evaluation.

In your discussion of the notion of “displacement” in the arts, first offer a definition of the term and show how the concept can be used in defining art. Focus on the notion as a creative concept and detail its use in current art practice. Be sure to include music and theatre as well as visual arts in your statement.

164. Throughout history there has existed tension between the avant-garde and tradition: between artists, their audiences, patrons and arts consumers. We have love-hate relations with the arts.

Investigate multiple historical and cultural factors that lead to such acts of dissonance in the arts. Give specific examples of dissonance from the twentieth century to the present to support your examination of the question.

165. Who ascribes meaning to a work of art? Is it the artist, the public, the critic, the performer (in theatre or music)? Is meaning inherent in the work, or is it derived from criticism, or imposed by culture or society? Is the artist’s written statement (if there is one) valuable in determining meaning? Be sure to include music and theatre in your discussion.

166. While most people in the arts feel that federal or state funding for the arts is appropriate, and that such funding agencies often support programs of advocacy and education that help shape cultural policy, there are those who are opposed to such programs. Those who are opposed to federal or state funding often feel that the private sector should fund the arts, and be advocates for artistic endeavors.

Discuss those areas of advocacy, policy, or education that are appropriate to government support and those that might more properly seek support in the private sector. Identify at least one program from each side of the problem that illuminates your position.

Is it possible for the arts to exist in early 21st century society without some form of governmental support? If art does, indeed, define a society, why is external support necessary? Be sure to include visual arts, theatre, music, and philosophy in your discussion.

167. It has been said that Western art theory suffered for centuries under the “stranglehold” of Plato’s thought. The particular reference here is to the dominance of the view that art is essentially a matter of the imitation of physical reality. (For Plato, this carried with it the dismissal of the representational arts as inferior, as poor sources of knowledge, and as corruptive influences on the human psyche.) Compare this thread of Western thought with the views of artistic representation and expression as understood within Chinese Confucianism and Daoism. Are there important differences between the Platonic and Confucian and Daoist views of the role of the artist in society? If so, how do those differences reflect their contrasting views of representation in the arts and of art’s essential nature? Be certain to include illustrations of a sampling of relevant artworks (both Western and Chinese) in your discussion of this topic.

168. It is sometimes said that works of art are sacred or are treated as sacred. The philosopher Ronald Dworkin made both claims about art in Life’s Dominion, his recent, important work on the abortion and euthanasia debates. Dworkin attempted to explain the sacredness of human life by exploring the sacredness of art. In a recent (on-line) polemic directed at Kenny G’s use of a Louis Armstrong recording, the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny claimed that Armstrong’s recording of “What a Wonderful World” is sacred. Without concerning yourself with what either Dworkin or Metheny specifically meant by their claims, answer some of the following questions: What is it to treat a work of art as sacred? Is it ever justified? How so? What is the source of this sacredness, or this attitude of reverence? Which works of art are treated this way? Which works of art are not treated this way? Does sacredness apply in the context of some forms of art and not others? Why? Be sure to include examples from visual art, theatre art and music in your discussion.

169. Fine art is often contrasted with a number of other categories of art such as folk art, popular art, mass art, and middlebrow art. Focus on the relationship between fine art and folk art. What distinguishes fine art from folk art? What are their connections and similarities? Are the differences between fine art and folk art relevant for criticism (i.e., evaluation, interpretation, and appreciation)? If so, how? You may want to clarify the relationship between folk art, and the other forms of art that are contrasted with fine art. Make sure you make reference to examples of fine art and folk art in the visual arts, music, and theater or dance.

170. Examine the application of a style term like “Impressionism” to what was going on in visual art, music, and theatre during the era. To what extent does such a term fit the characteristics, assumptions, and chronologies of the various arts? To what extent does the use of such stylistic terms aid in the understanding, interpretation, evaluation, and criticism of the arts?

171. Art at the end of the 20th Century seems to defy assessment and evaluation. Debate over which standard to use, the relevance of standards to art, the relevance of the economics of art, and how the politics of gender, diversity, and social standing sometimes diverts the discussion from art to theories about art. Some artists, in turn, tend to insist that her/his art be taken on its own merit, not in relation to any standard or anyone else’s art.

Is it possible to arrive at a common ground for assessment of art? Can traditional standards be applied to contemporary art, or is it only possible to evaluate new art with new standards? How are those standards arrived at? What are they based on? How are they applied to art at the end of the

century? Be sure to include visual arts, theatre and music in your discussion.

172. Select examples of creative artists from music, art, and theatre, who during some part of their artistic careers, produced art works under the pressure of commissions, sales, deadlines, or conditions of employment, and compare their artistic results with works they produced for more purely personal reasons that lacked the pressure of some sort of extrinsic motivation. Does the motivation and intent of the artist affect or alter the aesthetic quality or innovative character of the product? To what extent do creative artists seem to cater to the wishes of those who sponsor the work? Can you establish a claim from these examples about what are the ideal conditions under which an artist can create?