DES1403: Impressionism in Paris and Southern France

This FRESHMAN SEMINAR explores the revolution of French Impressionism. Students will examine art and climate, as well as how developments in science and technology transformed the art world with fresh depictions of daily life and promoted a new appreciation of light and color. Students will consider historical images of urban and suburban settings (cafe, theater, garden, seaside, salon, etc.) and how the "new" handling of paint captured the immediacy of experience. The body of knowledge in this course is focused on a specific revolution in French Art (Impressionism), how that was influenced by science and the culture of the times and how that influenced the world in ripple effect. In this Liberal Education course, students will build and maintain community with exercises designed to purposefully build trust in team and teamwork. Tasks are designed to create an environment where students build ways of staying centered, a critical part of making the adjustment to the college experience, as well as to life as an adult They will connect knowledge and practice, using right-and-left brain strengths. Students will expand their ability to see from different perspectives (within the group and experiencing a different culture). They will purposefully build trust in a team and teamwork, improving trust in their ability to share and communicate. Students will gain Global Perspective by learning about and experiencing diverse approaches to creative practices. This will be explored in relation to the history of French Impressionism. Participants will visit museums in the Twin Cities and France, discussing how and why Impressionism developed (influences, the impact of the movement over time.) They will learn how science and technology were instrumental in the development of an art movement in 1860 and consider how science and technology might influence creative visuals today. This experience is designed to build and expand connections to vision, creativity, and a moment in history. The course content is designed to enable students a voice in creating a personal historical context. They will reflect upon and research influences in a Cultural Comparison Paper. Students will investigate culture via various exercises in drawing and watercolor, investigating daily life with parallel methods of interpretation, in the Twin Cities and in France. Over spring break, students will visit and draw sites where the Impressionists worked. They will discuss and reflect on the implications of the course material relative to their own lives. They will learn about and experience diverse approaches to creative practices. This will be further explored in relation to the history of French Impressionism. This Liberal Education experience is designed to build and expand connections to vision, creativity, and a moment in time through the lens of French culture. REQUIRED: Willingness to draw, regardless of skills, open mind, willingness to instigate and participate in the exploration and debate of ideas. NOT REQUIRED: Developed drawing or sketching skills.

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