LESSON I:

INTRODUCTION TO HUMANITIES AND ART

APPRECIATION

Lecture no 1: Understanding Humanities and Art Appreciation

Art appreciation is a three-unit course that develops student ability to appreciate, analyze, and
critique works of arts. Through interdisciplinary and multimodal approaches, this course equips
students with a broad knowledge of the practical, historical, philosophical, and social relevance. The
course also develops students’ competency in researching and curating as well as conceptualizing,
mounting, and evaluating art productions. The course aims to develop students’ genuine
appreciation for Philippine arts by providing them opportunities to explore the university and richness
and their rootedness in Filipino culture.

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
Discuss the meaning and relevance of
Humanities
Define Art Appreciation
Define Art History

LEARNING CONTENT &

ACTTIVITY
PRELIMINARY
ACTIVITY

Looks familiar? How well do you know these artworks?

Instructions: Below are five (5) random pictures of famous visual artworks around the world.
Identify the name of the artwork and the respective artist.

#1
ARTWORK TITLE:
ARTIST: #2
ARTWORK TITLE:
ARTIST:

1
#3 #4
ARTWORK TITLE: ARTWORK TITLE:
ARTIST: ARTIST:

#5
ARTWORK TITLE:
ARTIST:

KEY CONCEPTS

Humanities
Art Appreciation
Art History
“Know thyself.”
-Socrates
What is Humanities?
Humanities is derived from the Latin word
“humanus” which means refined or cultured
human.
The humanities are studies about human culture, such as literature, philosophy
and history. Studying the humanities gives you general knowledge and intellectual
skills rather than occupational or professional skills. The humanities are the stories,
the ideas, and the words that help us make sense of our lives and our world.

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Why do we need to study Humanities?

The Humanities introduce us to people we have never met, places we

have never visited, and ideas that may have never crossed our minds. By showing
how others have lived and thought about life, the humanities help us decide what is
important in our own lives and what we can do to make them better. By connecting
us with other people, they point the way to answers about what is right and wrong,
or what is true to our heritage and our history.
As a field of study, the humanities emphasize analysis and exchange of
ideas rather than the creative expression of the arts or the quantitative explanation
of the sciences.

Let us define first,

what is ART: What is Art Appreciation?
It came from the Ancient
Latin word “ars” which
means “craft or
specialized form or skill”. It is referred to the knowledge of the general
and everlasting qualities that classify all great arts. It
Art serves as a medium of refers to analyzing the form of an artwork to general
expression of our ideas, audiences to enhance their enjoyment of such works
feelings and emotions. of art.

Art helps us make sense of Art appreciation can be subjective

our world, and it broadens depending on personal preference to aesthetics and
our experience and form, or it can be based on several elements and
understanding. principles of designs and also depends on social and
cultural acceptance.

Art appreciation is extremely relevant for multiple reasons. It is a good way to

understand the history behind the work, and the period from which the piece originated.
Artists often reflect the problems that they face, and the issues of the society in their work.
By analyzing and putting ourselves in the mind of the artist, we can better study how
differently society functioned then, compared to now. We can empathize and relate to the
problems they faced on a personal level.

What is Art History?

DEHUMANI-
ZATION OF
MAN
It is the study of objects of art in their
DURING THE
historical development and stylistic
INDUSTRIAL
contexts; that is genre, design format and
AGE
style. The study includes painting,
sculpture, architecture, ceramics, Legaspi, 1947
furniture, and other decorative objects.

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Art history is not only a biographical endeavor. Art historians often root their studies in the
scrutiny of individual objects. They thus attempt to answer in historically specific ways, questions
such as: What are key features of this style, What meaning did this object convey, How does it
function visually, Did the artist meet their goals, What symbols are involved, and Does it function
discursively?

ASSESSMENT

Refer to ARTWORK SHEET NO. 1 (found in the appendices)

Materials needed: Pencil, Coloring materials, extra sheet of long bond paper (if needed)

REFERENCES
Leano, Roman(2018) Art Appreciation for College Students: Mindshapers Company, Inc.
www,brushwiz.com
www.pinterest.com
www.educationworld.in/the-importance-of-art-appreciation/

Lecture no 2: Arts: Creativity and Imagination

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The real world is hard and often draining on the mind and body. To be uninspired and tired is to
lose time and energy that would otherwise be spent stimulating the imagination and creativity
needed to get ahead. When people are at the peak of their creativity, both sides of their brain are
working together to contribute to each other’s efforts to learn things better, work smarter, and come
up with innovative solutions.

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
Define Creativity
Define Imagination
Discuss the relationship of creativity and imagination

LEARNING CONTENT &

ACTTIVITY

PRELIMINARY AC TIVITY

SHORT ESSAY: As individual, are you Creative or are you Imaginative? Why?

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Creativity
Imagination
We have a tendency to use the
terms “being imaginative” and
“being creative” as synonymous,
but they are not. It’s quite
possible to be imaginative
without being creative.
Creativity is the act of turning
new and imaginative ideas into
reality…If you have ideas, but
don’t act on them, you are

What is Creativity and imagination? 5

The biggest difference between creativity and imagination is that imagination is thinking of
something—whether it is an object, place, time, etc., that is not present; while creativity is doing
something meaningful with your imagination.
Imagination is about seeing the impossible, or unreal. Creativity is using imagination to
unleash the potential of existing ideas in order to create new and valuable ones.
Where imagination simply requires that we
have some context from which to envision an idea,
creativity requires that we have knowledge of the idea,
motivation and freedom to explore and tinker,
intelligence to see the process through.

ASSESSMENT

WRITING A POSITION ESSAY: People are naturally born with Imagination. However, is
Creativity innate/inherited or a learned trait? Choose your position and explain. Minimum of
350 words. Use a whole yellow pad paper. (use extra sheets if you have to)

ASSIGNMEN
T

Do an advance research/reading about Art as Expression

REFERENCES

Leano, Roman(2018) Art Appreciation for College Students: Mindshapers Company, Inc.
www.picturestore.com.au/learn-about-art/expert-advice/2
www.google.com/search?q=imagination+

Lecture no 3: Arts: Expression 6

Within its nature, art has no rules. There are no guidelines to express yourself. Art is meant to
be the way the artist wants it to be, and art could be a reaction to outrage to established systems.
But just because art could be a reaction to what’s going on, does not mean it has to be. Different
artists have different stories to tell and different ideas to get across through their art.

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
Define Expression
Discuss the connection of Expression in arts

LEARNING CONTENT &

ACTTIVITY

PRELIMINARY
The painting shown is a famous example ofAC TIVITY
Expressionism.

For you, what kinds of emotion are expressed in

this painting? Briefly explain why.

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The Scream by Edvard Munch

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What an artist does to an emotion is not to induce it,
Expression Whatit.anThrough
but express artist does to an emotion
expression, is to
he is able
not to induce it, but express it. Through
explore his own emotions and at the same time, create
expression, he is able to explore his
something beautiful out of them.”
own emotions and at the same time,
– Robin
create George beautiful
something Collingwood
out of
them.” – Robin George Collingwood

ART AS EXPRESSION

Feelings, beliefs, characteristics—these

are what art expresses, although often they
are not easily distilled. Our lives as humans
are full of complications and complexities,
and our thought and experienced feelings,
beliefs and characteristics are reflective of
these complexities. Why does art express?

Art expresses as a result of the intricacies of life, as a result of humans

continually searching for meaning, making meaning out of lived or observed
experiences, and attempting to connect to other humans.

Art —in the past and in the present, even still—continuously strives to
establish an understanding of the unknown, to name the unnamed, to mark the
ordinary, and to dignify our existence. Central to each of those purposes are
emotions. Expressions involve emotions and the act of expression is wherein the
power of art lies

ASSESSMEN
T
Refer to ARTWORK SHEET NO. 2 (found in the appendices)

Materials needed: Pencil, Coloring materials, extra sheet of long bond paper (if needed)

REFERENCES
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Leano, Roman(2018) Art Appreciation for College Students: Mindshapers Company, Inc.
https://www.google.com/search?q=expressionISM
https://www.theskylineview.com/viewpoint/2018/05/18/art-as-a-form-of-expression/
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/