IS THERE A CASE FOR LE PEN?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/29/opinion/sunday/is-there-a-case-for-le-pen.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

ART INSTITUTE TRIP ON MONDAY

PEALSE MEET AT 10:30 SHARP ON 59TH STREET IN FRONT OF BLAINE We will be taking a bus to the Art Institute and the metra when we return on the 3:07 train from Van Buren. Make sure you bring your student ID for the train and lunch money.

BREXIT

BREXIT VIDEO

BREXIT

LOW BIRTH RATES CHALLENGE SOUTHERN EUROPE

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/16/business/fewer-children-in-greece-may-add-to-its-financial-crisis.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

FRANCE IN THE END DAYS

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/14/opinion/sunday/france-in-the-end-of-days.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Late Modernity Essay Exam Study Guide

Unit 9: Late Modernity: The Inner Zone, the Outer Zone, the Imperialized Zone, and the Philosophical Zone. What insights does this period of "Late Modernity" have for the current day (e.g., the Fourth Industrial Revolution) politically, economically, technologically, globally and/or philosophically?  

Look back at the list of analogous current events today in the 4th Industrial Revolution on the blog for the start of the unit.

Juxtapose against our themes from class.  Which three resonant with you the most in terms of your understanding? 

Note the various periodizations of Late Modernity (1871-1914) such as La Belle Époque, the Civilized World, the World of Security, Age of Mass Democracy, and the Second Industrial Revolution. Remember that this period ends with the beginning of the catastrophe of World War I, the so-called Great War, or the War to End All Wars.  What do these different labels tell you about this time? 

1. We started with the concept of the "civilized world," and included within it quantitative indices of material betterment (e.g., death rates and standard of living), technological development in the inner zone, as well as immaterial betterment (e.g., Viennese culture as discussed by Zweig). See PowerPoint slides on main page of blog from Gerst lecture. Do inner zones today (e.g., Chicago, New York, London, Berlin, Paris) feel a sense of superiority for their advantages over today's outer and third zone? Does it depend upon class or status? In other words, what insights do you gain from the late 19th century for today? 

2. We looked at the concept of the global economy and what part imperialism played in its creation.  How does the globalization of the late 19th century provide you with insight into the global economy of the late 20th/early 21st century? Examples of India and China provided as well as the outer zone (e.g., Milan). Competitive, interdependency nature of global economy discussed. 

3. We looked at the concept of the expansion of mass democracy and looked at what different kaleidoscopes (liberal, conservative, labor, suffragist) might have thought about the gains made over the last century as well as how those gains impacted how politicians sought to appeal to the people for their votes. 

4. We concluded by looking at various philosophical critiques of the democratic, global, urbanizing world of material advantage. Various thinkers either raised the alarm over what had been lost while others increasingly rejected the Enlightenment belief in reason and progress and found irrationalism as integral to human nature as rationalism. Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Darwin, etc. Some posited solutions as to how humans could render secular institutions to replace religious ones that would alleviate urban alienation. 

Questions to ask yourself: 

On which sections we studied do you want to focus (Palmer, Zweig, Perry, and/or Nietzsche)?  Where do you find interconnections between themes? Would you connect technological trends to geopolitical and economic trends? Would you connect philosophical trends with material and political trends?  Why would you connect them? What significance do they have for today?  

Guidelines for AIC Field Trip Presentations

GUIDELINES FOR OUR FIELD TRIP TO THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

(Note: The information below and the presentation rubric is available on the Art History syllabus. Click on hyperlinks to access PDF files.)

Overview:

On Monday, May 1, we will take a class field trip to the Art Institute of Chicago. Students will work in pairs on the museum assignment. Please check the sign-up sheet and find a partner. By Monday, April 24, please let us know what work of art you and your partner chose and its location. Mr. Janus and Ms. Ledezma will need to map out our movement through the galleries in advance. 

During the field trip, students will act as docents, or museum guides, to their peers and give five-minute presentations on the artwork of their choice. The artwork needs to be of European origin and made during or after the nineteenth century.

Since this presentation will require preparation, each student must visit the museum on their own or with their partner prior to our field trip. Some research about the artwork, maker, time period, and/or process will be necessary. Please meet with your partner to select and research the artwork as soon as possible.

Assignment:

Students will use one of the following three forms of art historical analysis for their presentation. In addition to providing your peers with a basic introduction to the artwork and maker, you will choose one of these forms of analysis as a lens for studying your object:

Socio-historical analysis contextualizes a work of art within its particular time period and social conditions. This form of analysis asks: What social or political issues surround the making or reception of the work of art? How does the work of art relate to larger religious, political, or economic developments? What does the work of art tell us about the society which produced it?

Formal analysis examines the elements of a composition (the components of its form), such as color, texture, proportion, contrast, space, and balance. If you choose formal analysis, you could begin by describing in detail the various elements of a work of art and then explain how they work together to create an overall effect. Formal analysis is an exercise in close looking and in translating what you see (the visual elements of an artwork) into language (your verbal presentation). This form of analysis relies on what you can see, rather than socio-historical or stylistic contextualization. 

Stylistic analysis investigates how a work of art fits within a particular period of art history, such as the Renaissance and Baroque periods. If you choose stylistic analysis as your lens, you should first examine the formal qualities of the object and then explain how it conforms to or defies period categorization. You should draw upon what you have learned about periodization in our art history lectures.

Suggestions:

• Before going to the museum, visit the Art Institute of Chicago website and click on the COLLECTIONS icon. Here you can browse the collections and determine the location of objects. If the object is listed as “Not on Display,” please find an alternative. There are also Collection Updates (new on view, gallery closures, and works off view) posted under the VISIT section of the website.

• Free Thursday Evenings: General admission is free to Illinois residents every Thursday from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. throughout the year.

• Since half of the students completed this assignment in November 2016, you may want to ask your peers about their experience and recommendations for creating a successful presentation.

• Please email me at ledezma@uchicago.edu if you have any questions.

Asian Responses to Imperialism