27992 - Contemporary Aesthetics

Academic Year 2018/2019

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has a sufficient critical awareness of some major aesthetic traditions in the last century. Also acquires the conceptual and methodological tools enabling it to analyze the key issues that are central to the contemporary aesthetic debate, according to a mainly theoretical and problematic approach.

Course contents

Title: Aesthetics starting from Dewey: Anthropology of experience and politics of art.

Beginning: November, 13th, 2018.

Timetable: second period (first semester) - Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9 to 11.

Classroom: via Zamboni 38 - Room "Tibiletti".

Readings/Bibliography

1) J. Dewey, Arte come esperienza, ed. it., Aesthetica, Palermo 2007 (for those who read the text in Italian: use only this edition).

2) J.P. Cometti e G. Matteucci (a cura di), Dall’arte all’esperienza. John Dewey nell’estetica contemporanea, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2015.

N.B.: The bibliography may change until the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures and classroom presentations by students.

Assessment methods

The final exam will be an oral one, with questions aimed to verify the student's knowledge of the themes discussing during frontal lectures (only for attending students) as well as those treated in the program's texts. Attending students may, alternatively, present a written work agreed with the teacher.

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the material in the exam bibliography and his ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

We will use power point slides concerning course's texts and topics.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Matteucci