Mexico: Art and Ceremony

TESC Spring Quarter 2003
Faculty: Ann Storey and Marla Beth Elliott

This program will explore the exciting creative and ceremonial traditions of Mexico. Students will design and create their own masks and use them in performance. They will also perform Mexican plays. This hands-on approach to art and ceremony will prepare us to appreciate and learn from the vibrant cultural traditions of Mexico

We will learn about the history and cultural significance of major themes in Mexican art, such as Mesoamerican spirituality, colonial artistic traditions, post-revolutionary murals, folk rituals of the Day of the Dead and Carnival, women painters like Frida Kahlo, and contemporary Mexican and Chicano art.

Credit will be awarded according to each student's individual focus but could include art history or cultural anthropology, communication and/or drama, multicultural studies, and/or analytical writing.

Student responsibilities:
Full attendance and participation in all class sessions; readings, short essays written in response to the readings, seminars, field trip, take-home final exam based on the lectures, performance participation, self evaluation, faculty evaluation and portfolio

Seminar Writing Assignments:
Students will complete an essay in preparation for each seminar. These essays can be as short as two pages. You should use these papers to analyze and critically reflect on the assigned readings as well as to work on your own writing skills. Each essay must include at least two issues or ideas you would like to discuss in seminar. Bring these essays to class. Be sure to keep up with the reading and writing assignments