Syllabus+and+Course+Info



= American Indian Aesthetics – Fall 2010 = Perpich Center for Arts Education, Arts High School Golden Valley, MN **//“The mind is in every cell of the body.”//** //- Sage Cowles –// **//“… making sense out of sensation.”//** //- Wade Davis –// **//May it be beautiful before me.//** **//May it be beautiful behind me.//** **//May it be beautiful below me.//** **//May it be beautiful above me.//** **//May it be beautiful all around me.//** **//In beauty it is finished.//** **//In beauty it is finished.//** //Navajo Yei-bei-chai (Nightway) Chant – Third day – Day of the West.// // "There are children playing in the streets who could solve some of my top problems in physics because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago." // - Robert Oppenheimer- .5 First Semester Elective 11:00 – 11:50 Tues – Fri. Instructor: Tom Kanthak Office Phone: 763-591-4731

Office Number: 269 East E-Mail Address: tom.Kanthak@pcae.k12.mn.us This .5 elective course is designed for students of all six art areas to explore American Indian Aesthetics, primarily the Anishinaabe, through the perspective of sensory aesthetics i.e. “perception through the senses" and the cultural context of First World artists.
 * Course Description**

__Course curriculum will be guided by:__ * **Ojibwe Elder, George Earth**, Sr., hereditary Chief of White Earth Indian Reservation, * the **Native American Art as World Art curriculum**. (NAAWA) * **Visual Thinking Strategies ©**, * **Sensory Aesthetics** and exploration of the 20 senses, * the process of Perceive, Describe, Analyze, Interpret, Judge/evaluate (**Aesthetic Scanning**) * exploration and recognition of critical and creative thinking skills, * seminars, guest appearances and field trips with many artists and experts in the area of American Indian Studies.

Students will be encouraged to talk about, read, write, listen to, and research American Indian art. This will be an opportunity for students to research, identify, and discover the traditional and contemporary culture and art of the American Indian.

**General Outline for the Course**
1) We will be looking at American Indian aesthetics from the sensory and cultural perspective through research and application of the 20 senses. Also, we will be looking at Native art through various aesthetic perspectives including traditional art, contemporary art, and the Native American Art Is World Art Curriculum. 2) We will be inviting, both Native and non-Native guest speakers to help us understand Native artistry and its context. We will all attend at least one powwow and several field trips related to Native American arts. 3) We will be exploring the many layers of Visual Thinking Strategies including viewing Native American visual art, dance, media, theater, literary art, and music. We will explore the guidelines for image selection as a method for discovering the many layers of artistic thought. We will also use the VTS images as a springboard for creating original work. 4) We will be looking at and discussing art from the perspective of DAIJ (an acronym for **D** escribe, **A** nalyze, **I** nterpret, and **J** udge), process theory, and Time-Space-Energy. 5) We will be learning and practicing the 16 Hieratic Gestures as a catalyst for exploring the global and collective unconscious effects of art on cultures. Every student will be expected to present a **final project** on a subject that is of personal interest relating to subjects covered in the American Indian Aesthetics class.    Tom Kanthak has served as an instructor of Dance Composition and Improvisation, Music and Technology for Dance, Arts Improvisation, New Music Ensemble, and music director and dance musician for the Perpich Center for Arts Education, Arts High School dance program since its inception in 1989. He holds a B.A. in Performing Arts from Metropolitan State University and an M.A. in Music from the Ohio State University, and is a certified trainer for Visual Thinking Strategies. Tom has been involved with music for dance for over 30 years as a composer, dance musician, choreographer, dancer, and performer. He is also a trained modern dancer having studied with Hanya Holm, Nancy Hauser, Claudia Gitelman, Alwin Nikolais, Murray Louis, and many others. He is a member and Vice President of the International Guild of Musicians in Dance, the Dalcroze Society of America, and the Dance Educators Coalition. He has received grants from the SURDNA Foundation, Jerome Foundation, the American Composers Forum, and the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teachers Program – October 2006

What does it mean to teach and learn "Indigenously"???

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This emerging curriculum is designed to provide students an aesthetic, historical, cultural, and social context for understanding and experiencing the First People of Minnesota - primarily ======

the Ojibwe and Dakota tribes.
The course frequently features guest Native artists, teachers, and community leaders who can help us in the pursuit of understanding "what it means to be human, and alive." (Wade Davis) The course will also include reading, writing, and research on the Indigenous people of Minnesota. We will experiment with the principles, laws, and values of Indigenous teaching and learning techniques including:
 * ** field trips; **
 * ** teaching and learning in the outdoors; **
 * ** extensive dialogue and interaction with Native artists, elders, and traditionalists; **
 * ** using art as a vehicle for understanding and personal expression; **
 * ** incorporation of the techniques of the talking circle; **
 * ** student-centered curriculum, learning and instruction; **
 * ** Visual Thinking Strategies ©; **
 * ** Aesthetic Scanning (P-DAIJ) **
 * ** Native American Art as World Art Curriculum **
 * ** Sensory Aesthetics **
 * ** FUN! **