Beauty
Facilitator: Andrea Pappas, Art and Art History
We value love, money, fun, faith, work, thought, inspiration, community, and friendship. Why? Is it enough to say that these things help us to survive in the world, or do we value these things for reasons that are much more difficult to explain? In this Pathway, we explore a more complex and controversial motivation for human energy, an23 interest in beauty. It is an interest we do not always embrace, often preferring the less risky concepts of cute or cool. But while Thomas Kinkade and Kenny G might fit right in, Beethoven sonatas and Michelangelo sculptures are difficult to characterize with such perfunctory terms. We encourage students setting off on this Pathway to consider whether there is a realm of the beautiful and, if there is, identify some of its characteristics and manifestations.
Associated Courses
| Foundations Courses |
| (Please note that only the specific Foundation course topics qualify for the Pathway requirements, and only one Foundations course may be applied to a Pathway) |
| ARTH 12A/H Art, Power & Propaganda (effective 9/1/11) |
| ARTH 12A Art, Trade & Cultural Exchange (effective 9/1/09) |
| ENGL 2A Media, Self & Society (effective 9/1/09) |
| PHIL 12A Beauty, Truth, and Goodness (formerly Beauty & Value; effective 3/25/16) |
| Art History (ARTH) |
| 21 Sport, Spectacle, and Spirituality: A survey of Mediterranean Culture from Antiquity to the Middle Ages (effective 6/1/23; cross-listed with CLAS 52; effective 9/1/09) |
| 23 Art and Revolution: Europe and the United States, 18th-20th Centuries (effective 01/01/23) |
| 26 Art! Making China Modern (effective 03/25/18) |
| *66 Fabricating Nature in E Asia (cross-listed with RSOC 66; effective 9/1/22) |
| 104 Greek Art and Architecture (cross-listed with CLAS 116; effective 1/1/17) |
| 105 Roman Art and Architecture (cross-listed with CLAS 105; effective 3/25/24) |
| *140 Photography in the United States (formerly 186; effective 9/1/09) |
| *143 Women's Work: American Women in the Visual Arts (cross-listed with GNSX 156; formerly ARTH 188; effective 9/1/09) |
| *144 Race, Gender, and Nation in the 18th and 19th Century American Art (effective 9/1/09) |
| 145 Art in the 20th Century U.S. (effective 9/1/24) |
| 185 The Art World Since 1980 (effective 9/1/25) |
| Arts (ARTS) |
| 30 Basic Drawing (effective 3/25/21) |
| 32 2D Fundamentals (effective 9/1/25) |
| 35 Introduction to the Graphic Arts: Printmaking (effective 3/25/25) |
| 37 Introduction to Painterly Printmaking (effective 3/25/26) |
| 43 Basic Painting (effective 9/1/11) |
| *70 Graphic Design: Typography (effective 9/1/21) |
| 72 Digital Art and Design Basics (effective 1/1/21) |
| 74 Basic Digital Imaging (effective 1/1/21) |
| *133 Intermediate Drawing (effective 3/25/23) |
| *143 Intermediate Painting (effective 9/1/09) |
| Classics (CLAS) |
| 52 Sport, Spectacle, and Spirituality: A survey of Mediterranean Culture from Antiquity to the Middle Ages (effective 6/1/23; cross-listed with ARTH 21; effective 9/1/09) |
| 105 Roman Art and Architecture (cross-listed with ARTH 105; effective 3/25/24) |
| 116 Greek Art (cross-listed with ARTH 104; effective 1/1/17) |
| 173 Bath and Body Works in Ancient Rome (effective Winter 2024) |
| 180 Ancient and Modern Laughter (cross-listed with ENGL 162 [topic: Ancient and Modern Laughter] and THTR 181A; effective 9/1/10) |
| 183 Hercules! (effective 3/25/21) |
| English (ENGL) |
| 45 Reading Film (effective 9/1/09) |
| 120AM American Film Studies (effective 9/1/09) |
| 162 Studies in Comparative Literature [topic: Ancient and Modern Laughter] (cross-listed with CLAS 180 and THTR 181A; effective 9/1/10) |
| 167 Modern Fiction |
| Ethnic Studies (ETHN) |
| 12 Native Spiritual Traditions (effective 12/21/2015) |
| Gender and Sexuality Studies (GNSX) |
| 57 Women in American Society (cross-listed with HIST 84; effective 9/1/11) |
| 58 Ethics and Gender (cross-listed with PHIL 4A; effective 9/1/09) |
| 104 Beauty, Culture & Society in a Global Age (effective 9/1/10) |
| *156 Women's Work: American Women in the Visual Arts (cross-listed with ARTH 143; formerly ARTH 188; effective 9/1/09) |
| 184 Feminism and Ethics (cross-listed with PHIL 120; effective 9/1/09) |
| History (HIST) |
| 56 Women in African History (effective 3/25/24) |
| 84 United States Women's History (cross-listed with GNSX 57; effective 9/1/11) |
| Mathematics and Computer Science (MATH) |
| 4 The Nature of Mathematics (effective 9/1/09) |
| Music (MUSC) |
| 8 Introduction to Listening: Western Music (effective 9/1/09) |
| 9 Introduction to Listening: Electronic Music (effective 3/25/16) |
| 10 Introduction to Listening: Jazz (effective 9/1/21) |
| 37 Beginning Composition Class (effective 9/1/19) |
| 139 Flamenco History & Performance (effective 1/1/16) |
| 189 Sacred Music and the Church (effective 1/1/16) |
| 190 Music of the Middle Ages (effective 5/25/2012) |
| 191 Music of the Renaissance (effective 5/25/2012) |
| 194 Music of the Romantic Period (effective 9/1/09) |
| 196 Music Since 1945 (effective 9/1/14) |
| Philosophy (PHIL) |
| 115 Ethics and Warfare (effective 9/1/09) |
| 23/H Ethics and Gender (cross-listed with GNSX 58; effective 9/1/09; formerly PHIL 4A/H) |
| 120 Feminism and Ethics (cross-listed with GNSX 184; formerly PHIL 115) |
| 155 Skepticism (effective 9/1/09) |
| 155A Aesthetics: Kant 19th Century (effective 4/3/2107) |
| 181A Philosophy of Art: Kant and 19th Century Aesthetics (formerly PHIL 155) |
| 183 Philosophy and Film (effective 9/1/09; formerly PHIL 151) |
| The normal prerequisite for all Philosophy upper division courses is upper division standing. |
| Political Science (POLI) |
| 107 American Political Thought (effective 9/1/09) |
| 193 Senior Seminar in Political Philosophy (topic: Aesthetics and Politics only; effective 9/1/10) |
| Religion, Theology, and Culture |
| Religion and Society (RSOC) |
| *33 Maya Spirituality (effective 9/1/10) |
| *66 Fabricating Nature in E Asia (cross-listed with ARTH 66; effective 9/1/22) |
| *91 Native Spiritual Traditions (effective 9/1/10) |
| *136 Religion in Latin America (effective 9/1/10) |
| Scripture and Tradition (SCTR) |
| *111 Bible & Ecology (effective 1/1/2019) |
| Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality (TESP) |
| *152 Faith, Ethics & Biodiversity (effective 1/1/2018) |
| *176 Nature, Humanity, Spirituality (effective 9/1/09) |
| *185 Karl Rahner: An Exploration of Mystery (effective 09/01/23) |
| Theatre and Dance (THTR) |
| 30 Introduction to Design (effective 9/1/09) |
| 122 Acting Styles II:Acting for the Camera (effective 9/1/09) |
| 133 Scene Design (effective 9/1/09) |
| 164 Women in Theatre (effective 3/9/2012) |
| 181A Ancient and Modern Laughter (formerly THTR 182A Classical Comedy; cross-listed with CLAS 180 and ENGL 162 [topic: Ancient and Modern Laughter]; effective 9/1/11) |
* Indicates Course Has Prerequisites