What Is Beauty?

In this inspiring and thought provoking course we will personally, experientially and critically explore the concept of beauty through discussion, experimental activities and reflective critical writing. When we say something is beautiful, what do we really mean? What informs our own sense of beauty? Why does beauty matter, and what kinds of assumptions and ways of understanding the world inform our perceptions of beauty? Who determines what is considered beautiful? Is beauty a recognizable and understood quality, or is it all in the eye of the beholder? We will consult a variety of sources on beauty, from cultural critics, philosophers, poets, filmmakers, artists and visionaries, as well as students’ own source materials, following beauty’s trail from its outermost surface to its source, if there is one. Assignments will include keeping a weekly beauty journal, writing several short reflective papers, a mid-term essay exploring and analyzing the vision of beauty articulated by a particular artist, writer, musician or filmmaker, and a final paper in which you use your beauty journal as well as what we’ve read in class to persuasively articulate your own vision of beauty and the beautiful.