Arts

Analyze the theory or cultural understanding and/or gender ideology that women aren’t funny and the idea that when women use "men’s humor" they are judged as being profane. Also, explore who men and women have used humor to degrading women and desensitize audiences to serious topics such as rape, sexual assault, etc. Why are categories of humor based on gender? What about just calling it human humor?

Artists of any sort often have major stylistic changes to go along with catastrophic life events. For example, after the Second World War, many new art movements occurred as a reaction (such as minimalism and abstract expressionism). Choose a composer/musician who had a major stylistic change due to a major event (such as a war, an illness, etc.). Why did the changes occur? What sort of changes were they? Were they for better or for worse? What do the changes express about the composer's changed psyche, or the psyche of the population he/she represents? What does this stylistic change say about human nature?

Before literacy was as widespread as it is in contemporary eras, stories were recited orally. To better help the storytellers remember the tales, these stories were often told in musical form, or at least in poetry, rather than standard prose. Although it is not as common today as in the past, there are still examples of stories with arcs and heroes that are in modern music. Although most obvious and prevalent in progressive rock and metal, it can be found in other genres as well (though most likely not in pop, or at least not in pop singles). Examine what genres tell stories and what kinds of stories are told in each genre.

Alternatively, give an analysis of Coheed and Cambria's musical epic about The Amory Wars. How does telling this long story through music affect it? What separates this from other prog bands? from past epics? from modern story telling? Do Coheed and Cambria invoke any of the classic tropes and standards of epic poetry?

Why were the specific visual artists chosen to receive a generous amount of money this year compared to the hundreds or thousands of other hard-working and notable artists out in the U.S.? How were the anonymous judges able to find these specific people? Was it based off of a general web-search that became more detailed, or was it based off of word-of-mouth discovery? How does this speak about our visual culture as a whole?

Which type of art has proven to be the most influential when it comes to impacting society? "Influential" means that the form of art inspires not just the individual to think in a certain, new way, but all of society is swayed to change for the better, as encouraged by the form of art. The common people is often influenced or empowered by whatever they've been reading or watching to initiate change in society. Comics were largely influential in the 1900s, movies (especially from Marvel) are widely popular now, and works of literature and fiction still reside as one of the top forms of art used to influence the people of society. Which, if any, of the art forms listed is the best way to positively impact the world? Why?

The Brazilian professor Newton Duarte stated recently that Art should "express reality and elevate human subjectivity beyond everydayness". Contemporary art movements, go against these principles making irrational and subjectivist artistic objects disjointed from human history. Also, it has become bad tone to put these problems to question in contemporary productions. If art is taken only as a celebration of diversity, as pointed out by Newton, then everything can become an artistic expression and much of it now in the mass media so is considered. Newton goes further, saying that much of the philosophy of the twentieth century, like art, is also alienating theories, which modeled on an epistemological skepticism deny us the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of reality and what it means to be a human being.

Parodies are often mockeries of the original and always done for comedic affect, but what about them is so funny? How long have they been around and why do they persist in culture no matter how much that culture changes? Is it possible to do a parody incorrectly? When does it cross the border from parody to inappropriate slander? What are the elements of a good parody?

Nermine Hammam's series "Anachrony," exhibited in 2010, are striking images created by Hammam and her daughter and artist Karima Mansour. While these images are often interpreted as commentary on the veil in Muslim culture, in actuality they are a reflection of Hammam's experience after visiting a mental asylum in Egypt. These unvalidated connections to the veil made by Western viewers begs several questions: What are the conditions for a female Muslim artist in contemporary society? Does the debate surrounding the veil replace the artist's intention of expressing opinions about an unrelated issue, like the conditions of mental facilities in Egypt? What is the correlation between artwork and the contemporary social/political/cultural issues of the era in which it was produced? Can female Muslim artists escape the stereotypical association with the veil or is this a phenomenon that arises out of cultural misunderstanding and lack of historical/contextual knowledge by Westerners?