COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

CREATIVE/CRITICAL THINKING AND QUALITATIVE INQUIRY – ART/DRAM/MUS 582
WEEK 1: June 16-22
While educators continue to organize teaching and learning days based on subject and content, such as Mathematics, Literature, History, Chemistry, the Arts, etc., the curriculum may not prepare students to think critically, creatively or to engage in qualitative inquiry through intellectual processes. This course focuses on various designed experiences in which teaching and learning critical and creative thinking can be applied to the classroom. ART/DRAM/MUS 582, Sec. 80, 2 cr.

THE KINESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE: THE BODY AND ITS ROLE IN LEARNING – ART/DRAM/MUS 583
WEEK 2: June 23-29
The “language of the body” has a vital role in the learning environment, yet it is often undervalued and even discouraged in schools. Piaget articulated that “Knowledge is tied to actions,” and it is through physical explorations and discoveries that the first structures of the mind are formed. This course explores the Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, identifies the role of the body in the learning process and helps deepen understanding of the connection between the body and mind. Participants explore teaching practices that use the body as an expressive medium. ART/DRAM/MUS 583, Sec. 80, 2 cr.

A SENSE OF PLACE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING – ART/DRAM/MUS 584
WEEK 3: June 30-July 6
Since the University of Montana is located in such a unique place with the relationship of wilderness and urban environment, this seminar investigates the properties and characteristics of both as they impact teaching and learning. Participants examine ways to understand and interact with our students’ grounding in place, how to ground our students in the places in which they are working and learning, and how technology has expanded our sense of place. Various guest artists and scholars will participate in the study and celebration of Place in Teaching and Learning. ART/DRAM/MUS 584, sec. 80, 2 cr.

THINKING IN SYMBOL SYSTEMS – ART/DRAM/MUS 585
WEEK 4: July 7-13
Music, dance, drama and the visual arts embody what Susanne Langer has called a basic human need, “the need of symbolization.” However, it is not biology alone that determines our use of symbol systems. Individual cultures shape and direct the kinds and manner in which symbol systems are developed and applied. “Particular symbolic competencies will reflect the peculiar practices of one’s own culture or subculture…” (Gardner, The Unschooled Mind). This seminar explores the philosophical background of the multiple intelligence theory; the application of symbol systems in culture; and how the symbol systems of the arts, particularly those of music, enhance all learning. ART/DRAM/MUS 585, Sec. 80, 2 cr.

THE NATURALIST AND SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCES – ART/DRAM/MUS 586
WEEK 5: July 14-20
Howard Gardner, who developed the theory of multiple intelligences, added an eighth ability to the original seven—the naturalist intelligence. He characterizes this intelligence as the ability to recognize, to distinguish between, and to categorize plants and animals in the natural world. On introducing this newest intelligence, Gardner reminds us of the possibility of reviewing many other capacities in the family of human intelligences. He examined the existentialist or spiritual intelligence as a candidate for a ninth intelligence. Eastern philosophy and religion expresses that self- and spiritual-awareness are discovered through observation, interaction, and even artistically recreating a tree, a flower, a blade of grass, or an animal. This seminar explores the individual work and development of the naturalist and spiritual intelligences and their connections for teaching and learning, especially regarding self-development and self-perception. ART/DRAM/MUS 586, Sec. 80, 2 cr.

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