Art Appreciation & Music Appreciation

Course Credit: 1

Course Description:

Art Appreciation is a one-credit elective course that provides a general introduction to the visual arts, media, techniques, and history. This course takes on interdisciplinary approaches to equip students with a broad knowledge of the historical, practical, philosophical, cultural, and social contexts of the arts in order to help students gain the ability to articulate their understanding and interpretation of the arts. This course introduces students to aspects of arts research and curation, as well as elements, media, and methods used in creative processes. The application of the arts, especially visual arts in daily life and in the field of business, technology and medicine is explored in this course.

This course offers students opportunities to learn about how art is created and how it evolves over time; it would cultivate and enrich students’ artistic senses, experience, and enjoyment of different forms of art even if the student is not an artist or does not have an ability to draw/paint. This course is delivered in class and outside class, environment if/when appropriate.

Course Credit: 1

Course Description:

This course provides students with the opportunity to study how music is generated and grows through time; it will increase students’ musical sense, experience, and appreciation of all genres of music, regardless of whether or not they are musicians. Furthermore, this course encourages and promotes students’ oral and written presenting and communication skills, as well as critical and analytical thinking and intercultural viewpoints.

Students enrolled in this course will have the chance to learn about the history of music, from its earliest forms through modern works from around the world. Classical, jazz, theatrical music, gospel, folk, soul, blues, Latin rhythms, country, rock & roll, and hip hop are some of the forms and genres of music. This course also covers a wide range of Vietnamese music (traditional, contemporary, theatre, and V-pop). Also, the link between music and people’s everyday lives and social movements, as well as its cultural importance, will be explored in this course. Digital music, the growth of the Internet, and AI’s influence on the music industry, music distribution, and worldwide music access are also important parts of the subject.

Students are not required to have any prior knowledge of musical theory or performance in order to take this course; for example, they are not necessary to be able to sight-read sheet music or play any musical instrument. Rather, it encourages students to become active and critical music listeners, as well as to consider how music might be incorporated and utilized in their everyday lives and fields of interest. This course is taught both in and out of a classroom setting.