Humanities CLEP

Humanities CLEP Humanities CLEP

Overview Study Program
Literature
To prepare for the CLEP exam in Humanities, it is recommended to first follow the study programs for the CLEP exams in English Literature and American Literature:

English Literature

American Literature

The Arts
Introduction to Music (MUSC-1030)
By East Tennessee State University
Scheduled MOOC

An introduction to the development of music, with an emphasis on art music of the Western hemisphere. Topics include:
  • elements of music
  • instruments and ensembles
  • form
  • styles and periods, including major composers and works.
  • learning is encouraged through listening to and writing about music
  • concert attendance outside class is required
Download the Course Syllabus
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Introduction to Classical Music
By Yale University via Coursera
Scheduled MOOC
Workload: 40 hours

The pull of music--especially classical music—has never been explained. The aim of this course is to do just that: To explicate the mysteries and beauties of some of Western cultures greatest musical compositions—among them masterpieces of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Puccini.

We begin with the elements of music, breaking classical musical into its components of pitch, duration, and sound color, allowing us to better understand how music works. Next, we proceed to the compositions themselves, starting with the Middle Ages and Renaissance, to show how Western music developed in ways unique to the West. Ultimately, we reach the masters, commencing with Bach. What makes his music great? Why does it move us? What should we listen for? And so we proceed down through Western musical history, visiting virtually the people who created it and the places where they did so. By the end, we hope all of us have become more human (enriched our personalities) and had a rollicking good time!

Syllabus

Week 1
1. Music in Our Lives
2. Rhythm: We’ve All Got It!
3. What is Melody?

Week 2
4. Harmony: From Bach to Do Wop
5. Tone Color: Welcome to the Orchestra!
6. Texture, Form, and Style

Week 3
7. Music in the Middle Ages
8. Music in the Renaissance
9. Baroque Music: The Birth of Opera

Week 4
10. Johann Sebastian Bach: Fugues and More
11. George Frideric Handel: Messiah and More
12. The Classical Period: Mostly Mozart

Week 5
13. Classical Genre and Form: Mozart and Haydn
14. Three Classical Favorites: Putting the Art in mozART
15. Beethoven to the Heroic Period

Week 6
16. The Heroic Beethoven and Beyond
17. The Romantic Art Song: Schubert and the Schumanns
18. 19th Century Program Music: Berlioz Goes to Hell

Week 7
19. Romantic Pianos and Piano Music:
20. Romantic Opera: Verdi and Wagner
21. The Romantic Orchestra: Wagner, Brahms, Mahler

Week 8
22. Impressionism in Music and Art
23. Don’t be Afraid: It’s only Modernism!
24. Classical Music for Everyone: Postmodernism
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World Music
By James Cook University via Open2Study
Scheduled MOOC
Workload: 16 hours

The objective of the course is to stimulate you to become a cultural explorer in your own community by discovering music traditions outside the normal day-to-day music heard on mass media. In the event that your community is small with minimum diversity then you are encouraged to explore your own cultural family heritage.
Each module will build the your listening skills using the basic musical elements of Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Texture and Dynamics progressively. This is to aid you in listening and analysing the cultural musics used in the course. Each module includes basic musical, cultural and ethnomusicological concepts.

What will I learn?
  • Develop an understanding of musical concepts
  • Learn about how four different tradition express cultural music
  • Apply techniques for gathering and documenting World Music performances
  • Define what World Music represents and how to find and access world music communities in your local environment
  • Develop an appreciation of different musical traditions and how they create cultural identity
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Introduction to Western Music
By MIT Open Courseware
Self-paced

This course is made up of lecture notes and recommended readings and audio.

This course gives a broad overview of Western music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, with emphasis on late baroque, classical, romantic, and modernist styles (1700-1910). It is also meant to enhance students' musical experience by developing listening skills and an understanding of diverse forms and genres. Major composers and their works will be placed in social and cultural contexts. Weekly lectures feature demonstrations by professional performers, and introduce topics to be discussed in sections. The focus of the course is on the weekly listening and reading assignments.

Syllabus
  • Introduction; Music of the Middle Ages
  • Renaissance and Early Baroque Music for Church, Chamber, and Theater
  • Baroque Instrumental Music: Suite, Concerto, and Fugue; Bach Essay 1 due in recitation
  • Baroque Vocal Music: Opera, Oratorio, and Cantata; Handel
  • The Classical Symphony and Sonata: Haydn
  • The Classical Concerto and Opera: Mozart Essay 2 due in recitation
  • Midterm Exam
  • From Classic to Romantic: Beethoven
  • Romantic Songs and Piano Pieces: The Art of the Miniature
  • Romantic Program Music and Opera: Fantasies on a Grand Scale
  • Late Romantic Orchestral Music: Looking Forward and Back Essay 3 due in recitation
  • The Twentieth Century: The European Tradition
  • The Twentieth Century: The American Tradition
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Art Appreciation and Techniques
By Saylor.org
Open Courseware
Self-paced
Workload: 143 hours

This course is an exploration of visual art forms and their cultural connections for the student with little experience in the visual arts. It includes a brief study of art history, and in-depth studies of the elements, media, and methods used in creative thought and processes. In this course, you will learn how to develop a five-step system for understanding visual art in all forms, based on the following:
  1. Description: A work of art from an objective point of view – its physical attributes, and formal construction.
  2. Analysis: A detailed look at a work of art that combines physical attributes with subjective statements based on the viewer’s reaction to the work.
  3. Context: Historical, religious, or environmental information that surrounds a particular work of art and which helps to understand the work’s meaning.
  4. Meaning: A statement of the work’s content. A message or narrative expressed by the subject matter.
  5. Judgment: A critical point of view about a work of art concerning its aesthetic or cultural value.
After completing this course, you will be able to interpret works of art based on this five-step system; explain the processes involved in artistic production; identify the political, social, cultural, and aesthetic issues that artists examine in their work; and explain the role and effect of the visual arts in societies, history, and world cultures.

Syllabus

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Introduction to Art: Concepts & Techniques
By The Pennsylvania State University via Coursera
Scheduled MOOC
Workload: 49 hours

Introduction to Art: Concepts & Techniques is an art appreciation course created for individuals without any artistic background. This course introduces you to various art movements, cultural influences, artistic genres, artists, and their artwork. The main emphasis of the course is to teach you hands-on studio arts techniques as you conduct personal research and explore your own creativity. While utilizing historical and contemporary art concepts, the course guides you through different time periods. Examining and discussing artwork is a crucial part of this course, encouraging you to express your opinions about art in an intelligent and articulate manner. By the conclusion of the course, you will compile a portfolio of artworks reflective of your research, understanding, creativity, and personal growth.

Syllabus

Week 1: Art Elements & Techniques
Week 2: Fantasy & You
Week 3: Correspondence with Memory
Week 4: Stories Through the Lens
Week 5: Inside the Space
Week 6: Personal Collections
Week 7: The Artist Critique
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A Global History of Architecture
MIT via edX
Scheduled MOOC
Workload: 72 hours

How do we understand architecture? One way of answering this question is by looking through the lens of history, beginning with First Societies and extending to the 16th century. This course in architectural history is not intended as a linear narrative, but rather aims to provide a more global view, by focusing on different architectural "moments."

How did the introduction of iron in the ninth century BCE impact regional politics and the development of architecture? How did new religious formations, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, produce new architectural understandings? What were the architectural consequences of the changing political landscape in northern Italy in the 14th century? How did rock-cut architecture move across space and time from West Asia to India to Africa? How did the emergence of corn impact the rise of religious and temple construction in Mexico?

Each lecture analyzes a particular architectural transformation arising from a dynamic cultural situation. Material covered in lectures will be supplemented by readings from the textbook A Global History of Architecture.

Join us on a journey around the globe and learn how architecture has developed and interacted with the world’s culture, religion, and history.

What you'll learn
  • History and context of the important buildings that shaped our culture
  • History of technological advances that significantly impacted the development of architecture
  • Impacts of certain cultural and religious traditions on architecture
  • History of climate and geographical changes that shaped human civilization and its architecture
View Course Syllabus
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Introduction to the History and Theory of Architecture
By MIT Open Courseware
Self-paced

This course is made up of lecture handouts, quizzes and recommended readings.

This course is a global-oriented survey of the history of architecture, from the prehistoric to the sixteenth century. It treats buildings and environments, including cities, in the context of the cultural and civilizational history. It offers an introduction to design principles and analysis. Being global, it aims to give the student perspective on the larger pushes and pulls that influence architecture and its meanings, whether these be economic, political, religious or climatic.

See course syllabus
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The Film Experience
By MIT Open Courseware
Self-paced

This course is made up of lecture notes, video and recommended films and readings.

This course concentrates on close analysis and criticism of a wide range of films, including works from the early silent period, documentary and avant-garde films, European art cinema, and contemporary Hollywood fare. Through comparative reading of films from different eras and countries, students develop the skills to turn their in-depth analyses into interpretations and explore theoretical issues related to spectatorship. Syllabus varies from term to term, but usually includes such directors as Coppola, Eisentein, Fellini, Godard, Griffith, Hawks, Hitchcock, Kubrick, Kurosawa, Tarantino, Welles, Wiseman, and Zhang.

Syllabus

The Silent Era
Introduction - Keaton - Chaplin - Film as a global and cultural form; German film
Hollywood Genres
Hollywood in the 1930s - Hitchcock - The Musical - The Western - Film in the 1970s
International Masters
Renoir and poetic realism - Italian Neorealism - Truffaut and the New Wave - Kurosawa's Rashomon - Summary perspectives: film as art and artifact
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