VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS COMPETENCY

							               Self-Assessment: Visual or Performing Arts Competency

Name_______________ Course Number ___________ Semester___________


The distribution requirement in the Visual and Performing Arts introduces students to the

study, creation or performance of art. The objective is to create, perform or analyze

works of visual or performing art. In these courses, students will learn:

1. The specialized vocabulary and techniques of a visual or performing arts discipline

and be able to use this knowledge to describe, analyze or create performances and/or

works of visual, musical, or theatrical art

Briefly list or describe the vocabulary or techniques you learned in this course.



2. How to discern, discuss, or create form, content or creative process in works of visual,

musical, or theatrical art;

Write a paragraph or two describing the extent to which you achieved this goal in

the course. Please be specific.



3. To place works of visual, musical, or theatrical art within an appropriate historical,

cultural, thematic or stylistic context; or, to create or perform works with an awareness

of the traditions, styles, and historical development of the relevant discipline.

In a paragraph or two, describe how this course contributed to your historical sense

of the arts you studied.
Guidelines for Grading Art History Assessment

These assignments will be graded on the basis of students’ ability to demonstrate the

following:

   1) use of appropriate vocabulary

   2) placement of object in appropriate culture

   3) application of appropriate approximate date

   4) correct medium/technique

   5) the function, style, or historical significance of the piece

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In Art History 103 (Survey of Western Art I) in the fall of 2006, students were shown on

the first day of class an Archaic Greek red-figure kylix decorated with a lyre player and

stylized bunches of grapes dating to c. 600BCE. To achieve a passing grade, students

needed to successfully identify at least four of the following five attributes:

   1) kylix

   2) Greek

   3) c. 600 BCE

   4) ceramic

   5) used for drinking wine



Of the 67 students enrolled in the course, three passed on the first day of class. No one

who had not previously taken an art history course passed (note that some students take

Survey I after having taken another art history course).
First Assessment                                       Name_____________________________

Any art history? (circle one): no             yes    if yes, list

courses___________________________



Unknown Work
You will be presented with a work we have not discussed in class. In a short essay, address the work's
possible culture of origin, date, function, medium, and style. If possible, compare the work to others with
which you are familiar similar pieces. Again, if possible, use art historical terms to describe the work and
place it in its historical context.

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                                                                                   Score__________