Aesthetic Exploration

Aesthetic Exploration falls under the Philosophical, Aesthetic, and Historical Interpretation Capacity.

Through words, images, sounds, and built environments, literature and the arts explore complex human feeling and thought in a search to discover, create, and express meaning.

Experience of the arts offers deep communion with other minds and hearts across time and across cultures, brings beauty into our lives and enlivens us to its varieties, and opens the senses to the perceptual world. Aesthetic interpretation is the ability when met by a painting (or a poem, a song, a film, a play, a building, or a web game, for example) to analyze how it works and to reflect upon its meanings. Interpretation deepens experience of the arts and the ability to learn from their wisdom. Exploration of literature and the arts through the Hub may foster involvement in Boston’s vibrant arts communities, a distinct advantage of a BU education.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students will demonstrate knowledge and appreciation of notable works in literature and/or the arts, including the cultural contexts in which those works were created, and be able to identify their ongoing significance and relevance.
  2. Students will demonstrate the reasoning skills and vocabulary necessary to interpret a work of art (literature, music, visual arts, etc.).
  3. Students will produce evaluative, analytical, or creative works that demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics—such as genres, modes, styles, and cultural history of at least one literary or artistic medium.

Courses

Search for currently scheduled courses with combinations of other Hub units in MyBU Student.