ART103

IMPORTANT  INFORMATION

Please read all information here & in the syllabus (under 'Course Information') before proceeding further. If this is your first online course don’t panic, within a very short time you’ll understand how everything works. If you have questions, please post them in the ‘Questions’ folder on the Discussion Board and you can email them to me as well.  Please avoid using attachments for your responses to the topics, they are slow to open on this system. To cut & paste you have to copy your document & paste it into your message using Ctrl V; right clicking doesn't work.

FIRST

Go to the COURSE INFORMATION folder & read EVERYTHING inside.

SECOND

Check out the Discussion Board (DB) now! ALL assignments for the term are listed on the DB.

Some Blackboard terminology shortcuts:

Blackboard                 BB

Discussion Board        DB

EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE INSTRUCTOR

EMAILS TO ME MUST HAVE THE FOLLOWING ON THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR EMAIL.

 OC Art History Your FULL Name              

CHANGING AN INCORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS

If your email address appears on the DB as none@none.com you must change it. Go to the TOOLS menu, click on PERSONAL INFORMATION & put in your correct email address.

POINTERS FOR OPENING & READING POSTINGS

• Open a folder & scroll to the bottom of the page & you will see options for sorting messages---check that out if you haven't already.
• Click on the inverted red triangle at the top of your group page, then click in the boxes to the left of the messages you want to read, then hit "collect" they will all show up together so you don't have to open each message individually.
• If you respond directly to another message you can change the subject line so that it is clear who you are responding to.

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

• Cutting & pasting is ok, but please hold it to a minimum & don’t forget to cite your sources!  Use your own words with your personal interpretation of the information you come across & then share it all with us. I’ve noticed that there seems to be more cutting & pasting on topics where there is a word count minimum requirement. This wasn’t my intention. I want each of you to do enough research to put your discoveries in your own words, with your personal interpretation of what you come across, not just cut & paste what a list of other people have already said. When you do take information directly from any source make it clear that's what you've done. You need to cite ALL sources. Plagiarism is an increasing problem & I think that partially this is because people don't always realize what defines plagiarism. If you use information from a website, cite the source. It is NOT sufficient to change a few words & claim something as your own work. Take notes from several resources, add your own interpretation of the information you've gathered, write it out & post it.
• Wikipedia is ok for information as a general resource, but don’t rely too heavily on it. Part of what you must do when researching online is to ensure that the information you’re getting & sharing is the most up to date & accurate information available. University & museum websites are great places to check out.
• I do NOT read anything posted in a folder once it has been moved to the bottom of the DB, so if you have late work & we've agreed that it may be submitted, please email it to me.
• Please, use your OWN words in your responses to the topics. Also, the textbook is simply our main resource & we all have it, so use it as a place to begin & do more research to share with us. This does not have to be terribly time consuming. Since there are so many of us, the sharing of information makes it so that one person does not have to do everything.

LOOKING AT ART

• Throughout the term, remember that although the majority of artists mentioned in Western Art History textbooks were white European males, there were women & non-white males producing excellent art, too. If you look at old art history textbooks from the 1960’s & before, you’d think that ALL artists were white European males, if that was your only resource. They excluded everyone else. Thankfully, things have changed. When researching the topics, try & remember this & seek out those overlooked in the past.
• NOTICE THE ACTUAL SIZE OF THE ARTWORK YOU ARE VIEWING IN THE TEXTBOOK OR ONLINE & TRY TO ENVISION IT AS IT REALLY IS. The true size is usually stated below the illustration. You may be looking at a little postcard size image, when in actuality the work is 12 x 28 FEET in size. Your response to it would certainly be different!
• WHERE the work you are researching now? If a painting or sculpture was once part of a group setting, remember that you are looking at it as an object in a museum setting instead of in its original one. A good example of this would be an altarpiece removed from its original space & now displayed in a museum, often without the other objects it was designed to be part of.

We have no traditional tests in this course but instead focus on research, discussion, analytical & creative thinking.  Consider all of your responses to the topics & to each other your 'tests' as they are what determine what you get from the class as well as your final grade.

P