THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

 

                                                                                    FACULTY SENATE

 

Senate Document Number     9209S

 

Date of Senate Approval      04/30/09

 

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

 

APC Document 74:                                                       Delete DAN 331;

Add new course, DAN 330

 

Effective Date: Fall 2009

 

 

1.  Delete:         On page 155, the entry for DAN 331, Dance History:

 

                        331       Dance History (2)

Historical survey of dance as a way of understanding the function dance has served and continues to serve the culture from which it springs. Odd years Spring

 

2.  Add:            On page 155, in place of deleted entry, DAN 330, How We Danced:

 

330       How We Danced (3)

A discussion of the ways in which humans have used movement to create and regulate their societies, commune with their gods, and order their life experiences during celebration and mourning. The course focuses primarily on the history of what has evolved into Western Concert dance. See department chair.

 

 

Impact: 

The course has been reconfigured so that it has a closer interface with the UNC Asheville Humanities program. It is still a survey of the history of dance from primate to contemporary forms but the new design builds on the themes of the HUM curriculum—the changing definitions of Self, Other, our relationship to Nature and our definitions of God or Spirit—the very subjects which people have always used dance to explore and understand. The credit-hour requirements for the Dance minor will increase by one, but changing the depth of focus will better serve the students.

 

Rationale: 

The course was taught for several years as a two credit class, and it barely advanced into the 20^th Century. It also attempted to cover World Dance, further diluting its impact and depth. The new course builds deliberately on what is discussed in our own Humanities curriculum, focusing on the ascendance of Western Civilization and the definition of what it is to be Human. The evolution of Western Concert Dance makes an ideal focus.  A separate course focusing on World Dance would be an admirable Special Topic but to try to serve both masters in one history course resulted in an excessively diluted course.  This course change addresses that problem.