Comparative Literature 593W - S-What Is Art?

This course aims for a wide-ranging discussion of the role(s), function(s), nature(s), characteristics, varieties, definitions, and theories of art, in other words, any and all the issues the students and the instructor feel need to be explored and debated in attempting to answer this question. Students will be strongly encouraged to branch out and look at as many of the other art forms as possible, to overcome the usual literature-cinema orientation that seems to be common in Comp-Lit classes.