Hum Homework #8 and #9

Humanities in Crisis

Question 1:

(Culture Wars). Describe how college officials' answer to the question "what is art" enabled them to provide a reason to the public and artists why they censored and cancelled a human rights-themed exhibit. Hint: administrators claimed art cannot be an investigation. Describe in your own words what they meant and how defenders of artistic freedom might respond. You should summarize the article, in other words. Do so in a minimum of three sentences. If you are confused by the article's meanings, persevere: your effort, not your accuracy are what count.

Question 2:

(Crisis of Representation). According to The New York Times a sociologist, Alice Goffman was criticized for how she represented the experiences of African American youths in Philadelphia. What did her critics say about her book? How are their criticisms reflective of a 'crisis of representation' in the humanities and academic culture? Hint: 'crisis of representation' refers to asking questions or challenging others' works through criticizing their right or ability to represent the experience of others. Those who question whether an author should represent other people-especially those with less power than the author-often advocate for the right of people being depicted in books, films, and other media to participate in their representation. This is encapsulated by the phrase, no about us without us.