Herbst Humanities Challenges Students to Use 'Other' Side of the Brain, continued

During the second semester, Herbst students branch out to address different themes, sometimes in different media. Here, Herbst Professor Leland Giovannelli introduces students to the elements of film study in her quarter-length course, "History in Film."

To prepare for the first creative class, students visit the Denver Art Museum. Their assignment: to reproduce in pastels an artwork of their own choice. Their reaction: "Me? Draw? I'm an engineer!" On-site, though, they become absorbed in their work. Then the miracles occur: the discovery of hidden or forgotten talents; the insight into artistic decisions; and the thrill of cultivating that other side of the brain.

They return from Denver filled with wonder at the artist's task and at their own efforts. Displaying their work in class, the students explain why this piece of art engaged and taxed them. As they discuss, insight enhances their preferences and makes them articulate.

For the second creative class, students perform selections of the Shakespearean play we have studied. In riveting performances, we witness Ophelia mad and Claudius unrepentant. For the third class, these same engineering students recite haiku of their own composition. Their delicately chosen phrases evoke powerful images of beauty and emotion.

All three creative classes prove astonishing because of the students' inspiration and courage. Radically transforming themselves for these classes, they cannot help but learn and grow beyond them.

http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/herbst