Afternoon Seminars & Workshops

 

BC-02 — Order and Chaos in the Arts: An Abbreviated Festival of the Western Tradition

Rod Miller

The theme of this mini-course is to introduce the concept of order (and beauty) as embraced, or rejected, throughout the history of western art.  Whereas the majority of the western tradition has sought the orderly and rational over the chaotic or bestial, in the hope of culture, the current story of art, as one of liberation from all authorities, can only deny culture and result in a violent narcissism.  This course examines the examples from the western tradition and how they manifest what particular periods have deemed valuable, for good and ill.  One of the goals of the course is to persuade that seeking order and beauty is an act of profound freedom, responsibility, and devotion.

 

Rod Miller — Associate Professor of Art History at Hendrix College in sunny central Arkansas.  His research interests include collegiate architecture and the link between beauty, art and ethics.  He is author of The Campus Guide: West Point (Princeton Architectural Press) and co-author of Western Culture at the American Crossroads: Narratives of Science and Reason  (ISI Books).  He is currently at work on a critical examination of church trends entitled Blue Like Stupid.