GRANT RECIPIENTS:

Marilyn Gottlieb-Roberts, Art & Philosophy, Wolfson Campus
mroberts@mdc.edu

In cooperation with the Wolfson Campus Department of Mathematics, I will develop a module for ARH2472 classes (Art History) examining concepts such as composition and “beauty” from the standpoint of mathematics.

This innovative classroom approach has the potential to encourage interdisciplinary thinking, a fresh take on critical analysis, the development of new perspectives on one’s core discipline and may encourage the “typical” art or science student to rethink clichéd phobic attitudes toward a contrasting discipline. Other benefits could include enhanced recruitment and retention opportunities.

With the support of Learning Innovations and Dr. Lourdes Oroza, Wolfson Campus Academic Dean, points were awarded to Pavlov Rameau of the Math Department to teach eight workshops that followed the 220-page “Mathphobia Reader” I had assembled. Pre- and Post-Math Attitude Surveys were administered both to these two study groups and to control groups (my two art history classes and Dr. Rameau’s calculus class) and scored by the MDC Testing Department The results were as follows:

In consultation with Dr. Norma Agras, Math Department Chair, we decided to continue the project and base development of a 2005-1 MGF1107/ARH1000 learning community approach on what was learned in the pilot. To that end, Dr. Bernard Mathon and I attended the VIEWPOINTS Math and Art Workshop at Franklin & Marshall College, where we laid the foundation for the development of new support materials and PowerPoint lectures.

The interest that mathematics and art share in the patterns and structures of the world led me to wonder what mathematics says about the symmetry, perspective and geometric shapes commonly seen in painting, sculpture and ornament. This curiosity led to the collaboration with Bernard Mathon of the Department of Mathematics, and in the fall term 2005, we initiated our on-going MGF1107 Mathematics for Liberal Arts /ARH1000 Art Appreciation Learning Community. Our interrelated classes, as was promised in the original grant proposal, “introduce some unexpected connections between mathematics and art to support rewarding aesthetic and conceptual experiences.” For example, Bernard uses geometry and a simple drawing on glass to explain linear perspective and why it is that objects in space appear smaller than we know them to be. In a follow-up slide lecture, I show historic examples of how variations upon the principles of linear perspective can brace an artist’s poetic or expressive intent. Bernard and I feel that our work has indeed encouraged interdisciplinary thinking, the development of new perspectives and a fresh take on critical analysis.

We are awaiting results of the 2005-1 Learning Community Math Attitude Survey pre- and post-tests. The Study Group was one MGF1107 and three ARH1000 classes. Controls were once again my two art history classes and one of Dr. Mathon’s calculus classes. We have administered pre-tests to the MGF1107 (one class) and ARH1000 (two classes) and will end the semester with the post-tests and a fresh round of evaluation of our methods and materials.

top>>