DANC 332 - World Dance and Cultures

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-3; Diversity
Meaning of dance traditions around the world. From ritual dances of weddings and wars, to social dances reinforcing cultural order, to artistic performances expressing the human condition, dance tells us who we have been, are, and may become. Lecture Units: 2; Activity Units: 1

Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UD-3 - Upper Division Arts or Humanities, Overlay - Diversity
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas 1A, 1B, 1C and GE-2 with grade C- (CR) or better (GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 for students on the 2024-25 or earlier catalogs).
Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Area 3 requirements (lower division Area C requirements for students on the 2024-25 or earlier catalogs).
Repeatability: May be repeated for credit, for a total of 6 units.
Possible Instructional Methods: On-ground, or Hybrid, or Online-Asynchronous.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

relate concepts from cultural dances to their own lives today and the ongoing human search for meaning in everyday life;
understand influences of traditional world dance forms on diverse cultural groups here in the U.S;
understand the ways different cultural groups in the U.S. influence one another and evolve together, as related to dance;
understand diverse world dance forms and artists in the context of spirituality, myth, folklore, history and music;
analyse dance based on culturally-specific criteria, while understanding that art is subjective and should inspire dialogue, not reductive answers;
work collaboratively and respectfully with peers in creative process activities;
apply theories about dance-making through the participation in cultural dances and the creation of original performance material.

GE-UD-3. Upper-division Arts or Humanities Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply principles, methodologies, values systems, and thought processes employed in the arts and humanities.
Analyze cultural production as an expression of, or reflection upon, what it means to be human.
Demonstrate how the perspectives of the arts or humanities are used by informed, engaged, and reflective citizens to benefit local and global communities.

Diversity Overlay Learning Outcomes

describe the histories and/or experiences of one or more U. S. cultural groups and the resilience and agency of group members;
identify structures of oppression and the diverse efforts and strategies used by groups to combat the effects of oppressive structures;
analyze the intersection of the categories of race and gender as they affect cultural group members’ lived realities and/or as they are embodied in personal and collective identities;
recognize the way that multiple differences (including, for example, gender, class, sexuality, religion, disability, immigration status, gender expression, color/phenotype, racial mixture, linguistic expression, and/or age) within cultural groups complicate individual and group identities.