General Education and ARTH 344 Baroque (17th century) Art in Italy, France, and Spain
Eustache Le Sueur, The Muses: Clio, Euterpe and Thalia, 1652-55, Oil on wood, Musée du Louvre, Paris		Eustache Le Sueur, The Muses: Melpomene, Erato and Polymnia 1652-55, Oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris

The nine Muses are the Graeco-Roman goddesses of creative inspiration in poetry, song and other arts and companions of Apollo. They presided over springs with the the power to inspire, especially on Mount Helicon and Mount Parnassus. The period we shall study, the 17th century, considered the fields the Muses represented highly significant and their imagery compelling. LeSueur's paintings originally decorated a room in a Parisian house, whose owner wished to demonstrate his support for and competence in the arts. The "generally educated" person of the time would have understood this immediately.

The nine individuals are (identified by their "attributes" [the things they hold] that link them to their endeavors):

• Clio, the muse of history (book, scroll or tablet and stylus).
• Euterpe, the muse of music, lyric poetry (flute, trumpet or other instrument).
• Thalia, the muse of comedy, pastoral poetry (scroll, small viol, masks).
• Melpomene, the muse of tragedy (horn, tragic masks, sword or dagger, crown held in hand, sceptres lying at feet).
• Erato, the muse of lyric and love poetry (tambourine, lyre, swan, a putto at her feet).
• Polyhymnia (or Polymnia), the muse of heroic hymns (portable organ, lute or other instrument).
• Not pictured: Urania, the muse of astronomy (globe and compasses, crowned with a circle of stars).
• Calliope, the muse of epic poetry (trumpet, tablet and stylus, books, holds laurel crown)
• Terpsichore, the muse of dancing and song (viol, lyre, or other stringed instrument, harp, crowned with flowers).

(thanks to the Web Gallery of Art).

ARTH 344 satisfies one of the "Core Requirements" of GMU's General Education Program, the "Arts" requirement. These courses help ensure that students are introduced to the broad range of intellectual domains that contribute to a liberal education.  By gaining exposure to the subject matter and ways of knowing in a variety of fields, students will be better able to synthesize new knowledge, respond to fresh challenges, and meet the demands of a complex world. 

Goal for the Arts requirement (with the approaches in ARTH 344 in bold) :: Students develop an understanding of the aesthetic and intellectual components of the arts through either critical analysis of major artistic works or through creative work of their own. Courses in the arts category are intended to give students knowledge and understanding of the arts through critical and/or historical analysis, theory, and/or practice. Arts courses provide distinctive modes of thought, ways of working, and avenues for student achievement, and establish a foundation for ongoing intellectual and artistic development. Some courses will emphasize the development of artistic technique, problem solving and the creative/interdisciplinary process, and others will focus on developing aesthetic sensibility and understanding historical and cultural contexts.

The General Education Mission

The mission of George Mason University's General Education Program is to educate, liberate, and broaden the mind, and to instill a lifelong love of learning. In conjunction with each student's major program of study and other electives, minors, or certificates, the General Education program helps develop intellectual vision, creative abilities, and moral sensibility, along with the skills needed to succeed in college, career, and life.

The General Education Program has four specific goals:

• To ensure that all undergraduates develop skills in information gathering, written and oral communication, and analytical and quantitative reasoning.
  
• To expose students to the development of knowledge by emphasizing major domains of thought and methods of inquiry.
  
• To enable students to attain a breadth of knowledge that supports their specializations and contributes to their education in both personal and professional ways.
  
• To encourage students to make important connections across boundaries (for example: among disciplines; between the university and the external world; between the United States and other countries).

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness:

a rationale for General Education at George Mason University

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” -- this ringing phrase from the Declaration of Independence makes a fine statement about the ideals of General Education (or, as it is more classically called, liberal education) as we strive to articulate it at George Mason.  Let’s take the three parts of Thomas Jefferson’s affirmation of humanity’s “unalienable rights” and see how they apply to the goals of a general, or liberal, education.

Life. A liberal education prepares us for life’s unpredictable, fascinating journey.   One sobering truth about formal learning is that no matter how many courses we take or degrees we earn, we can’t master every skill and possess every piece of knowledge that we need to succeed in a dynamic world.  A liberal education proposes that the highest value of the college experience is the development of our ability to continue learning, adapting, creating, and responding to an ever-changing society and career environment.  A liberal education is the most practical of all, because it never goes out of date; the habits of mind it fosters help us to stay current with our careers and the life of our times. 

Liberty.  A liberal education takes its name from this part of Jefferson’s phrase;  the root word for both the concept we so cherish and the education we practice is the Latin liber, meaning “free.”  So this kind of education is meant to increase our freedom—of thought and action, from prejudice and ignorance.  It is the foundation stone of citizenship as Jefferson and his contemporaries envisioned that notion, a liberty built on rights, responsibilities, and respect for differences.  A liberally educated person feels free to seek knowledge and wisdom from across the whole spectrum of human experience—free to challenge the assumptions of the past (and also, after critical consideration, to accept them).  

The Pursuit of Happiness.  The liberal arts tradition provides its participants with tools for the pursuit of a happier, more engaged, more fulfilled life by putting ideals into action.  The definition of happiness is personal; for some, an appreciation of “the best that has been thought and said”—or composed, constructed, painted, danced, or acted—is a necessary condition for happiness.  For others, it might be an understanding of the wonder of the natural universe, the ever-changing ability of humans to create marvelous new inventions, or the complexities of the social fabric in an increasingly borderless world.  For still others, it is a call to serve the community and the world in large and small ways, acting for the betterment of humanity.  For many, if not most, it is some combination of the above.  No matter the specifics: a liberal education offers the joy of discovery, the portability and durability of knowledge, and the satisfaction of engagement with the largest questions of our time—and all time. 
 
At Mason, we have created several ways to experience the excitement and gain the benefits of  liberal education: the University General Education program; the New Century College First Year Experience; the Mason Topics program; and, for a small group of outstanding students, the Honors Program in General Education Though their approaches are very different, as befits the creative spirit and diverse nature of our University, they are united in their commitment to the ideals of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.