Registration Form
Please fill out the form below to register and secure your spot at Bluestem U! A registration form is required for each class you plan to attend.
Prefer a print registration form? Click here.
The Good, the Bad and the Never Ugly!
Lauren Friesen
Tuesdays, February 11, 18, 25 and March 4, 11 and 18
10 a.m. to noon
Kaye Penner Education Center, Classroom B
Kidron Bethel Village
3001 Ivy Drive
North Newton, KS 67117
Course Cost: $50
How can we decide whether a work of art has value. Do you, along with everyone else tend to judge art? If someone asks you to explain your judgement of a work, what do you say? This course will cover many artistic questions by examining how the philosophers have explored them. Some of the key figures we will examine include Plato, Aristotle, Karl van Mander (a Mennonite), Immanuel Kant, Susanne Langer, Maxine Green, Paul Taylor, Wole Soyinka, Martin Heidegger, and John Dillenberger (last minute substitutes might occur). No prior experience in the arts is required. Suggested (but not required) reading, Lauren Friesen, “A Primer on Theatre and Aesthetics: Performance and Social Change” (Pickwick Publications, 2024). Available at your favorite bookstore or Amazon.com. Instructor: Lauren Friesen is the David M. French Professor Emeritus of Theatre at the University of Michigan. His recent publications include Theatre and Aesthetics: Performance and Social Change and Theatre, Peace, Justice: Essays toward a Mennonite Dramaturgy. Lauren was Chair of the Kennedy Center National Playwriting Program for six years and Member of the Kennedy Center Executive Committee. He is a frequent lecturer on university, college, and museum campuses. Currently, he is a member of the Kauffman Museum Board of Directors.