Project One:

(aRE WE FREE TO BE WHO WE WANT TO BE?)

By: Ari, Johnny, Kitsy

Discussion:

(Portraits and Persons)

“Obviously something significant was happening in the early Renaissance when artists in both southern and northern Europe began to paint portraits of individuals with a new emphasis on realism and psychological characterization.” (Portraits and Persons Pg. 78)

Discussion:

(Portraits and Persons)

“Erwin Panofsky…1934 essay ‘What is Baroque?’, wrote about the psychology of the more modern individuals of the Baroque period as follows: ‘They not only feel, but are also aware of their own feelings…The experience of so many conflicts and dualisms between emotion and reflection…has led to a kind of awakening and thus endowed the European mind with a new consciousness.’” (Pg. 79)

Discussion:

(Portraits and Persons)

“Durer’s paintings are often said to have inaugurated the genre of self-portraiture as an independent one in art history.” (Pg. 93)

Charles Taylor>>> “Taylor thinks that our contemporary notions of a highly conscious self-derive from developments during Romanticism which led to an attitude he calls “Expressive Individualism”. A new emphasis on the individual’s personality and individuality…the self is now understood to be defined not by simply through self-awareness but through emotional self-searching…seeks a life of self-expression.” (Pg. 93-94)

Discussion:

(Portraits and Persons)

Johann Gottfried Herder wrote: “Each human being has his own measure, as it were an accord peculiar to him of all his feelings to each other.” (Pg. 94)

Discussion:

(Neuroscience)

“How can our genes…specify the complete development of such a large, complex structure as the human brain? The answer, simply is that they can’t:…The precise specification and wiring of the brain depends upon factors not encoded in the genes, including the effect of the environment…The word “environment” is used broadly to encompass everything from the chemical environment of the womb to the sensory experience through childhood as the brain matures.” (Accidental Mind pg. 52)

Discussion:

(Thematic Readings)

Fredrick Douglass' "Learning to Read and Write"

(Psychology)

“The dimension of internal-external locus of control has been generally accepted as a relatively stable aspect of human personality that has meaningful implications for predicting behavior across a wide variety of situations.”

President Lincoln writing the proclamation of freedom

Ptolemy Philadelphos

Pictures Depicted:

Lincoln: He doesn't feel completely free as depicted because he is surrounded by so many other ideas. He is stressed as he is pressured by his outside environment to change America.

Ptolemy: In this picture everyone is depicted as respecting and praying to Ptolemy as he is a god to them. They do not feel nor see any path towards being free. This is in part due to how they were raised which in turn affected their ability to think otherwise.

Important terms:

1.Triptych- Three sets of panels or pictures side by side. It is like an animation. (Portraits and Persons)

2. Hubris-excessive pride or self confidence ("")

3. Locus- A center or source, or power (Psychology)

4. Dendrites- The branching process of a neuron that conducts impulses toward the cell. (Accidental Mind)

5. Epigenetic- the expression of genetic information is modified on a molecular level without a change to the DNA sequence, such as longevity. ("")

6. Abhor- To regard with extreme detest, loath, or abominate. (Thematic Readings)

Final conclusion:

Final Answer: You are free because you determine how much of your environment affects you. You can either be free or not. The choice is yours. You are affected by the choices you make.

Work done by each member:

Johnny - Cons
Ari - Pros
Kitsy - Online presentation
Equally - Key Terms