A general survey of dance forms designed to create an appreciation of the vocabulary, techniques, and purposes of the creative process. This course includes critical interpretation and evaluations of choreographic works and dance forms within cultural and historical contexts.

Credit Hours: 3 credit hours. 3 lecture hours. This is an 8-week course. Students should expect to commit 5-6 hours/week to this course.

This course will be delivered online via Blackboard (https://acconline.austincc.edu/). This section is fully asynchronous. In other words, you may complete all work on your own by the due dates, without any live class meetings. That said, I am available to answer any questions during my regularly scheduled office hours as well as via email.

MANDATORY ORIENTATION: Orientation materials can be found in the “Start Here – Orientation” section of our Blackboard course. Follow the instructions for the required actions. This is what you'll need to do:

• Carefully READ the Course Syllabus and all its policies
• WATCH the Student Orientation Video
• COMPLETE Unit 1: Blackboard Syllabus/Orientation Activities by midnight, Wednesday, 10/22/2025

ACC Faculty are required to certify student participation in class, and you may be withdrawn from the class if you do not complete the orientation actions by the established deadlines. See Start Here - Orientation on Blackboard!

GENERATIVE AI (GAI) PROHIBITED:

• Introduction: In this course, the use of generative AI (GAI) technologies is strictly prohibited to preserve academic integrity and ensure the development of student competencies. Using instructive AI tools to assist, edit, or review any written assignments is on a case-by-case basis.
• Rationale: The prohibition is in place to encourage original thought, manual problem-solving skills, and to maintain equity in educational opportunities and assessments. In this section of Dance Appreciation, the student's personal perspectives, opinions, and insights are explored and centered in written assignments. All writing must reflect these elements through the student's unique use of subjective writing in active voice with personal insight clearly provided, unless the assignment states otherwise.
• Definition of GAI: Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can generate text, images, or other content based on minimal input. This includes chatbots, image generation tools, and code assistants.
• Usage Permissions: Prohibited: Students are not allowed to use GAI for completing assignments, projects, tests, or any form of assessment in this course.
• Penalties: Any violation of this policy will result in academic penalties, which may include a failing grade for the activity, reporting to academic affairs, and further disciplinary action. Given the AI policy in this class, all written student work this semester will be checked using the GPTZero AI detection tool via Blackboard Ultra. All writing that is flagged as AI-generated to a certain percentage (typically above 50%) will receive a grade of '0.'
• Exceptions: Exceptions to this policy will only be made under specific circumstances approved by the instructor, typically where technology is used to accommodate learning differences. Instructive AI programs and tools that are made under specific circumstances, typically where technology is used to accommodate learning differences as communicated by the student at the start of the semester via the SAS Office. Instructor approval is required for use of programs such as paid subscriptions of Grammarly, visual submission-to-text outputs such as Image Describer, auto-citation generators such as Scribbr, etc. These programs and support tools will only be considered approved on a case-by-case basis.

TECHNOLOGY: In this online course, all materials, assignments, and activities will be delivered and completed online. Please make sure you have the hardware and internet capabilities to complete an online course. A tablet or laptop with a good internet connection is recommended.

This course requires that students complete the following:

•  Consistent online presence and participation 
•  Three (3) Quizzes
•  Four (4) Discussion Assignments  
• Three (3) Journals 
• Six (6) Assignments 
• Midterm Discussion Project
• Critical Response Paper

COURSE LEVEL:

Upon successful completion of this course, students will: 

• Identify various forms of dance.
• Articulate the relationship between dances and the historical and cultural contexts from which they emerged.
• Express an informed personal reaction to dance forms.
• Critically analyze and write about dance using established methods of dance criticism.
• Evaluate the impact of dance on culture.

PROGRAM LEVEL:

PSLO4: Students will demonstrate, through speaking and/or writing, the ability to clearly articulate aesthetic concerns in dance, including analysis of choreography.

GENERAL ED:

Students completing this creative arts core curriculum course will meet the following objectives: 

• Communication Skills: Develop, interpret, and express ideas and information through written, oral, and visual communication that is adapted to purpose, structure, audience, and medium.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Gather, analyze, synthesize, evaluate and apply information for the purposes of innovation, inquiry, and creative thinking.
• Personal Responsibility: Identify and apply ethical principles and practices to decision-making by connecting choices, actions and consequences
• Social Responsibility: Analyze differences and commonalities among peoples, ideas, aesthetic traditions, and cultural practices to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.
• Teamwork: Consider different points of view to work collaboratively and effectively in pursuit of a shared purpose or goal.

Course Subjects - DANC-2303

This is a ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) section. In place of required textbooks, all textbook materials needed for the class will be available online to students free of charge. Students may print copies of the resources but will be responsible for printing costs.

Resources will include scholarly articles, essays, excerpts and chapters, which will be provided within each module on Blackboard. A curated selection of dance films and videos will also be provided within each module on Blackboard. Students will be expected to access links to YouTube, Vimeo, and other public sources.

There is no required textbook.