OER Books

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  Philosophy and the Arts: A Textbook with Readings

  Theodore Gracyk

  Intended for advanced undergraduates, this textbook presents and explains five core topics in philosophy of art. Roughly half the text is a set of edited excerpts that range from antiquity to the early twentieth century. Among philosophers, Plato and Immanuel Kant receive the most attention. However, the editorial stance is that philosophers are not the exclusive source of philosophy of art. Most chapters contain excerpts from artists writing about their art form, such as Alfred Stieglitz, T.S. Eliot, and Virginia Woolf. Each reading is prefaced by an extended introduction that provides historical and philosophical contextual. Except for a segment on Eduard Hanslick's musical formalism, the emphasis is on visual art and literature. There are numerous illustrations and examples.

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  Stories in Environmental Psychology

  Jared L. Ladbury

  Stories in Environmental Psychology examines the interactions between humans and their environments, both natural and built. The book uses narratives to illustrate concepts such as white flight, the transactional nature of human-environment interactions, and the challenges of conducting research in this field. Each chapter begins with a story to help readers understand and connect with the theoretical concepts discussed.

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  An Introduction to Professional Ethics: A Duty-Based Approach

  Theodore Gracyk

  This book is an introduction to ethical expectations and norms that hold for the consulting professions. The book is an introduction to the general topic, presupposing no prior knowledge of philosophy or ethics. The book adopts a duty-based point of view. The primary audience is pre-professionals. However, this is not a “how to” book. The approach is philosophical and fits into the field of applied ethics. The overall goal is to raise awareness of ethical challenges in professional life so that individuals have the background for self-reflection when they face these issues, either as professionals or as clients. The book explores the special ethical challenges that arise in professional life and concentrates on the traditional professions, that is, ones in which professional life centers on advising clients. The goal is to explain how some issues are common to many professions, such as the difficulty of upholding client autonomy in the face of the problems of competing interests, informed consent, and client confidentiality. The normative framework of the book builds from the assumption that most adults are autonomous individuals and deserve to be treated as such.

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  Appropriation, Racism, and Art: Constructing American Identities

  Theodore Gracyk

  An introductory examination of cultural appropriation in the fine arts and popular arts of the United States, with reference to historical, literary, and other cultural developments. The primary focus is the use of cultural appropriation to communicate ideas about racial identity in ways that have served the interests of the dominant culture. Areas of specific concern are voice appropriation, content appropriation, style appropriation, and motif appropriation. The emphasis is on historically significant examples in the visual arts, literature, theater, and music. As expressive communication, the arts are central to cultural identity. Cultural appropriation is wrong when it undermines America's diversity of cultural identities. Generations of American artists have used cultural appropriation as a tool of racial privilege. Despite this history of harmful and wrongful appropriation, cultural appropriation also provides a tactic of response and self-empowerment for non-dominant groups. Appropriation is frequently used by non-dominant groups and subcultures as a tool of active resistance against stereotyping and discrimination.