Interdisciplinary Humanities Workshop: Authority and Power Representations in Western Arts

Students of all levels in the Humanities Programme took
part in the 2012 Interdisciplinary Humanities Workshop, the main theme of which
was the artistic representation of power and authority, seen from different perspectives
and historical vantage points. The main objective was to analyse the concept of
power from a practical standpoint and through the lens of different branches of
the arts.
This workshop was part of the ongoing evaluation
activities for the relevant subjects: Classical
Culture (a first-year course), Modern Culture (second-year) and Sovereignty
(third-year).  
The workshop began on 23 January 2012 with the organization of teams
and preparation for the activity “Practical Reflections on Power and Authority”,
which took place on 24
January 2012.
Next, Martí García Cros, the portraitist of the Spanish Royal Family, gave a
talk on the pictorial rendering of power and authority.
On Tuesday,
24 January 2012, Josep Corcó, an anthropology professor in the
Faculty of Humanities, led a practical and creative discussion on power and
authority. Students then watched Gérard Corbiau’s film The King is Dancing (2000). Humanities Professor Jordi
Puigdomènech analysed and discussed the movie afterwards.
The following day, Joan Grimalt, a
professor at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, gave a lecture about
the representation of power and authority through music. Then, actress Laura
Llimona performed a dramatized reading of Sophocles’ Antigone as a means of reflecting on power and authority.
The Interdisciplinary Workshop ended on Thursday, 26 January 2012, with
a discussion on how power and dance inform each other, led by Eulàlia Polls, a
dance and performing arts specialist.
The Faculty of Humanities organized this
workshop as a means of allowing students to apply the concepts discussed in
class, thereby broadening their horizons and bringing them into contact with
working professionals.