While many will be attempting to get into shape, quit smoking, or iron out the wrinkles in their difficult family relations for their New Year’s resolutions, many others will have made the pledge to spend the year taking in new experiences. If you are one of those people, perhaps consider 2019 an opportunity to become immersed in the arts and culture.
Until recently, nearly everyone who went to a university studied literary classics as an integral part of the curriculum. This is no longer the case.
Similarly, art and music education was once more prominent (or at the very least better funded) than it currently stands. Both of these facts have contributed to a growing illiteracy in regards to high culture among the population.
An appreciation for cultural treasures like the works of J.S. Bach or the paintings of Rembrandt can deepen one’s understanding of the respective disciplines and provide a framework for comparing popular culture, which is not bad in and of itself, to the ancient masters.
Sharing the experience of a well-performed play or opera is also a thoughtful way of connecting to the past by engaging with forms of expression that have seen centuries of history grow up around them.
There is also a great deal of thoughtful and innovative art, cuisine, music and literature being produced on the small scale by local artists across the country. You may be pleasantly surprised by going out of your way to listen to more obscure music not found on the Billboard Top 100 or by trying out that new Indian restaurant back home.
Whatever your plans for broadening your horizons are, there are events here at UTM that can help. Fine Arts hosts music events, plays and art exhibits throughout the year. And by participating in the various international clubs and student organizations on campus, you can bring the world to you. If you do plan on sticking to that resolution, you could begin right here in Martin.
