ARTH - Art History

An introduction to the various media, techniques, styles, content, and contexts in the visual arts as they are manifested in the world's cultures.

An introduction to the various media, techniques, styles, content, and contexts in the visual arts as they are manifested in the world's cultures. Open only to students in the Honors College.

This course provides an opportunity to discover, appreciate, and acquire broad knowledge of art history through the ages, from the Prehistoric era to contemporary times within a global perspective. Students will learn to examine and critically analyze major forms of artistic expression from diverse cultures and periods of art in order to understand their individual and collective contributions to the arts.

Special topics in art history.

This course covers the art and architecture of the ancient world from its Paleolithic origins to the end of antiquity and the birth of Christian art. Ranging from drawings in caves to mosaics in churches, the material addressed in the course is situated in its social, political, and historical context. The objective of this course is to provide a visual and cultural literacy of ancient art and to familiarize students with the methods, theories, and traditions upon which ancient art history is grounded.

This course is an effort to confront conspiratorial thinking where art is concerned. The interpretation of human visual culture – particularly from ancient periods – is a particularly subjective endeavor, but in recent years social media have accelerated the proliferation of baseless theories about art, architecture, and material culture. From alien-builder theories to simple misconceptions about the polychromatic nature of Classical art, these pseudoarchaeologies can be found throughout the world, but they tend to harangue and ultimately undermine non-European peoples and cultures and their cultural heritage.

“Early Modern” is a relatively new term applied to a broad period of artistic production in Europe that encompasses distinct, yet overlapping, style periods, which include the “Renaissance,” “Baroque,” “Rococo,” and “Neoclassicism.” This course will examine painting, sculpture, architecture, and graphic arts in Europe from 1400—1800 within the context of artistic creativity in relationship with intellectual, religious, economic, political, scientific, and cultural changes and developments in the Western world.

A survey of modern and contemporary art with respect to its theoretical grounding and diverse practices. Students will encounter globally prominent artists of the last century as well as art of the immediate present on display in our area. Students will also receive instruction and experience in research and writing within the discipline of art history.

A study of selected art history topics to be specified in the class schedule each semester. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

This course explores the art and architecture of ancient Egypt from the migrations of anatomically modern humans out of Africa to the persistence of Egyptian identity under Roman domination. Egypt looms large in the popular consciousness of modern society, with extraterrestrial or magical connotations. This course encourages critical thinking skills by stressing the importance of evidence and context in the interpretation of Egyptian monuments and iconography. Fulfills non-western requirement for majors.

The contributions of women in the various fields in the visual arts--painting, graphics, sculpture, architecture, and the crafts.

The painting, sculpture, and graphics of the Netherlands, France and Germany in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with discussion of artists such as Jan van Eyck, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and Albrecht Durer.

Painting, sculpture, and architecture in 14th- and 15th-century Italy from Giotto to Botticelli, among others.

This course is a survey of High Renaissance Art in Italy (roughly 1473 to 1520), focusing on the recognized major artists or 'masters' of the High Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian, as well as their lesser known contemporaries.

The works of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael brought the Renaissance to its height, but by 1520, two of these masters were dead. It is in this aftermath - post-1520 - that a new generation of artists arose revolutionizing the art world. This course is a survey of mid-late sixteenth-century art in Italy.

This course is a survey of Baroque Art in Italy and Spain. Material includes painting, sculpture, and architecture of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, with discussion of artists such as Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Francesco Borromini, Diego Velazquez, Jusepe de Ribera, and Francisco de Zurbaran, among others.

This course is a survey of Baroque Art in Northern Europe. Materials include painting, sculpture, and architecture of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, with discussion of artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Poussin, among others.

A critical study of the formal, cultural, and intellectual developments of the graphic design discipline, including related activity in fine art, illustration, and industrial design. This is a writing intensive course.

Examines the major historical developments in the decorative and applied arts, landscape design, and material culture from the Renaissance to the Modern period.

Through the study of form, content, and context of selected works of painting, architecture and sculpture made in colonial North America and the US from the 17th to the 20th century, this course will probe changing American social and cultural values embodied in art. Students will study individual artists as well as themes, with particular attention to the production and reception of art in a developing nation, the transformation of European architectural styles into a new environment, the construction of race in ante- and post-bellum America, and the identification of an abstract style of art with the political ascendancy of the US after World War II.

Survey of the mainstreams of European art during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including discussion of architecture, sculpture, painting, and the graphic arts.

An examination of the development of photography as a scientific curiosity, a tool for artists, and as a fine art in itself from the early nineteenth century to the present day.

An introductory course to the history of gardens. Gardening is explored as an artistic expression and connections are made to other visual arts such as painting, sculpture and architecture, as well as to as theater and public representation. The course combines a heavy site-visiting component with readings and individual research directed towards the final course paper and presentations.

A study of the international movements in visual arts and design in the interwar years from Dada to the New World's Fair.

An intensive study of the two decades when modernist styles and theories in art, design, and architecture were codified and challenged internationally.

A study of the analysis, theoretical approaches, methodologies, and effects of the practice of art criticism. This is a writing-intensive course.

An investigation of past and present approaches to scholarship in art history. Students participate in a series of writing assignments designed to strengthen their research and writing skills, culminating with the presentation of original research in oral and written form. This is a writing intensive course.

An introduction to the architecture, sculpture, calligraphy, pottery, ink painting, miniature painting, and gardens of India, China, and Japan. Emphasis will be placed on the connections among the cultures: Buddhism and pilgrimage, the importance of the scholar painters, the role of trade routes and the emergence of native writing. Cross-listed with ASIA 360.

Lectures and critical discussion of the development and configurations of the various styles emergent since 1960, both in America and Europe.

An unpaid, structured work experience in a museum, gallery, archive, or related environment for credit. Criteria for evaluation will be determined by work supervisor and cooperating faculty advisor. May be repeated for credit. Available for pass/fail grading only.

A specialized field activity outside of the classroom. Qualifies as a CAP experience. Available for pass/fail grading only.

An extracurricular activity approved for credit based on objectives, criteria, and evaluative procedures as formally determined by the department and the student prior to the semester in which the activity is to take place. Such credit is subject to review by the provost.

An extracurricular activity approved for credit based on objectives, criteria, and evaluative procedures as formally determined by the department and the student prior to the semester in which the activity is to take place. Such credit is subject to review by the provost.

A study of selected topics in art history to be specified in the class schedule each semester. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

A study of selected topics in art history to be specified in the class schedule each semester. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

Before Dalí…before Magritte…before De Chirico, there was Hieronymus Bosch. Well before the advent of the Surrealism movement in the twentieth century, the late fifteenth-century/early sixteenth-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch rocked the art world with his fantastical, disturbing, and enigmatic paintings. This course will critically examine Bosch and his work. Students will work like detectives, first by dismantling long-standing misinterpretations about Bosch’s work, then by analyzing and deciphering his iconography through the lens of the period in which he lived, including art theory, politics, religion, devotion, and alchemy, among other topics.

This course examines the life, sculptures, paintings, and architecture of one of the greatest Italian Renaissance artists, Michelangelo Buonarroti.

This course examines the life and revolutionary paintings of the Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio.

Venice is set apart from other cities in Italy and from Europe not only by its geography—a city seemingly floating on water, with canals instead of streets—but also by its unique history, traditions, and cultural identity. The consideration and examination of its mythical origins in the fifth century, through its history as a territory of the Byzantine Empire, and the establishment of their Republic in 1297, this course will examine how Venice fashioned its own identity through its art and architecture during the Italian Renaissance.

This course will examine the ways in which prevailing ideas about women shaped visual imagery, and in turn, how these images influenced, perpetuated, and even changed perceptions about women from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries in Italy (Renaissance and Baroque periods). Students will explore how text and visual imagery informed one another, and closely examine works of art by women artists, commissioned by women patrons, and works featuring women through thematic topics. Although patriarchy dominated the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the course will recover the histories of women artists, patrons, and writers, and examine how women navigated the gender oppression of their periods to reclaim their power and value.

This seminar is an exploration of the visual and material culture of Pompeii, incorporating a broad spectrum of evidence, ranging from the city’s temples to the wall paintings in the city’s brothels. The goal of the class is to instill a working knowledge of the most recent scholarship on the ancient city and to contextualize Pompeii's art and architecture in the historical narrative of the city and the broader body of scholarship on Roman cultural history.

A survey of the aesthetic, technological, and social forces that transformed international architecture in the 18th and 19th centuries.

An examination of the architecture, planning, and related design of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries around the globe. Special emphasis is placed on the formation of the international style between the world wars and its disintegration in the recent past. This is a writing intensive course; the course also satisfies the general education impact of technology requirement.

This course examines the changing motivations, contexts, and characteristics of realist art since the inception of modernism. While definitions of radical and conservative have wavered and flipped, recognizable imagery seems always to function as a critical intervention within aesthetic racial, or gender-based hegemonies. As students examine numerous artists’ strategies, they will see that reality isn’t always so easy to pin down.

Anxiety about painting’s purpose and relevance are woven into modern art’s linear concept of history. The goal of this class is to help students understand, both intellectually and emotionally, the ambitions that motivate painting, as well as to give them an opportunity to sample the diverse practices and critical approaches that make up the painterly landscape, and finally to examine how or if it fits within the broader scope of contemporary art.

This course is a collaborative exploration of the problems and opportunities of national and international public art that combines the practical with the theoretical, and the studio with the art-historical.

The research and writing of a thesis on an advanced topic in art history to be determined by the student in concert with a faculty advisor. The thesis option is intended for art history majors preparing for graduate study in the field, and serves as the required culminating work for their degree.

The research and writing of a capstone on an advanced topic in art history to be determined by the student in concert with a faculty advisor. The capstone serves as the required culminating work for students who are not pursuing graduate studies in the field.

A study of selected topics in art history to be specified in the class schedule each semester. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

A study of selected topics in art history to be specified in the class schedule each semester. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

Independent research on a topic to be selected under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Course is restricted to art history majors.

Independent research on a topic to be selected under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Course is restricted to art history majors.

Before Dalí…before Magritte…before De Chirico, there was Hieronymus Bosch. Well before the advent of the Surrealism movement in the twentieth century, the late fifteenth-century/early sixteenth-century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch rocked the art world with his fantastical, disturbing, and enigmatic paintings. Bosch’s contemporaries and modern scholars have deemed his art as the product of both his madness and genius. This course will critically examine Bosch and his work. Students will work like detectives, first by dismantling long-standing misinterpretations about Bosch’s work, then by analyzing and deciphering his iconography through the lens of the period in which he lived, including art theory, politics, religion, devotion, and alchemy, among other topics.

This course examines the life, sculptures, paintings, and architecture of one of the greatest Italian Renaissance artists, Michelangelo Buonarroti.

This course examines the life and revolutionary paintings of the Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio.

Venice is set apart from other cities in Italy and from Europe not only by its geography—a city seemingly floating on water, with canals instead of streets—but also by its unique history, traditions, and cultural identity. The consideration and examination of its mythical origins in the fifth century, through its history as a territory of the Byzantine Empire, and the establishment of their Republic in 1297, this course will examine how Venice fashioned its own identity through its art and architecture during the Italian Renaissance.

This course will examine the ways in which prevailing ideas about women shaped visual imagery, and in turn, how these images, influenced, perpetuated, and even changed perceptions about women from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries in Italy (Renaissance and Baroque periods). Students will explore how text and visual imagery informed one another, and closely examine works of art by women artists, commissioned by women patrons, and works featuring women through thematic topics. Although patriarchy dominated the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the course will recover the histories of women artists, patrons, and writers, and examine how women navigated the gender oppression of their periods to reclaim their power and value.

This seminar is an exploration of the visual and material culture of Pompeii, incorporating a broad spectrum of evidence, ranging from the city’s temples to the wall paintings in the city’s brothels. The goal of the class is to instill a working knowledge of the most recent scholarship on the ancient city and to contextualize Pompeii's art and architecture in the historical narrative of the city and the broader body of scholarship on Roman cultural history.

A survey of the aesthetic, technological and social forces that transformed international architecture in the 18th and 19th centuries.

An examination of the architecture, planning, and related design of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries around the globe. Special emphasis is placed on the formation of the international style between the world wars and its disintegration in the recent past.

This course examines the changing motivations, contexts, and characteristics of realist art since the inception of modernism. While definitions of radical and conservative have wavered and flipped, recognizable imagery seems always to function as a critical intervention within aesthetic racial, or gender-based hegemonies. As students examine numerous artists’ strategies, they will see that reality isn’t always so easy to pin down.

Anxiety about painting’s purpose and relevance are woven into modern art’s linear concept of history. The goal of this class is to help students understand, both intellectually and emotionally, the ambitions that motivate painting, as well as to give them an opportunity to sample the diverse practices and critical approaches that make up the painterly landscape, and finally to examine how or if it fits within the broader scope of contemporary art.

This course is a collaborative exploration of the problems and opportunities of national and international public art that combines the practical with the theoretical, and the studio with the art-historical.

A study of selected topics in art history to be specified in the class schedule each semester. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

A study of selected topics in art history to be specified in the class schedule each semester. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

Independent research on a topic to be selected under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

Independent research on a topic to be selected under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

An unpaid, structured work experience in a museum, gallery, archive, or related environment for credit. Criteria for evaluation will be determined by work supervisor and cooperating faculty advisor. May be repeated for credit. Available for pass/fail grading only.

Topics to be specified in the class schedule. Intensive critical investigations of specialized areas in art history. May be repeated for credit as topics vary.

Independent research on a topic to be selected under the guidance of a faculty advisor.