Perspectives in World Art II

Professor: Julia Rosenbaum

Course Number: ARTH 102

CRN Number: 10085

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     3:30 PM - 4:50 PM Olin 102

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art  D+J Difference and Justice

This course explores the visual arts worldwide from the fourteenth century into the 20th century. We will consider painting and sculpture alongside other media in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, arranged chronologically in order to provide a more integrated historical context for their production. The course objectives include: broad understanding of art making processes and the historical/social/artistic context of objects; knowledge of significant art historical moments and influences; concepts and vocabulary to analyze and discuss visual material. The course is designed for those students with little or no background in art history as well as for those contemplating a major in Art History and Visual Culture or in studio art. (It fulfills the 101/102 requirement for moderating into Art History and Visual Culture).

Modern Architecture in the Age of Colonialism

Professor: Olga Touloumi  

Course Number: ARTH 125

CRN Number: 10087

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

  Wed  Fri   10:10 AM - 11:30 AM Olin 204

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

Crosslists: Architecture; Environmental & Urban Studies

This course examines the history of modern architecture, examining the debates, theories, and practices that informed its many facets from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. We will be discussing the production of the built environment within the context of colonialism, focusing on the infrastructures, institutions, and building types that emerged in response to industrialization, social revolutions, and epistemic shifts. The industrialization of production, new technologies, material, and institutions, as well as growing urban cultures and changing social structures called for architects and designers to partake in the process of modernization. The course will pay particular attention to the ways in which architects responded to and participated in formal and aesthetic developments, as well as epistemic and cultural shifts that marked modernity, such as the enlightenment, Darwinism, positivism, and the rise of psychology. Covering many aspects of architecture, from buildings, drawings, exhibitions, and schools, to historical and theoretical writings and manifestos, we will investigate the wide range of modernist practices, polemics and institutions. The aim of the course is to provide a solid historical framework of the debates and practices that made architecture modern, while engaging the students in a critical discussion of the role of architecture in the production of the built environment and the forces that shape it. The course includes field trips, readings, and short assignments. (1800-present).

India, A Story Through Ten Objects

Professor: Heeryoon Shin  

Course Number: ARTH 137

CRN Number: 10086

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     10:10 AM - 11:30 AM Olin Language Center 208

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

Crosslists: Asian Studies

A stone sculpture of entwined lovers, once part of a temple wall. An emperor’s painted portrait. A piece of cotton cloth that crossed distant seas – what stories do these objects tell? This course explores the wide range of artistic production in the Indian subcontinent from the second millennium to the present through a selection of ten objects that each tell a different yet interrelated story. We will closely explore each object to think about their formal and material properties, their makers, patrons, and consumers, and their engagement with the larger social, political, and cultural histories, and develop our own way of analyzing and telling stories through objects. Topics include ritual and temple space; reuse and appropriation; art as political propaganda; mobility and cosmopolitanism; multisensory and emotional experience. A strong emphasis will be placed on the interregional and intercultural exchanges through trade, pilgrimage, diplomacy, and war. Coursework includes two exams, one visual analysis paper, and a final research project. No background in South Asian art or history is necessary for the successful completion of this course.

Art Since 1989

Professor: Alex Kitnick  

Course Number: ARTH 242

CRN Number: 10091

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    1:30 PM - 2:50 PM Olin 102

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

This course will examine art that has been produced since 1989, primarily in Europe and the US. 1989 saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginning of a major shift in the geopolitical landscape. This course will chart a variety of artistic practices, including identity politics, institutional critique, and relational aesthetics, which engaged this new terrain by asking questions about history, temporality, and community. The course will look at examples of installation, performance, and video art, as well as painting and sculpture. Students will turn in two papers, as well as various shorter written assignments. Exams will be given at midterm and at the end of the semester.  AHVC distribution: 1800-present.

The American Afterlife: Pandemics, Death and the Supernatural

Professor: Susan Aberth and Donna Grover

Course Number: ARTH 259

CRN Number: 10088

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    3:30 PM - 4:50 PM Reem Kayden Center 103

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

Crosslists: American & Indigenous Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies

The movement known as Spiritualism began in the mid-19th century during a time of historic and cultural upheavals, such as the Civil War, suffragism, abolition, and technological advances.  Today, America finds itself in a parallel position in the aftermath of the Covid 19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, Climate Change, and new technological developments such as AI. In this time of unprecedented change, there has been a rise of interest in the popular imagination regarding death and dying. As in the 19th century, the desire for public spectacle was intrinsic to this phenomenon. This has manifested in myriad ways: tv programs featuring mediums and hauntings, supernatural films and art exhibitions, as well as New Age spiritual practices. This class will examine these historic events as well as the visual culture, practices and narratives that surrounding them. There will be film screenings, guest speakers and field trips.

Archaeology and Colonial Entanglements

Professor: Anne Chen  

Course Number: ARTH 264

CRN Number: 10089

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Olin 102

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

Crosslists: Anthropology; Classical Studies; Human Rights; Middle Eastern Studies

Politics and archaeology have always been inextricably entangled. Nations and institutions funded early excavations not just as noble endeavors to learn about the past, but also to build prestigious museum collections, lend support to national mythologies, and gain political “soft power” footholds in strategic locations. Through a series of case-studies—including the discovery of King Tut’s tomb and sites tied to Biblical and Greek Epic traditions—this course introduces students to some of the blockbuster archaeological discoveries of the early 20th century that feature centrally not only in Western collections and textbooks, but also in movies, novels, and popular culture. The goal is to complicate their allure by illuminating the political and social contexts that defined their discovery. In doing so, the course also attempts to situate the field of archaeology within larger discussions on colonialism, heritage, nationalism, looting, and repatriation. Through readings and discussions, students will be exposed to the development of the discipline of archaeology in the 20th and 21st centuries and the long-lasting ripple effects that foreign-run archaeological projects have left in their wakes. Coursework includes regular homework assignments and in-class discussions, a presentation, and a final paper. Area:   Middle East/Africa   Time: Pre-modern/20th century.

Religious Art of Latin America

Professor: Susan Aberth  

Course Number: ARTH 273

CRN Number: 10093

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

  Wed  Fri   11:50 AM - 1:10 PM Fisher Studio Arts ANNEX

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

Crosslists: Africana Studies; Latin American/Iberian Studies; Theology

This course explores the varied visual manifestations of religious expression in Latin America after the Spanish conquest. In addition to churches, statuary, and paintings, the class examines folk art traditions, African diasporic religions, and contemporary art and practices. We will use a variety of art assignments to explore the techniques and devotional practices involved with certain types of creations, i.e. altar construction. In addition there will be a 10 page research paper, a midterm and a final. AHVC distribution: the Americas.

The Spatial Politics of Human Rights

Professor: Olga Touloumi  

Course Number: ARTH 274

CRN Number: 10090

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    5:10 PM - 6:30 PM Olin 204

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

Crosslists: Architecture; Human Rights

(Human Rights Core Course) During the twentieth century there was an international effort to set in place a global human rights system. International institutions and civic organizations invited architects, planners, illustrators and designers to participate in this new system of human rights in diagnostic operations, surveys, but also in practical ways on the ground. This course will investigate how architecture and human rights intersected during those efforts to establish a larger system of human rights, as well as the spatial politics that these intersections produced and enabled. Students will engage in the study of the discourse on human settlements, the ideologies of development, architectures of humanitarian aid, population exchanges and legal frameworks, border building and peacekeeping operations, but also structures of solidarity, networks of nonalignment, and critiques of the concept of human rights and their implied anthropocentrism vis-à-vis calls for climate commons and care infrastructures. We will be reading Samuel Moyn, Eyal Weisman, David Crowe, Felicity Scott, Nancy Fraser, Hannah Arendt, Andrew Herscher, Chantal Mouffe, Quinn Slobodian, among others. The course requires readings, short forum assignments, and a final research paper.

Modern in America

Professor: Julia Rosenbaum  

Course Number: ARTH 278

CRN Number: 10094

Class cap: 22

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    3:30 PM - 4:50 PM Fisher Studio Arts ANNEX

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

From the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to 1930s social activism, this course explores the art-making and visual culture of the United States in the early decades of the twentieth century. Covering a range of media and genres, we will address questions about the production of art in the context of social and political circumstances. In an era shaped by imperialist and global expansion and radically changing industries, including visual technologies, how did artists, audiences, and critics address the modern? Amidst racial discrimination, labor organization, and women’s suffrage, how did they respond to issues of social justice and rights? Topics include: the phenomenon of world’s fairs and global exchange; “modernity” and nationalism; technology and art; exhibitions and cultural propaganda; artistic identity and gender and racial roles; and public art, murals, and social activism. The course emphasizes engagement with primary sources and materials of the period.

Dura-Europos and the Problems of Archaeological Archives

Professor: Anne Chen  

Course Number: ARTH 318

CRN Number: 10098

Class cap: 15

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     9:10 AM - 11:30 AM Fisher Studio Arts ANNEX

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

Crosslists: Classical Studies; Experimental Humanities; Human Rights; Middle Eastern Studies

What silences do archaeological archives unintentionally preserve? In what ways do power and privilege influence the creation and shape of archaeological archives, and dictate who has access to them? How might new technologies help us begin to rectify inequities of access? Once called by its excavators the “Pompeii of the East,” the ancient archaeological site of Dura-Europos (Syria) preserves evidence of what everyday life was like in an ancient Roman city. The site is home to the earliest Christian church building yet found, the most elaborately decorated ancient synagogue known to date, and testifies to the ways in which ancient religions and cultures intermingled and inspired one another. Yet since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the site has been irreparably compromised for future archaeological exploration. More than ever, our knowledge and understanding of the site's ancient phases will depend almost entirely upon archival information collected in the course of archaeological excavations that took place 100 years ago when Syria was under French colonial occupation. In this hands-on practicum course focused on the case-study of this fascinating archaeological site, students will not only learn what we know of Dura-Europos as it was in antiquity, but will also think critically about issues central to the use and development of archival resources more generally. Coursework will center around firsthand engagement with data, artifacts, and archival materials from the site, and will allow students the opportunity to develop guided research projects that ultimately contribute toward the goal of improving the site’s accessibility and intelligibility to users worldwide. The methods and critical perspectives explored in this class will be particularly relevant to students interested in exploring careers in GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museum) fields. AHVC distribution: Ancient.

Harlem Renaissance

Professor: Kobena Mercer  

Course Number: ARTH 333

CRN Number: 10097

Class cap: 20

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

   Thurs    12:30 PM - 2:50 PM Fisher Studio Arts ANNEX

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

This seminar surveys black self-representation by African American artists of the 1920s and 1930s in painting, sculpture, photography and prints. We examine the aesthetic choices of Aaron Douglas, Lois Mailou Jones, James VanDer Zee and others in the artist’s own words and in debates on the "New Negro" led by such intellectuals as Alain Locke and W.E.B. DuBois. With African art as an interest shared by white patrons such as Albert Barnes and Carl Van Vechten, the dynamic tensions of race in modernist visual culture are also probed. As ideas migrated across the Atlantic to influence the Negritude movement in Paris and Caribbean artists such as Edna Manley, students will engage with the interdisciplinary scholarship of Paul Gilroy, Petrine Archer-Straw, and Richard Powell, among others. Exploring contemporary artists, such as Isaac Julien, who have revisited this era to uncover queer archives, the class will include guest speakers, film screenings and a visit to the Metropolitan Museum’s 2024 exhibition "Harlem Renaissance and Transnational Modernism"

Theories and Methods of Art History

Professor: Alex Kitnick  

Course Number: ARTH 385

CRN Number: 10099

Class cap: 15

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     3:10 PM - 5:30 PM Fisher Studio Arts ANNEX

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

This seminar, designed primarily for art history majors, helps students develop the ability to think critically about a range of different approaches to the field of art history. Students read and discuss a variety of texts in order to become familiar with the discipline’s development. Methodologies such as connoisseurship, cultural history, Marxism, feminism, and post-modernism are analyzed.  AHVC distribution: required.

Politics of Modern Craft

Professor: Heeryoon Shin  

Course Number: ARTH 399

CRN Number: 10100

Class cap: 15

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      9:10 AM - 11:30 AM Fisher Studio Arts ANNEX

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art   

Crosslists: Asian Studies

This course examines the ways in which craft practices and objects became intertwined with issues of national identity, class, gender, and political resistance throughout the twentieth century. While the focus of the course will be on the history of craft and its contradictions in South Asia, case studies from the Japanese Empire and its colonies in East Asia will provide a comparative perspective beyond the boundaries of a single empire or nation-state. Beginning with the rise of the Arts and Crafts movement in late nineteenth-century Britain in response to the growth of industrial production and consumer culture, we will trace the spread of craft ideology and practice across the British Empire and beyond. In some cases, political leaders drew on issues of craft to drive national policy and define national identity, while in other cases, resistance movements transformed the nostalgia and exoticism underlying the idea of craft into a critique against imperial authority. A special emphasis will be placed on the materials and techniques of production and the actual craft objects, including textiles, ceramics, silver and base metal, and wood. Topics include representations of the craftsman, colonial exhibitions and art education, craft as protest in Gandhi’s homespun movement, the Japanese folk arts (mingei) movement and Orientalism, embroidery and weaving as gendered craft, and craft and tourism.

Writing about Images

Professor: Adam Shatz  

Course Number: HR 324

CRN Number: 10302

Class cap: 15

Credits: 4

Schedule/Location:

 Tue      9:10 AM - 11:30 AM Olin 301

Distributional Area:

AA  Analysis of Art  D+J Difference and Justice

Crosslists: Art History and Visual Culture; Film and Electronic Arts; Photography; Written Arts