98303 |
ARTH 101 Perspectives in World Art |
Diana Minsky |
M . W . . |
3:00
-4:20 pm |
OLIN
102 |
AART |
Perspectives
in World Art is a two-semester
course which introduces the breadth and diversity of the visual arts
worldwide. Students may take either semester or both. In the first
semester, the class examines painting, sculpture, architecture, and other
cultural artifacts from the Paleolithic period through the 14th
century. Works from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas are studied
chronologically in order to situate them in an integrated historical context.
In addition to the course textbook, readings are assigned to broaden critical
perspectives and present different methodological approaches. Requirements
include two papers, a mid-term, a final, and quizzes. This course is open to
all students especially those considering a major in either art history or
studio arts. It is designed for students with no background in art history.
98302 |
ARTH 112 Art and Nation Building |
Julia Rosenbaum |
. T . Th . |
10:30
- 11:50 am |
OLIN
102 |
AART |
Cross-listed: American
Studies, related interest: Human Rights Between 1700 and 1876, a new
nation came to dominate the world scene. This course explores the contribution
of the visual arts to the conceptualization of American national identity from
the founding of colonies through the Federal and Antebellum periods to the
Civil War and Reconstruction. Visualizing a United States proved a complicated
affair, and we will examine artistic efforts to portray the political
experiment of democracy: How should leadership be portrayed? Difference?
National character? Civil War? Among the topics considered will be the role of
visual culture in constructing meanings of race, class, and gender; the
importance of various genres of painting (such as portraiture, history
painting, and landscape) to national politics and culture; the emergence of
American artistic institutions, including schools and museums; and the
relationship of American art making to European traditions. The course serves
as an introduction to the painting, sculpture, photography, and graphic arts of
North America, focusing on the leading artists and art movements of the period.
98298 |
ARTH 130 Introduction to Visual Culture |
Laurie Dahlberg |
. . W . F |
10:30
- 11:50 am |
Fisher
Annex |
AART |
This course teaches
students how to look at, think about, and describe works of art. It constitutes
an introduction to the discipline of art history and to visual artifacts more
broadly defined. Texts will include John Berger, Ways of Seeing,
Nicholas Mirzoeff, Visual Culture Reader, and Henry Sayre, Writing
About Art. Frequent short writing assignments will be based on first-hand
observation of works of art at nearby museums and galleries. This course is
designed for anyone with an interest in, but no formal work, in art history.
Preference will be given to prospective majors and first year and arts division
students. Limited to 15 students.
98296 |
ARTH 135 Medieval Manuscript: Painting from the 4th
through the 15th Century |
Jean French |
M . W . . |
10:30
- 11:50 am |
OLIN
102 |
AART |
Cross
listed: Medieval Studies A survey of Western and Byzantine painting
through manuscript illumination, from the late classical tradition of the
Vatican Virgil to the courtly elegance of the Très Riches Heures of the
Duke of Berry. The course concludes with the early printed books of the 15th
century, popular block books such as the Biblia Pauperum and the Art of Dying,
and the spread of movable type. The primary focus is on paintings and prints.
The format of the book, types of manuscripts and their uses, the roles of
scribe, illuminator, and patron, and the effect of changing patronage on
artistic production are explored.
98300 |
ARTH 140 Survey of Islamic Art |
Susan Aberth |
M . W . . |
1:30
-2:50 pm |
OLIN
102 |
AART/DIFF |
Cross-listed:
Africana Studies. This course offers an introduction to the
widespread visual production created throughout history in the Islamic
world. In addition to architecture and
architectural ornamentation, the course will also look at pottery, metalwork,
textile and carpet weaving, glass, jewelry, calligraphy, book illumination, and
painting. Beginning with the death of
Muhammad in 632 C.E. and continuing through the present, the course will cover
works from Iran, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, Turkey, Spain, China, India,
Indonesia and other areas.
Consideration will also be given to contemporary expressions around the
world.
98297 |
ARTH 176 Chinese Religious Art |
Patricia Karetzky |
. . W . . |
1:30
-3:50 pm |
Fisher
Annex |
AART |
Cross-listed: Asian Studies, Religion A study of
the evolution of religious art and architecture in China through its various
dynasties. Subjects include the mystical arts of ancient Sichuan, the
cosmological symbolism of the Ming Tang hall, the imagery associated with the
Taoist arts of the prolongation of life, the importation of Buddhism from India
and its adaptation in China, ancient Buddhist cave temples, the development of
the pagoda, the evolution of Confucianism into an institutional religion, and
contemporary popular religion. Literary, religious, and historical sources are
considered.
98307 |
ARTH 223 Wild Visions: Picturing Nature in
Early Modern Northern Europe |
Susan Merriam |
M . W . . |
12:00
-1:20 pm |
OLIN
102 |
AART |
Cross-listed:
Envir. Studies, STS Early modern artists, scientists,
adventurers and amateurs created a compelling visual record of the natural
world. The land, sea, animals, fish, reptiles, and the human body--all served
as objects of study, contemplation, and delight for early modern viewers.
Curious artists and observers were enabled in their endeavors by recent
technologies (the microscope and telescope) and recording methods
(printmaking), while an insatiable audience for images of nature provided a
ready market. Nature was celebrated as divine creation and explored as a place
of violence and mystery. Her boundaries were tested and recorded in maps and
landscape paintings, while her bounty was pictured in spectacular still life
paintings, often staged as a contest between nature and art. Cultivated nature
provided a place to play in the form of elaborate gardens, while more sedentary
pleasures were to be found by armchair travelers immersed in the pages of books
illustrating landscapes near and far. Early modern interest in the natural
world was pan-European, but the course will focus on images, objects, and
environments from present day Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Media and materials to be discussed include: painting (still life, landscape,
hunt scenes), drawings (anatomy studies, botanical illustrations), New World
specimens, travel literature, anatomy lessons.
98304 |
ARTH 227 Roman Urbanism from Romulus (753 B.C.E.) to Rutelli (2000
C.E.) |
Diana Minsky |
. T . Th . |
4:00
-5:20 pm |
Fisher
Annex |
AART |
98301 |
ARTH 273 Religious Imagery in Latin America |
Susan Aberth |
. T . Th . |
4:00
-5:20 pm |
OLIN
102 |
AART |
Cross-listed: Africana
Studies, LAIS, SRE This
course will explore the varied visual manifestations of religious expression in
Latin America after the Spanish Conquest. Although Spanish missionaries
originally employed art and architecture as conversion tools, Latin America
ultimately developed unique kinds of Catholic imagery and building types. One
of the topics discussed at length will be the Virgin of Guadalupe and the use
of her image as a tool for building national identity in Mexico, as well as for
other political and cultural movements. In addition to conventional churches,
statuary and paintings, we will examine folk art traditions such as popular
saints and cults, masked performances, and shamanic beliefs tied to healing. A
significant portion of the course will deal with African diasporic religions
such as Candomble and Santería as practiced in Brazil, the Caribbean and the
United States. A significant portion of this course will be dedicated to
contemporary art and practices. In addition to reading and viewing documentary
films, students will be asked to execute and present a number of art projects
such as altars, ex-votos, etc. Students who have taken my “Survey of Latin
American Art” will be given preference, but all are welcome to enroll.
98306 |
ARTH 289 Rights and the Image |
Susan Merriam |
M . W . . |
3:00
-4:20 pm |
CAMPUS
WEIS |
AART |
Cross-listed: Gender and Sexuality Studies, Human
Rights (Core Course) This course examines the relationship between
visual culture and human rights. It considers a wide range of visual media, as
well as aspects of visuality (surveillance, profiling). The course is taught
using case studies ranging in time from the early modern period (practices in
which the body was marked to register criminality, for example) to the present
day (the images at Abu Ghraib). Within this framework, we will study how aspects
of visual culture have been used to advocate for human rights, as well as how
images and visual regimes have been used to suppress human rights. An important
part of the course will consider the role played by reception in shaping a
discourse around human rights, visuality, and images. Subjects to be addressed
include: evidence; documentation and witness; the aestheticization of violence;
disaster pornography; censorship; surveillance; profiling; advocacy images;
signs on the body; visibility and invisibility. Requirements include response
papers, a research paper, and two exams. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor.
98299 |
PHOT / ARTH 313 Photography and the Human Condition |
Laurie Dahlberg |
. . . Th . |
9:30
- 11:50 am |
Fisher
Annex |
AART |
This course is concerned with the photographic
tradition known imperfectly as "documentary" photography, and will
focus particularly on social documentary photography -- that is, photography
aimed at exposing social conditions with the implicit or explicit hope of
effecting social change, initiating social critique, or otherwise raising
viewer consciousness. We will examine the channels through which such
photography is seen -- picture magazines, news media, books, and
musuem/exhibition spaces, in order to better understand the relationship of
documentary photography to institutional power. Critical thinking since
the 1970s has problematized the entire premise of social documentary
photography, and this course will necessarily entail a thoughtful consideration
of the complex politics of representation. Several short papers and
presentations will build toward a final research project.
98295 |
ARTH 331 Venetian Painting of the Renaissance |
Jean French |
M . . . . |
4:30
-6:50 pm |
Fisher
Annex |
AART |
Cross-listed: Italian Studies An introduction
to the major painters of the Venetian School: Gentile and Giovanni Bellini,
Carpaccio, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Titian, and Veronese. Students investigate
the development of independent easel painting, the poetic landscapes of
Giorgione, the enigmatic Venuses of Titian and Veronese, the pageantry of
Venetian narrative cycles, and the special character of Venetian patronage and
the city itself. The class attempts to define those qualities that made for a
distinctively Venetian style.
98308 |
ARTH 340 Seminar in Contemporary Art |
Tom Wolf |
. . W . . |
1:30
-3:50 pm |
Olin
301 |
AART |
A consideration of the
history of recent art, beginning with a short survey of the minimalism of
the 1960s and then focusing on subsequent artistic developments through
the early 21st century. The class meets in New York City every
fourth week to view current exhibitions. Students give
presentations about selected artists and topics to the class.
98492 |
ARTH 347 Encounters: Indigenous Arts, Peoples, and
Identities |
Julia Rosenbaum |
. .
. .F |
10:30
-12:50 pm |
Olin
202 |
AART |
98305 |
ARTH 385 Art Criticism and Methodology |
Susan Merriam |
. T . . . |
1:30
-3:50 pm |
Fisher
Annex |
AART |
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.