ARTH - Art History (ARTH)

Throughout history, art has served human needs related to home and shelter, religion, magic, propaganda, commemoration (individual and collective), instruction, and societal critique. This course aims to familiarize students with the essential place of the visual arts in the human experience across the globe.

General survey of the history of art in the West from prehistory to the present day. Monuments are studied for the ways they both reflect and influence the ideas and values of their particular civilizations. The material is presented both chronologically and thematically. In an age when visual messages play an increasingly pervasive role, this course facilitates the development of visual analysis and interpretation.

Major epochs and areas in the history of architecture and the ordering of man's environment, ranging from the study of village remains of prehistoric times to the urban planning of our day.

Overview of art and architecture in America from colonial times to the 20th Century.

Course explores art practice of those self-identifying as diverse based on categories such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, national origin, age, disability, etc. Studying the dynamic relationship between lived identities and technologies of representations, course examines how identities manifest themselves visually and how such images, in turn, inform how people see themselves and others. Special attention will be given to processes of identity affirmation and disavowal as well as to frictions between “diverse” art practices and notions of “canonicity” in art and visual culture.

An overview of the history of art of the 20th century, from Expressionism and Symbolism to the Postmodern trends of the end of the century. In this course, students learn about the close connection that exists in the twentieth century between art and contemporary social and political developments in Europe and America. In a century that saw two world wars, a major political revolution (Russia), as well as revolutionary developments in science and technology, artists could not remain unaffected by the events of their time. Indeed, the courses stresses how art in the twentieth century was an expression of the sweeping political, social, and technological changes of the modern age.

The course explores the physical fabric and artistic embellishment of Saint Peter’s and the Vatican from Early Christian times through the twentieth century as a way of assessing the development of Catholicism’s distinctive and powerful visual language.

ARTH 2126 The Arts of China and Japan Survey of Far Eastern art from prehistoric times to the 19th century. Original works of art from the University¿s collections used for illustration and examination. (Formerly ARTH 1126) 3 credits

Course covers the history of photography from its nineteenthcentury beginnings to the present. Class charts the evolution of this representational technology in a chronological fashion, and in a subject-focused approach. Survey follows the emergence of photography as an aesthetic practice in historical perspective across geographic and national boundaries. Subjects include landscape photography, pictorialism, chronophotography, social documentary, art photography, street photography and various postmodern practices including video and digital art.

Selected topics in art history. May be repeated for credit under a different number as topics change.

Selected topics in art history. May be repeated for credit under a different number as topics change.

Selected topics in art history. May be repeated for credit under a different number as topics change.

Study and research in individual areas selected by the student in consultation with adviser and department chair. Junior or senior art history majors.

Pass/Fail option only.

The seminar is intended for advanced art history majors, preferably seniors, and possibly others (such as students in the University Honors Program, Women’s Studies, Catholic Studies, etc.), depending on the subject and with permission of the instructor. Its purpose is to involve students in the intense study of a specific topic, selected by the faculty member teaching the course. In a typical seminar, the faculty member gives a series of introductory lectures on the topic. Students read a group of texts related to the topic and these are discussed in class. Students then present a seminar paper on a specific aspect of that topic. The paper, upon presentation, is also submitted as a final project.