Undergraduate Courses
ARTH 100 Survey of Western Art I
The first component of a two-part survey, this course introduces students to the historical and intellectual content of Western art. The course addresses painting, sculpture and architecture from the Paleolithic to the late Medieval period in Europe as presented in terms of history, style, meaning and social context.
ARTH 110 Survey of Western Art II
The second component of a two-part survey, this course introduces students to the historical and intellectual content of Western art. The course addresses painting, sculpture and architecture from the Renaissance of the Early Modern period to the Contemporary in Europe and North America as presented in terms of history, style, meaning and social context. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 100.
ARTH 204 17th-century Art
This course introduces students to the art and architecture of 17th and 18th-century Europe, particularly the art of Italy, Spain, France, Flanders and the Dutch Republic. Individual artists are considered in view of their particular contributions to their cultures as well as their international influence. The course examines the relationship between science, religion, politics and the arts during this critical phase of history. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 205 19th-century Art
This course analyzes the innovative forms of art and culture that led to new ways for artists to view society and their place within it. Consideration is given to the influences of technology, politics, literature and music on painting and sculpture. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 207 20th-century Art
This course addresses significant movements, themes and figures of twentieth-century art. Topics to be considered include the development of modernism, the impact of new technologies of vision, and the effect of new social and political formations on artistic practices. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 209 Renaissance Art
This course provides an overview of the Renaissance, focusing on the role of patronage, the purpose and function of major work of the period, and the materials and techniques used. Students explore the artistic achievements of the Renaissance and explore connections to the period’s continuing impact on today’s art. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 212 18th-century Art
This course examines art produced in 18th-century Europe, emphasizing the art of France, Spain, England and Italy. Distinction is made between the various stylistic periods that occurred during this century, namely the Rococo, Neoclassical and Romantic periods. Art is discussed within its cultural and historical context with an emphasis on visual analysis. A research paper based on 18th-century art is required and introduces the student to effective research and writing skills. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 220 Survey of Asian Art
Using a broad geographic and temporal framework, both the connections between and the distinctive traits of various Asian cultures emerge from a range of media. The contours of regional visual traditions emerge through assessments of technique, style, content, and historical and cultural context. No initial familiarity with Asian studies is required, but rather students develop analytical tools to understand work in a global and regional context. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 226 American Art
This course offers a broad survey of American art, emphasizing painting and sculpture, yet covering other cultural manifestations as well. The social, political and intellectual contexts for the artworks are given strong consideration. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 240 Treasures of Provence
This course enables students to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the rich artistic traditions and the fascinating history of Provence. Class discussion and site visits focus on many of the art collections and architectural monuments found throughout southern France. Class assignments and research projects provide students the opportunity to complement their major or pursue areas of personal interest. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 265 Survey of New Media Art
This course introduces students to the breadth of new media in the digital and imaging arts and the recent history of artistic exploration into these media. Underscoring this survey is the concept that new media have forced art history into expanding the canon and its criteria for examining art. In particular, this course surveys their evolution out of traditional media. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 271 Art of China
Beginning with the earliest evidence from the Neolithic period this course provides an introduction to the visual language, artistic traditions and innovative practices of the cultures of China. Readings, lectures and discussions survey the rich variety of art forms, including ceramics, bronzes, wooden and stone sculpture, painting, decorative arts, architecture and garden design. The course explores content, style and the role of the arts within the framework of Chinese culture and history. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 281 Ancient Art and Architecture
This course examines the formative and historical relationships between art and culture in ancient Mediterranean civilizations. Works of art and architecture are analyzed using a variety of archaeological and art historical approaches. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 282 Medieval Art and Architecture
This course traces the development of the major artistic styles of the Middle Ages (Early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic) as manifested in architecture, sculpture, painting and “minor” art forms such as manuscript illumination. The social and political currents of the times are also explored. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 283 Myth, Bible and Symbol in Art
The purpose of this course is to help students identify major mythological, biblical and symbolic themes in Western art. Students read excerpts from mythological and biblical literature and discuss their depiction in major works of art. Cultural symbols in art are also considered. This course is designed to further prepare student artists to incorporate and reinterpret these cultural resources in their own work and recognize it in the works of other artists. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 285 Power and the Arts in Asia
The art and architecture of Asia exhibit the transformation of imagery by ideological and economic forces of power and authority. A series of historical case studies explore that expression in the arts from the ideological underpinnings of ancient kings and emperors of various states to the impact of colonialism and reactions to colonial rule, and finally the dynamics of power and the arts in modern nation-states. To develop a variety of perspectives and explore methodological strategies, a rich selection of media are examined, including painting, design, public sculpture, architecture and the construction and transformation of the cities before, during and after colonial rule. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 286 The Art of Japan
Beginning with the Neolithic Jomon culture, this course provides an introduction to the visual language, artistic traditions and innovative practices of the cultures of Japan. Readings, lectures and discussions survey the rich variety of art forms including ceramics, bronze, wooden and stone sculpture, painting, decorative arts, architecture and garden design. The course explores content, style and the role of the arts within the framework of Japanese culture and history. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 287 Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
The art and architectural traditions of Africa, native North America, Oceania, pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and/or South America are introduced. Lectures primarily focus on content, context, style, technique and the role of art and architecture in these cultures, with some discussion concerning the interaction of these traditions with Western art and architectural styles. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 288 The Art of Korea
This course surveys the painting, ceramics, sculpture and architecture of the Korean peninsula. With discussions of how various religious and philosophical ideas, native or foreign, influence the creation of Korean art and culture, the artwork is studied in context. Buddhism in Three Kingdom and Koryo period and Neo-Confucianism during Early Chosun dynasty and the Sil-hak movement (Korean Pragmatism) of the 18th and 19th centuries are emphasized in relationship with the creation of new art styles. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 295 Off-campus Special Topics in Art History
The topic of this course, as well as its location, varies from quarter to quarter. Each class focuses on various issues in the art history field, giving students an opportunity to pursue individual projects related to the subject of the course. Prerequisite(s): Vary according to topic.
ARTH 300 Censored Art through 1945
Art has been and continues to be an arena for society’s expression of itself and its values. Throughout history, works of art that were deemed threatening to the status quo have been censored, whether for stylistic or thematic reasons. This course examines specific works of art that have been censored in European and American art through 1945. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 303 Contemporary African Art
This course examines the powerful influence of Western arts and culture on art and artists of Africa. The course seeks to establish the veracity of the concept termed “Reciprocity or Symbiotic Existences” between cultures and in the process, portray the reality in African art. The influence of African art on Western European art and culture has been exhaustively published, but not much has been said about the reciprocal gesture of Western arts. This course progresses along a structured path that guides the student from authentic traditional art/culture through the transitional and to the Modern/Contemporary, at which stage, Western arts and culture replaces the religious-spiritual-functional arts of traditional or ancient Africa. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 311 Art and Architecture of India
This course surveys the architecture, painting and sculpture of the Indian subcontinent. The work is studied in context, with discussions of how Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Muslim religions relate to the artistic production of the society. The purposes and functions of the various temples, sculptures and paintings are emphasized, and students gain an overall awareness of the different uses of art in India versus the West. Literary texts provide a contextual background. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 326 Early Medieval Art and Architecture of Western Europe
This course traces the development of the major artistic styles of the early Middle Ages (Hiberno-Saxon, Carolingian, Ottonian, Anglo-Saxon) as manifested in architecture, sculpture, painting and “minor” art forms such as manuscript illumination. The social and political currents of the times are also explored. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 329 Medieval Art and Architecture of Provence
Independent of France until the fifteenth century, Provence developed a distinctive style of art and architecture during the Middle Ages. By presenting a broad range of both religious and secular monuments, the course reveals the complex history of medieval art and architecture in the region. The physical artifacts provide ample opportunities to explore the unique development and cultural context of medieval arts in Provence. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 333 Egyptian Art and Archaeology
This course examines the artistic contribution of the ancient Egyptian civilization over a chronological continuum of more than three millennia, from the Predynastic cultures in the North and South through the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Special attention is given to current archaeological discoveries in Egypt, the importance of hieroglyphs in the understanding of Egyptian art and the phenomenon of Egyptianization throughout the history of Western art. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 335 Early Christian and Byzantine Art and Architecture
This course examines the major developments in the visual arts from 313 A.D. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Works of painting, sculpture, luxury arts and architecture are analyzed in terms of style and meaning (iconography), with an emphasis on the social and historical context in which these pieces were produced. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 338 Design and Decorative Arts in Medieval Europe
Art of the Middle Ages came in many different forms. The focus of this course is on the decorative and other minor arts, which include textiles, fashion, metalwork, lapidary carving, jewelry and small-scale sculpture. Discussions of their function in a variety of contexts throughout the Middle Ages are the primary concentrations. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 340 Art Since 1945
This course is a chronological survey of major theory, art movements and monuments from 1945 to the present. Each student is expected to develop verbal and written skills in discussing contemporary art and to learn to identify significant characteristics of art of the recent past and the present. This course is intended to promote the student’s understanding of artistic style and to expand knowledge of the debates regarding contemporary critical theory and art criticism. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 342 Art and Spirituality
The late 19th-century and early 20th-century witnessed the development of consciously abstracted and deliberately spiritual approaches to painting and sculpture in Europe. The most important styles, groups and artists of this trend include Symbolism, Nabis, Der Blaue Reiter and Suprematism, and key figures such as Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian. This course explores their art and aesthetic developments within their historical context. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 343 Installation and Environmental Art
This course focuses on the unique forms of installation and environmental art since 1960. Artists have created works that are directly dependent upon their interior or exterior settings. The course examines chronologically the post-World War II history of installation art, leading to the artistic move outside and into the natural landscape (a divergent tradition from historical public sculpture). Additionally, discussion focuses on the strong relationship between architectural conceptualization and the notions underscoring these forms. In particular, these sculptural works are examined as representing a consequence, corollary, reaction or response to architecture and the landscape. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 347 Great Masters’ Materials and Techniques
This course delves below the surface to explore the physical character of paintings, manuscripts and stained-glass windows by northern and southern European artists from 1100 to 1600. Antique treatises and recipe books regarding artists’ materials and techniques are studied. Emphasis is placed on how and with what artists created works of art, with recent results of the scientific examination of art providing substantial basis for insights. Conservation issues are also considered in light of new studies in this field. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 348 British Portraiture
In British culture, the portrait emerged from the Renaissance as the principal art form. Social change, particularly religious upheaval and economic development, led to the dominance of secular imagery. Alongside landscape representations, powerful landed gentry commissioned portraits demonstrating new wealth, expressing the continuity of culture and creating patronage for the arts. The course explores content, style and technique of work and develops an understanding of the context and role of portraiture in British society in the Modern period. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 350 Survey of Women in Art
This course surveys women’s involvement in and relationship to the visual arts from antiquity through postmodernism. Study focuses on the factors involved in women’s access to artistic production and their major contributions to the history of art. Students are encouraged to consider the historical reality of women’s participation in art and architecture through the ages. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 351 Native American Art I
This course is part of an investigation of the artistic traditions of native North America. Regions studied include the prehistoric Eastern Woodlands, historic Southeast, Northeast, Sub-Arctic, Arctic and Northwest Coast. Discussions are concerned primarily with content, context, style, technique and the role of art in these diverse cultures. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 356 Digital Art and Culture
This course examines the use of digital technology in art history and visual culture and provides a framework to discuss prevailing theoretical issues. Students explore the practice of digital art on a global level and are introduced to relevant concepts involved in the discourse. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 357 Greek Art and Archaeology
This course examines the principal monuments of Greek art and archaeology. Works of painting, sculpture and architecture are discussed in terms of style, meaning and social context. The course provides a basic understanding of the so-called “cradle” of Western civilization and its influence on later Western art. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 358 Roman Art and Archaeology
This course examines the principal monuments of the Roman world and some of the archaeological practices that have brought them to light. Painting, sculpture, architecture and material culture in general are considered, as they reflect social, political and aesthetic attitudes in the ancient world. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 361 Native American Art II
This course is part of an introduction to the artistic traditions of native North America. Regions studied in this course include the Northwest Coast, plateau, Great Plains, Great Basin, California and the American Southwest. Discussions are primarily concerned with content, context, style, technique and the role of art in these diverse cultures. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 365 World Rock Art
Rock paintings or rock carvings from around the world are a record of people connecting meaning and place. Topics to be discussed would include site studies from Paleolithic Europe, Neolithic Africa, North America and Australia, as well as consideration of contemporary methodologies and issues in the field, with particular emphasis on site preservation and management. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 366 British Literary Art of the 19th Century
Nineteenth-century literature possessed a strong influence on contemporary British painting. The verbal and visual dialogue between these two art forms emerges from the poetry, novels and other forms of prose, and finds an application in the visual artwork of 19th-century Britain. The course develops the artistic, aesthetic and theoretical inter-relationship between art and literature in British culture during the 19th century. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 367 18th-century English Art and Design
Painting, sculpture, design, landscape and architecture are examined within the context of an English Georgian society that variously placed an emphasis on polite society, class distinction, the study of classical art and culture, nature, commerce and the romantic. Individual work is studied within the larger context of the patron’s and maker’s physical, social and psychological milieus. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 368 British Modernism
British art in the early half of the twentieth century was predicated upon an ambivalent relationship with Modernism. The dominant English tradition in art, associated with romantic individualism, empiricism and the importance of literary and allegorical subject matter was at odds with the aims of European modernism. A corresponding issue is the way in which the discourse of British art has created a particular kind of division between figurative artists, often deemed eccentric and conservative, and those who engaged with the socio-political aspects of Continental modernism. Alternatively, this course traces the genealogy of British modernism thematically, discussing the significance of rural revivalism, formalism, futurism, primitivism, abstraction and surrealism as central to its manifestation. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 369 Russian Modernism
The history of modern Russian art is the product of the same discourses that defined all Western modernist movements. Through the study of Russian painting, sculpture, architecture, film and theatrical settings, this course addresses fundamental issues that are raised in an examination of modernism in any national context. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 370 French Modernism
During the 19th century, Paris was the center for artistic change in Europe. This course explores the work and theories of major French painters, sculptors and architects, with special consideration given to history and the emerging technologies. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 372 French Impressionism
This course explores ideas and images pertinent to French Impressionism. Its objective is to increase students’ knowledge of French Impressionist art and to equip students with standard research methodologies employed for art historical analyses at their differing stages in professional development. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 123, ARTH 110, and ARTH 205 or ARTH 207.
ARTH 373 New York as an Art Capital of the World
Europeans acknowledged the status of the visual arts in New York only after World War II. This recognition was partly due to the new museums that were founded after the 1920s: The Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum and the Guggenheim. Students in this course visit all of these museums, in addition to more recently founded institutions and current galleries of the 57th Street and Madison Avenue areas. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 374 African Art: Beyond the Object
This course is an introduction to the traditional art of Africa. The course explores the rich and “exotic” cultural traditions of African peoples outside the influence of Euro-American cultures. The course focuses on developing an appreciation of other cultures and exploring their limitless potentials to work with Western cultures in the spirit of reciprocity. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 375 Art and Architecture of 16th-century Italy
Michelangelo’s heroic masterpieces reflect many of the contradictions represented by Italian artists during the 16th century. This course focuses on developments in artistic theory and design that enlighten and explain the dramatic intensity and stylistic changes from the grandeur of High Renaissance art to the complexities presented by the Mannerists. Work of principal painters and sculptors of the period is studied: the Venetian masters Titian and Tintoretto, the Florentine masters Bronzino and Rosso, and others. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 376 Downtown in the Eighties: Painting, Punk and Photography in New York
The 1980s in New York were a time of tremendous change and experimentation in the art world. From the influence of Punk to Graffiti art, Appropriation and Neo-Expressionism, the downtown art scene redefined the cultural landscape of New York. This course undertakes an in-depth study of this particular period, focusing on the use of the photograph across diverse art media and practices. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 377 Photography and Modernity
From its invention in 1839 through the twentieth century, photography has been a key factor in shaping and defining modernity. Photography and Modernity explores such topics as the invention of the medium and technical innovations, commercial photography, the spread of photography across the globe, photojournalism, movements of art photography, including pictorialism and surrealism, and social documentary. Photographs are studied as both art objects and historical artifacts. Recurring issues include the debates between art photography and documentary photography, government and private patronage, individual and collective endeavors, original and published prints and urban and landscape views. Students read key texts by foundational writers as well as theoretical essays by contemporary scholars. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 378 Masterpieces in English Collections
Students explore the visual wealth of the great English collections. In particular, the course focuses on the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Courtauld Institute in London. Students view works from the Parthenon sculptures, medieval treasures, Old Master paintings by Jan Van Eyck, Leonardo, Titian, works by English artists such as John Constable and a host of non-Western treasures. The English passion for collecting is explored in great country houses. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 380 Northern Renaissance Art
This course covers the great artistic achievements and the diverse social conditions north of the Alps from approximately 1350-1575. The role that the church and nobility played in the invention and development of oil painting is studied, as well as the role prints played in creating the unprecedented spread of information, leading to an awareness of classicism and playing a significant role in the Reformation. The technical development of prints and the importance of religious sculpture also are studied. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARTH course.
ARTH 381 Italian Renaissance Art
This course examines Italian art and architecture from the early 14th to the middle 16th centuries. The content and the context of the artwork, its form and function, and the lives of the artists and architects who produced it are given special emphasis. Questions of patronage and the influence of humanism as seen through classical and contemporary literature are examined. The differences in regional styles are critically analyzed. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 383 Ancient Mesoamerican Art and Architecture
The visual arts and architecture of the indigenous cultures of ancient Mexico and northern Central America are explored from 1500 BCE-1550 CE. Architectural monuments, sculpture, fresco and manuscript painting, lapidary arts, featherwork, textiles, ceramics and metalwork of the Olmec, Teotihuacano, Maya and Mexica Aztec, among other cultures, are discussed within their socio-political and ritual contexts and in terms of their expressive content: subject matter; form; and materials and techniques. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 385 Ancient Central Andean Art and Architecture
The visual arts and architecture of the indigenous cultures of primarily Peru and Bolivia are explored prior to 1550 CE. Architecture, sculpture, wall painting, lapidary arts, featherwork, textiles, ceramics and metalwork of the Chavín, Paracas, Nasca, Moche, Chimú and Inka cultures are discussed within their socio-political and ritual contexts and in terms of their expressive content: subject matter; form; and materials and techniques. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 391 Roman Art and Architecture in Provence
The southern French region of Provence was one of the earliest provinces to be attached to the Roman Empire. Provence is fortunate to still possess many monuments from the Roman era, and affords students the opportunity to see and experience firsthand many examples of Roman art and architecture. In addition, class discussions and assignments provide the opportunity for the student to learn about the history of Roman Provence and its importance to the Roman Empire. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 395 Off-campus Special Topics in Art History
The topic of this course, as well as its location, varies from quarter to quarter. Each class focuses on various issues in the art history field, giving students an opportunity to pursue individual projects related to the subject of the course. Prerequisite(s): Vary according to topic.
ARTH 396 Art and Architectural Treasures of the Vatican
This course concentrates on the historical development of major art and architectural monuments at the Vatican. Topics include such themes as the Vatican area in classical times, the Vatican cemetery, the Petrine tradition, Constantine’s Church, New St. Peter’s, the Sistine Chapel, the Stanze, and the Vatican gardens and museum collections. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 400 Methods of Art History
This course introduces students majoring in art history to the multiplicity of theoretical frameworks and methodologies that have defined the history of art as a discipline. The course explores its evolution as a field of study, seeking to understand the ways in which art historians have established the autonomy of their subject. The course addresses the many intersections with other disciplines and bodies of knowledge, and supports the development of the B.F.A. art history thesis project. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARTH course, permission of the department chair.
ARTH 404 Caricature and Satire in 18th-century British Culture
William Hogarth was the foremost visual satirist of 18th-century British culture. His oeuvre's commentary on the social, political and intellectual issues of 1720s-1760s Great Britain and (to a lesser extent) his influence on contemporaneous and subsequent artists are analyzed through readings, discussions, research and writings. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 405 Visual Constructs: Perspective, Representation and Cognitive Mapping
Visuality in the representation and experience of space is culturally determined. In Western art since the 15th century, the constructs depend on the history and theory of perspective and projection drawing. Optical theories and practices developed during the Early Modern period explained the geometric properties of Euclidean space and depend upon seeing, knowing and creating within scalable space. This course explores the mechanisms of constructing vision by the conventions of linear and nonlinear perspective, orthographic and projection drawing, distorted representations, movement, and the responses to form and environment. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 406 Media and Modernity
This course offers students interested in media technologies the opportunity to engage directly with the art-historical and theoretical debates prompted by those technologies—debates that recur throughout the twentieth century, and continue unabated into the present day. Through intensive readings, discussion and writing, students explore the rise and growth of the mass media—from the gramophone to Internet radio, photography to Adobe Photoshop, the Lumières to 3-D digital cinema—in light of the larger context of a rapidly modernizing world. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 408 Museum Culture
This course provides a historical overview of the development, nature, evolution, form, function, purpose and meaning of the art museum in Europe, North America and in the developing world through course readings, class discussions and review of case studies of major museums. The structure of the art museum is discussed, along with museum theory and applied museology. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ ARTH course.
ARTH 415 Medieval Manuscripts
The medieval manuscript provided artists with the most important venue for painting for more than 1,200 years. Students learn how and why they were made by exploring production practices and patronage. The socio-historical context under which this fine work was created is a significant component of this course. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 417 Problems in Art History: A Crisis in Art Criticism?
Prominent art writers have proclaimed a "crisis in art criticism." This course examines this 'crisis,' if it indeed exists, through reading critics' own arguments on the state of the field; through historical writings; through careful analysis of recent art criticism; and through an examination of the theoretical issues that preoccupy today's contemporary artists and, thus, their critics. Students explore the key historical figures who shaped the discipline of art criticism since the late 19th century in order to understand how the discourse of criticism has influenced, and been influenced by, changes in the art world. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 420 Visual Culture
Students learn to use the language of visual culture with a particular focus on the symbols, strategies and messages employed. Incorporating the methods of art analysis, the course introduces students to different forms of visual culture (television, advertising, fashion, gaming, architecture and the media), while comparing and contrasting these within a philosophical and historical setting. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 421 Rome in the Middle Ages
Rome in the Middle Ages is the story of a city re-inventing itself, evolving from the capital of an empire to the headquarters of the Catholic Church in the West. This course focuses on the evolution of art and architecture in medieval Rome, and how the popes employed this work to convey both political and religious messages glorifying the papacy, the Church and the city of Rome. Students also explore the increasing importance of Rome as a spiritual center and pilgrimage destination and the city's impact on Western Europe. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 440 Problems in Renaissance Art: Mannerism
This seminar examines the style titled “Mannerism” by scholars centuries after it had already ended. Art and artists considered are those from the 16th century in Italy who provided an alternative style to what is most often called the “High Renaissance” practiced by Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. The term and the movement have been questioned repeatedly over the past five decades especially in regards to its proposed dates, influences, development and practitioners. After presenting a foundation for the etymology of Mannerism/maniera, this course includes intense reading, discussion and analysis of the scholarship since the International Conference on the style in question (1963). Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 447 The Hybrid City: Ancient and Early Modern Rome
The distinctive urban fabric of Rome captures the eye of the artist and architect by the dynamic presence of the ancient city as a continuous actor within the contemporary city. This seminar pays particular attention to visual representations of the city and her monuments to uncover the union of the ancient and modern. The documents of the 15th and 16th centuries fuse the diachronic artifacts of history into a synchronic view of ancient and contemporary Rome. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 450 Caravaggio
The developments in the art of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and his characteristic style of painting have continued to inspire artists and scholars for the past four centuries. His mastery of different genre and narratives formulated a Baroque language that continues to influence "Caravaggio studies." From his contemporary audience to our own day, the critical responses and historiography of those critiques construct the investigation into the life and work of Caravaggio. A variety of methodologies are considered to better understand this innovator and instigator of the Baroque style and the consequence of his artistic practice and conventions on generations of painters. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 459 The Art of the Ruin
This course traces the art resulting from human interest in the wrecked remains of civilizations past. From the early modern period on, artists have held a special fascination for ancient buildings left half standing, sculptures in fragments, and what profound lessons such objects of melancholic beauty hold. Looking at, thinking about, and making art in response to the buildings and monuments that humanity has made, but that time has unmade, has long been an especially poignant exercise for artists, perpetually engaged as they themselves are in processes of making and unmaking. Using the interest in Roman ruins as a starting point, students who take this course learn the specialized visual language of the art of the ruin and the many ways in which artists and thinkers described and determined the ruin's cultural significance. Case studies from across any period and culture form the basis of student research projects. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 471 The Madness of Photography
In Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes defines the photograph as "a new form of hallucination: false on the level of perception, true on the level of time…a mad image: chafed by reality." For Barthes, photography's inherent madness makes it a bizarre medium, tamed by a society that either reifies it into art or renders it banal beyond distinction with regard to the onslaught of images characteristic of modern life. The madness of photography is both poetically and ontologically central to the medium and is discernible from its origins. New perspectives on the many implications of madness in photography's history, theory and practice are explored by turning attention to the irrationality at the center of the seemingly objective process. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 476 Documentary Photography and the Portrait 1945–Present
Covering the history of documentary photography from c. 1945 to the present, students examine major photographic movements, styles, critics and theoretical perspectives. The focus is on the rich and varied critical and theoretical discourse circulating between photographs, or images using photography, and the texts which helped frame the most significant contributions to contemporary photography. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 477 Critical and Theoretical Approaches to Photography Since 1945
Addressing the history of photography from circa 1945 to the present, this course examines major photographic movements, styles, critics and theoretical perspectives. The course focuses on the rich and varied critical and theoretical discourse circulating between photographs, or images using photography, and the texts which helped frame the most significant contributions to contemporary photography. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 480 After Postmodernism
During the first half of the last century, Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and Heinrich Woelfflin defined theoretical cornerstones for the emerging discipline of art history. Today, contemporary art history faces multiple challenges from aesthetics, visual culture, media theory and the blurring line between “high” art and “low” art. After the linguistic turn, the pictorial turn and the iconic turn, all that is left is an undefined Bildwissenschaft (image science). Recent research practices call for the reevaluation of the foundations of art history. The goal of this course is to discuss some of the methodological challenges after postmodernism. Students learn prevalent notions in the discourse and engage in the contestation of ideas. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 481 Gender and the Body
Questions regarding gender and the body have impacted all areas of contemporary art. Feminist history, the Civil Rights Movement, the Stonewall riots, and other historical circumstances have given rise to a theoretical discourse and shape the so-called Second and Third Waves of Feminism from 1970 to the present. This course covers topics such as, but not limited to: the history of "feminisms," Feminism and gender questions as theoretical frameworks, the history of women as artists, the relationship of Feminism, Civil Rights, Queer Theory, Cyberfeminism, and "post-feminism" to artistic and art historical practice. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH or ARTH course.
ARTH 482 Weimar Photography, Art and Design
The interwar period between the World Wars is key to any understanding of the history of art for the significant development of the international avant-garde. Particularly in Germany, the establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1918 created a moment that was highly experimental, performative, political and contingent upon the rapidly changing social and economic climate. The course fosters an in-depth understanding of the political scene. It considers the effects of war upon culture and confronts this era in relation to the history of international and German politics, economics, feminism, graphic design, photography, art and cinema. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 491 Topics in New Media Art
This course provides an in-depth theoretical and critical investigation of a particular topic within the new media arts. The topic varies from quarter to quarter; however, the course is intended to provide students with the opportunity to refine their expertise in a specific field of inquiry. Prerequisite(s): Varies according to topic.
ARTH 493 Visiting Scholar/Curator
Taught by both a visiting scholar/curator and a SCAD faculty member, this seminar is organized around the expertise of the visiting scholar/curator. Students read and discuss the visiting scholar/curator's work and other work of comparable scope, scale or historical context. Through discussions, workshops, criticism and research projects students work with the visiting scholar/curator to expand their critical understanding and the historical and cultural context of research projects or exhibitions. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 496 Special Topics in Art History
The topic of this course varies from quarter to quarter. Each class focuses on various issues in the art history field, giving students an opportunity to pursue individual projects related to the subject of the course. Prerequisite(s): Vary according to topic.
ARTH 499 Art History B.F.A. Thesis
This course provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate sound scholarly methodology and critical thinking skills as they select a topic, research it and write an advanced research paper under the supervision of a faculty committee. The thesis topic must be approved at least one quarter in advance by a faculty adviser. The course is designed for senior art history majors. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 400, permission of the department chair.
The first component of a two-part survey, this course introduces students to the historical and intellectual content of Western art. The course addresses painting, sculpture and architecture from the Paleolithic to the late Medieval period in Europe as presented in terms of history, style, meaning and social context.
ARTH 110 Survey of Western Art II
The second component of a two-part survey, this course introduces students to the historical and intellectual content of Western art. The course addresses painting, sculpture and architecture from the Renaissance of the Early Modern period to the Contemporary in Europe and North America as presented in terms of history, style, meaning and social context. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 100.
ARTH 204 17th-century Art
This course introduces students to the art and architecture of 17th and 18th-century Europe, particularly the art of Italy, Spain, France, Flanders and the Dutch Republic. Individual artists are considered in view of their particular contributions to their cultures as well as their international influence. The course examines the relationship between science, religion, politics and the arts during this critical phase of history. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 205 19th-century Art
This course analyzes the innovative forms of art and culture that led to new ways for artists to view society and their place within it. Consideration is given to the influences of technology, politics, literature and music on painting and sculpture. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 207 20th-century Art
This course addresses significant movements, themes and figures of twentieth-century art. Topics to be considered include the development of modernism, the impact of new technologies of vision, and the effect of new social and political formations on artistic practices. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 209 Renaissance Art
This course provides an overview of the Renaissance, focusing on the role of patronage, the purpose and function of major work of the period, and the materials and techniques used. Students explore the artistic achievements of the Renaissance and explore connections to the period’s continuing impact on today’s art. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 212 18th-century Art
This course examines art produced in 18th-century Europe, emphasizing the art of France, Spain, England and Italy. Distinction is made between the various stylistic periods that occurred during this century, namely the Rococo, Neoclassical and Romantic periods. Art is discussed within its cultural and historical context with an emphasis on visual analysis. A research paper based on 18th-century art is required and introduces the student to effective research and writing skills. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 220 Survey of Asian Art
Using a broad geographic and temporal framework, both the connections between and the distinctive traits of various Asian cultures emerge from a range of media. The contours of regional visual traditions emerge through assessments of technique, style, content, and historical and cultural context. No initial familiarity with Asian studies is required, but rather students develop analytical tools to understand work in a global and regional context. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 226 American Art
This course offers a broad survey of American art, emphasizing painting and sculpture, yet covering other cultural manifestations as well. The social, political and intellectual contexts for the artworks are given strong consideration. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 240 Treasures of Provence
This course enables students to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the rich artistic traditions and the fascinating history of Provence. Class discussion and site visits focus on many of the art collections and architectural monuments found throughout southern France. Class assignments and research projects provide students the opportunity to complement their major or pursue areas of personal interest. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 265 Survey of New Media Art
This course introduces students to the breadth of new media in the digital and imaging arts and the recent history of artistic exploration into these media. Underscoring this survey is the concept that new media have forced art history into expanding the canon and its criteria for examining art. In particular, this course surveys their evolution out of traditional media. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 271 Art of China
Beginning with the earliest evidence from the Neolithic period this course provides an introduction to the visual language, artistic traditions and innovative practices of the cultures of China. Readings, lectures and discussions survey the rich variety of art forms, including ceramics, bronzes, wooden and stone sculpture, painting, decorative arts, architecture and garden design. The course explores content, style and the role of the arts within the framework of Chinese culture and history. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 281 Ancient Art and Architecture
This course examines the formative and historical relationships between art and culture in ancient Mediterranean civilizations. Works of art and architecture are analyzed using a variety of archaeological and art historical approaches. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 282 Medieval Art and Architecture
This course traces the development of the major artistic styles of the Middle Ages (Early Christian, Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic) as manifested in architecture, sculpture, painting and “minor” art forms such as manuscript illumination. The social and political currents of the times are also explored. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 283 Myth, Bible and Symbol in Art
The purpose of this course is to help students identify major mythological, biblical and symbolic themes in Western art. Students read excerpts from mythological and biblical literature and discuss their depiction in major works of art. Cultural symbols in art are also considered. This course is designed to further prepare student artists to incorporate and reinterpret these cultural resources in their own work and recognize it in the works of other artists. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 285 Power and the Arts in Asia
The art and architecture of Asia exhibit the transformation of imagery by ideological and economic forces of power and authority. A series of historical case studies explore that expression in the arts from the ideological underpinnings of ancient kings and emperors of various states to the impact of colonialism and reactions to colonial rule, and finally the dynamics of power and the arts in modern nation-states. To develop a variety of perspectives and explore methodological strategies, a rich selection of media are examined, including painting, design, public sculpture, architecture and the construction and transformation of the cities before, during and after colonial rule. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 286 The Art of Japan
Beginning with the Neolithic Jomon culture, this course provides an introduction to the visual language, artistic traditions and innovative practices of the cultures of Japan. Readings, lectures and discussions survey the rich variety of art forms including ceramics, bronze, wooden and stone sculpture, painting, decorative arts, architecture and garden design. The course explores content, style and the role of the arts within the framework of Japanese culture and history. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 287 Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
The art and architectural traditions of Africa, native North America, Oceania, pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and/or South America are introduced. Lectures primarily focus on content, context, style, technique and the role of art and architecture in these cultures, with some discussion concerning the interaction of these traditions with Western art and architectural styles. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 288 The Art of Korea
This course surveys the painting, ceramics, sculpture and architecture of the Korean peninsula. With discussions of how various religious and philosophical ideas, native or foreign, influence the creation of Korean art and culture, the artwork is studied in context. Buddhism in Three Kingdom and Koryo period and Neo-Confucianism during Early Chosun dynasty and the Sil-hak movement (Korean Pragmatism) of the 18th and 19th centuries are emphasized in relationship with the creation of new art styles. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 110, ENGL 123.
ARTH 295 Off-campus Special Topics in Art History
The topic of this course, as well as its location, varies from quarter to quarter. Each class focuses on various issues in the art history field, giving students an opportunity to pursue individual projects related to the subject of the course. Prerequisite(s): Vary according to topic.
ARTH 300 Censored Art through 1945
Art has been and continues to be an arena for society’s expression of itself and its values. Throughout history, works of art that were deemed threatening to the status quo have been censored, whether for stylistic or thematic reasons. This course examines specific works of art that have been censored in European and American art through 1945. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 303 Contemporary African Art
This course examines the powerful influence of Western arts and culture on art and artists of Africa. The course seeks to establish the veracity of the concept termed “Reciprocity or Symbiotic Existences” between cultures and in the process, portray the reality in African art. The influence of African art on Western European art and culture has been exhaustively published, but not much has been said about the reciprocal gesture of Western arts. This course progresses along a structured path that guides the student from authentic traditional art/culture through the transitional and to the Modern/Contemporary, at which stage, Western arts and culture replaces the religious-spiritual-functional arts of traditional or ancient Africa. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 311 Art and Architecture of India
This course surveys the architecture, painting and sculpture of the Indian subcontinent. The work is studied in context, with discussions of how Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Muslim religions relate to the artistic production of the society. The purposes and functions of the various temples, sculptures and paintings are emphasized, and students gain an overall awareness of the different uses of art in India versus the West. Literary texts provide a contextual background. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 326 Early Medieval Art and Architecture of Western Europe
This course traces the development of the major artistic styles of the early Middle Ages (Hiberno-Saxon, Carolingian, Ottonian, Anglo-Saxon) as manifested in architecture, sculpture, painting and “minor” art forms such as manuscript illumination. The social and political currents of the times are also explored. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 329 Medieval Art and Architecture of Provence
Independent of France until the fifteenth century, Provence developed a distinctive style of art and architecture during the Middle Ages. By presenting a broad range of both religious and secular monuments, the course reveals the complex history of medieval art and architecture in the region. The physical artifacts provide ample opportunities to explore the unique development and cultural context of medieval arts in Provence. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 333 Egyptian Art and Archaeology
This course examines the artistic contribution of the ancient Egyptian civilization over a chronological continuum of more than three millennia, from the Predynastic cultures in the North and South through the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Special attention is given to current archaeological discoveries in Egypt, the importance of hieroglyphs in the understanding of Egyptian art and the phenomenon of Egyptianization throughout the history of Western art. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 335 Early Christian and Byzantine Art and Architecture
This course examines the major developments in the visual arts from 313 A.D. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. Works of painting, sculpture, luxury arts and architecture are analyzed in terms of style and meaning (iconography), with an emphasis on the social and historical context in which these pieces were produced. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 338 Design and Decorative Arts in Medieval Europe
Art of the Middle Ages came in many different forms. The focus of this course is on the decorative and other minor arts, which include textiles, fashion, metalwork, lapidary carving, jewelry and small-scale sculpture. Discussions of their function in a variety of contexts throughout the Middle Ages are the primary concentrations. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 340 Art Since 1945
This course is a chronological survey of major theory, art movements and monuments from 1945 to the present. Each student is expected to develop verbal and written skills in discussing contemporary art and to learn to identify significant characteristics of art of the recent past and the present. This course is intended to promote the student’s understanding of artistic style and to expand knowledge of the debates regarding contemporary critical theory and art criticism. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 342 Art and Spirituality
The late 19th-century and early 20th-century witnessed the development of consciously abstracted and deliberately spiritual approaches to painting and sculpture in Europe. The most important styles, groups and artists of this trend include Symbolism, Nabis, Der Blaue Reiter and Suprematism, and key figures such as Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian. This course explores their art and aesthetic developments within their historical context. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 343 Installation and Environmental Art
This course focuses on the unique forms of installation and environmental art since 1960. Artists have created works that are directly dependent upon their interior or exterior settings. The course examines chronologically the post-World War II history of installation art, leading to the artistic move outside and into the natural landscape (a divergent tradition from historical public sculpture). Additionally, discussion focuses on the strong relationship between architectural conceptualization and the notions underscoring these forms. In particular, these sculptural works are examined as representing a consequence, corollary, reaction or response to architecture and the landscape. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 347 Great Masters’ Materials and Techniques
This course delves below the surface to explore the physical character of paintings, manuscripts and stained-glass windows by northern and southern European artists from 1100 to 1600. Antique treatises and recipe books regarding artists’ materials and techniques are studied. Emphasis is placed on how and with what artists created works of art, with recent results of the scientific examination of art providing substantial basis for insights. Conservation issues are also considered in light of new studies in this field. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 348 British Portraiture
In British culture, the portrait emerged from the Renaissance as the principal art form. Social change, particularly religious upheaval and economic development, led to the dominance of secular imagery. Alongside landscape representations, powerful landed gentry commissioned portraits demonstrating new wealth, expressing the continuity of culture and creating patronage for the arts. The course explores content, style and technique of work and develops an understanding of the context and role of portraiture in British society in the Modern period. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 350 Survey of Women in Art
This course surveys women’s involvement in and relationship to the visual arts from antiquity through postmodernism. Study focuses on the factors involved in women’s access to artistic production and their major contributions to the history of art. Students are encouraged to consider the historical reality of women’s participation in art and architecture through the ages. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 351 Native American Art I
This course is part of an investigation of the artistic traditions of native North America. Regions studied include the prehistoric Eastern Woodlands, historic Southeast, Northeast, Sub-Arctic, Arctic and Northwest Coast. Discussions are concerned primarily with content, context, style, technique and the role of art in these diverse cultures. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 356 Digital Art and Culture
This course examines the use of digital technology in art history and visual culture and provides a framework to discuss prevailing theoretical issues. Students explore the practice of digital art on a global level and are introduced to relevant concepts involved in the discourse. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 357 Greek Art and Archaeology
This course examines the principal monuments of Greek art and archaeology. Works of painting, sculpture and architecture are discussed in terms of style, meaning and social context. The course provides a basic understanding of the so-called “cradle” of Western civilization and its influence on later Western art. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 358 Roman Art and Archaeology
This course examines the principal monuments of the Roman world and some of the archaeological practices that have brought them to light. Painting, sculpture, architecture and material culture in general are considered, as they reflect social, political and aesthetic attitudes in the ancient world. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 361 Native American Art II
This course is part of an introduction to the artistic traditions of native North America. Regions studied in this course include the Northwest Coast, plateau, Great Plains, Great Basin, California and the American Southwest. Discussions are primarily concerned with content, context, style, technique and the role of art in these diverse cultures. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 365 World Rock Art
Rock paintings or rock carvings from around the world are a record of people connecting meaning and place. Topics to be discussed would include site studies from Paleolithic Europe, Neolithic Africa, North America and Australia, as well as consideration of contemporary methodologies and issues in the field, with particular emphasis on site preservation and management. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 366 British Literary Art of the 19th Century
Nineteenth-century literature possessed a strong influence on contemporary British painting. The verbal and visual dialogue between these two art forms emerges from the poetry, novels and other forms of prose, and finds an application in the visual artwork of 19th-century Britain. The course develops the artistic, aesthetic and theoretical inter-relationship between art and literature in British culture during the 19th century. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 367 18th-century English Art and Design
Painting, sculpture, design, landscape and architecture are examined within the context of an English Georgian society that variously placed an emphasis on polite society, class distinction, the study of classical art and culture, nature, commerce and the romantic. Individual work is studied within the larger context of the patron’s and maker’s physical, social and psychological milieus. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 368 British Modernism
British art in the early half of the twentieth century was predicated upon an ambivalent relationship with Modernism. The dominant English tradition in art, associated with romantic individualism, empiricism and the importance of literary and allegorical subject matter was at odds with the aims of European modernism. A corresponding issue is the way in which the discourse of British art has created a particular kind of division between figurative artists, often deemed eccentric and conservative, and those who engaged with the socio-political aspects of Continental modernism. Alternatively, this course traces the genealogy of British modernism thematically, discussing the significance of rural revivalism, formalism, futurism, primitivism, abstraction and surrealism as central to its manifestation. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 369 Russian Modernism
The history of modern Russian art is the product of the same discourses that defined all Western modernist movements. Through the study of Russian painting, sculpture, architecture, film and theatrical settings, this course addresses fundamental issues that are raised in an examination of modernism in any national context. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 370 French Modernism
During the 19th century, Paris was the center for artistic change in Europe. This course explores the work and theories of major French painters, sculptors and architects, with special consideration given to history and the emerging technologies. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 372 French Impressionism
This course explores ideas and images pertinent to French Impressionism. Its objective is to increase students’ knowledge of French Impressionist art and to equip students with standard research methodologies employed for art historical analyses at their differing stages in professional development. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 123, ARTH 110, and ARTH 205 or ARTH 207.
ARTH 373 New York as an Art Capital of the World
Europeans acknowledged the status of the visual arts in New York only after World War II. This recognition was partly due to the new museums that were founded after the 1920s: The Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum and the Guggenheim. Students in this course visit all of these museums, in addition to more recently founded institutions and current galleries of the 57th Street and Madison Avenue areas. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 374 African Art: Beyond the Object
This course is an introduction to the traditional art of Africa. The course explores the rich and “exotic” cultural traditions of African peoples outside the influence of Euro-American cultures. The course focuses on developing an appreciation of other cultures and exploring their limitless potentials to work with Western cultures in the spirit of reciprocity. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 375 Art and Architecture of 16th-century Italy
Michelangelo’s heroic masterpieces reflect many of the contradictions represented by Italian artists during the 16th century. This course focuses on developments in artistic theory and design that enlighten and explain the dramatic intensity and stylistic changes from the grandeur of High Renaissance art to the complexities presented by the Mannerists. Work of principal painters and sculptors of the period is studied: the Venetian masters Titian and Tintoretto, the Florentine masters Bronzino and Rosso, and others. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 376 Downtown in the Eighties: Painting, Punk and Photography in New York
The 1980s in New York were a time of tremendous change and experimentation in the art world. From the influence of Punk to Graffiti art, Appropriation and Neo-Expressionism, the downtown art scene redefined the cultural landscape of New York. This course undertakes an in-depth study of this particular period, focusing on the use of the photograph across diverse art media and practices. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 377 Photography and Modernity
From its invention in 1839 through the twentieth century, photography has been a key factor in shaping and defining modernity. Photography and Modernity explores such topics as the invention of the medium and technical innovations, commercial photography, the spread of photography across the globe, photojournalism, movements of art photography, including pictorialism and surrealism, and social documentary. Photographs are studied as both art objects and historical artifacts. Recurring issues include the debates between art photography and documentary photography, government and private patronage, individual and collective endeavors, original and published prints and urban and landscape views. Students read key texts by foundational writers as well as theoretical essays by contemporary scholars. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 378 Masterpieces in English Collections
Students explore the visual wealth of the great English collections. In particular, the course focuses on the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Courtauld Institute in London. Students view works from the Parthenon sculptures, medieval treasures, Old Master paintings by Jan Van Eyck, Leonardo, Titian, works by English artists such as John Constable and a host of non-Western treasures. The English passion for collecting is explored in great country houses. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 380 Northern Renaissance Art
This course covers the great artistic achievements and the diverse social conditions north of the Alps from approximately 1350-1575. The role that the church and nobility played in the invention and development of oil painting is studied, as well as the role prints played in creating the unprecedented spread of information, leading to an awareness of classicism and playing a significant role in the Reformation. The technical development of prints and the importance of religious sculpture also are studied. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARTH course.
ARTH 381 Italian Renaissance Art
This course examines Italian art and architecture from the early 14th to the middle 16th centuries. The content and the context of the artwork, its form and function, and the lives of the artists and architects who produced it are given special emphasis. Questions of patronage and the influence of humanism as seen through classical and contemporary literature are examined. The differences in regional styles are critically analyzed. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 383 Ancient Mesoamerican Art and Architecture
The visual arts and architecture of the indigenous cultures of ancient Mexico and northern Central America are explored from 1500 BCE-1550 CE. Architectural monuments, sculpture, fresco and manuscript painting, lapidary arts, featherwork, textiles, ceramics and metalwork of the Olmec, Teotihuacano, Maya and Mexica Aztec, among other cultures, are discussed within their socio-political and ritual contexts and in terms of their expressive content: subject matter; form; and materials and techniques. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 385 Ancient Central Andean Art and Architecture
The visual arts and architecture of the indigenous cultures of primarily Peru and Bolivia are explored prior to 1550 CE. Architecture, sculpture, wall painting, lapidary arts, featherwork, textiles, ceramics and metalwork of the Chavín, Paracas, Nasca, Moche, Chimú and Inka cultures are discussed within their socio-political and ritual contexts and in terms of their expressive content: subject matter; form; and materials and techniques. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 391 Roman Art and Architecture in Provence
The southern French region of Provence was one of the earliest provinces to be attached to the Roman Empire. Provence is fortunate to still possess many monuments from the Roman era, and affords students the opportunity to see and experience firsthand many examples of Roman art and architecture. In addition, class discussions and assignments provide the opportunity for the student to learn about the history of Roman Provence and its importance to the Roman Empire. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 395 Off-campus Special Topics in Art History
The topic of this course, as well as its location, varies from quarter to quarter. Each class focuses on various issues in the art history field, giving students an opportunity to pursue individual projects related to the subject of the course. Prerequisite(s): Vary according to topic.
ARTH 396 Art and Architectural Treasures of the Vatican
This course concentrates on the historical development of major art and architectural monuments at the Vatican. Topics include such themes as the Vatican area in classical times, the Vatican cemetery, the Petrine tradition, Constantine’s Church, New St. Peter’s, the Sistine Chapel, the Stanze, and the Vatican gardens and museum collections. Prerequisite(s): Any 200-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 400 Methods of Art History
This course introduces students majoring in art history to the multiplicity of theoretical frameworks and methodologies that have defined the history of art as a discipline. The course explores its evolution as a field of study, seeking to understand the ways in which art historians have established the autonomy of their subject. The course addresses the many intersections with other disciplines and bodies of knowledge, and supports the development of the B.F.A. art history thesis project. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARTH course, permission of the department chair.
ARTH 404 Caricature and Satire in 18th-century British Culture
William Hogarth was the foremost visual satirist of 18th-century British culture. His oeuvre's commentary on the social, political and intellectual issues of 1720s-1760s Great Britain and (to a lesser extent) his influence on contemporaneous and subsequent artists are analyzed through readings, discussions, research and writings. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 405 Visual Constructs: Perspective, Representation and Cognitive Mapping
Visuality in the representation and experience of space is culturally determined. In Western art since the 15th century, the constructs depend on the history and theory of perspective and projection drawing. Optical theories and practices developed during the Early Modern period explained the geometric properties of Euclidean space and depend upon seeing, knowing and creating within scalable space. This course explores the mechanisms of constructing vision by the conventions of linear and nonlinear perspective, orthographic and projection drawing, distorted representations, movement, and the responses to form and environment. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 406 Media and Modernity
This course offers students interested in media technologies the opportunity to engage directly with the art-historical and theoretical debates prompted by those technologies—debates that recur throughout the twentieth century, and continue unabated into the present day. Through intensive readings, discussion and writing, students explore the rise and growth of the mass media—from the gramophone to Internet radio, photography to Adobe Photoshop, the Lumières to 3-D digital cinema—in light of the larger context of a rapidly modernizing world. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 408 Museum Culture
This course provides a historical overview of the development, nature, evolution, form, function, purpose and meaning of the art museum in Europe, North America and in the developing world through course readings, class discussions and review of case studies of major museums. The structure of the art museum is discussed, along with museum theory and applied museology. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ ARTH course.
ARTH 415 Medieval Manuscripts
The medieval manuscript provided artists with the most important venue for painting for more than 1,200 years. Students learn how and why they were made by exploring production practices and patronage. The socio-historical context under which this fine work was created is a significant component of this course. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 417 Problems in Art History: A Crisis in Art Criticism?
Prominent art writers have proclaimed a "crisis in art criticism." This course examines this 'crisis,' if it indeed exists, through reading critics' own arguments on the state of the field; through historical writings; through careful analysis of recent art criticism; and through an examination of the theoretical issues that preoccupy today's contemporary artists and, thus, their critics. Students explore the key historical figures who shaped the discipline of art criticism since the late 19th century in order to understand how the discourse of criticism has influenced, and been influenced by, changes in the art world. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 420 Visual Culture
Students learn to use the language of visual culture with a particular focus on the symbols, strategies and messages employed. Incorporating the methods of art analysis, the course introduces students to different forms of visual culture (television, advertising, fashion, gaming, architecture and the media), while comparing and contrasting these within a philosophical and historical setting. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 421 Rome in the Middle Ages
Rome in the Middle Ages is the story of a city re-inventing itself, evolving from the capital of an empire to the headquarters of the Catholic Church in the West. This course focuses on the evolution of art and architecture in medieval Rome, and how the popes employed this work to convey both political and religious messages glorifying the papacy, the Church and the city of Rome. Students also explore the increasing importance of Rome as a spiritual center and pilgrimage destination and the city's impact on Western Europe. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 440 Problems in Renaissance Art: Mannerism
This seminar examines the style titled “Mannerism” by scholars centuries after it had already ended. Art and artists considered are those from the 16th century in Italy who provided an alternative style to what is most often called the “High Renaissance” practiced by Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. The term and the movement have been questioned repeatedly over the past five decades especially in regards to its proposed dates, influences, development and practitioners. After presenting a foundation for the etymology of Mannerism/maniera, this course includes intense reading, discussion and analysis of the scholarship since the International Conference on the style in question (1963). Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 447 The Hybrid City: Ancient and Early Modern Rome
The distinctive urban fabric of Rome captures the eye of the artist and architect by the dynamic presence of the ancient city as a continuous actor within the contemporary city. This seminar pays particular attention to visual representations of the city and her monuments to uncover the union of the ancient and modern. The documents of the 15th and 16th centuries fuse the diachronic artifacts of history into a synchronic view of ancient and contemporary Rome. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 450 Caravaggio
The developments in the art of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and his characteristic style of painting have continued to inspire artists and scholars for the past four centuries. His mastery of different genre and narratives formulated a Baroque language that continues to influence "Caravaggio studies." From his contemporary audience to our own day, the critical responses and historiography of those critiques construct the investigation into the life and work of Caravaggio. A variety of methodologies are considered to better understand this innovator and instigator of the Baroque style and the consequence of his artistic practice and conventions on generations of painters. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 459 The Art of the Ruin
This course traces the art resulting from human interest in the wrecked remains of civilizations past. From the early modern period on, artists have held a special fascination for ancient buildings left half standing, sculptures in fragments, and what profound lessons such objects of melancholic beauty hold. Looking at, thinking about, and making art in response to the buildings and monuments that humanity has made, but that time has unmade, has long been an especially poignant exercise for artists, perpetually engaged as they themselves are in processes of making and unmaking. Using the interest in Roman ruins as a starting point, students who take this course learn the specialized visual language of the art of the ruin and the many ways in which artists and thinkers described and determined the ruin's cultural significance. Case studies from across any period and culture form the basis of student research projects. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 471 The Madness of Photography
In Camera Lucida, Roland Barthes defines the photograph as "a new form of hallucination: false on the level of perception, true on the level of time…a mad image: chafed by reality." For Barthes, photography's inherent madness makes it a bizarre medium, tamed by a society that either reifies it into art or renders it banal beyond distinction with regard to the onslaught of images characteristic of modern life. The madness of photography is both poetically and ontologically central to the medium and is discernible from its origins. New perspectives on the many implications of madness in photography's history, theory and practice are explored by turning attention to the irrationality at the center of the seemingly objective process. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 476 Documentary Photography and the Portrait 1945–Present
Covering the history of documentary photography from c. 1945 to the present, students examine major photographic movements, styles, critics and theoretical perspectives. The focus is on the rich and varied critical and theoretical discourse circulating between photographs, or images using photography, and the texts which helped frame the most significant contributions to contemporary photography. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 477 Critical and Theoretical Approaches to Photography Since 1945
Addressing the history of photography from circa 1945 to the present, this course examines major photographic movements, styles, critics and theoretical perspectives. The course focuses on the rich and varied critical and theoretical discourse circulating between photographs, or images using photography, and the texts which helped frame the most significant contributions to contemporary photography. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 480 After Postmodernism
During the first half of the last century, Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and Heinrich Woelfflin defined theoretical cornerstones for the emerging discipline of art history. Today, contemporary art history faces multiple challenges from aesthetics, visual culture, media theory and the blurring line between “high” art and “low” art. After the linguistic turn, the pictorial turn and the iconic turn, all that is left is an undefined Bildwissenschaft (image science). Recent research practices call for the reevaluation of the foundations of art history. The goal of this course is to discuss some of the methodological challenges after postmodernism. Students learn prevalent notions in the discourse and engage in the contestation of ideas. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 481 Gender and the Body
Questions regarding gender and the body have impacted all areas of contemporary art. Feminist history, the Civil Rights Movement, the Stonewall riots, and other historical circumstances have given rise to a theoretical discourse and shape the so-called Second and Third Waves of Feminism from 1970 to the present. This course covers topics such as, but not limited to: the history of "feminisms," Feminism and gender questions as theoretical frameworks, the history of women as artists, the relationship of Feminism, Civil Rights, Queer Theory, Cyberfeminism, and "post-feminism" to artistic and art historical practice. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH or ARTH course.
ARTH 482 Weimar Photography, Art and Design
The interwar period between the World Wars is key to any understanding of the history of art for the significant development of the international avant-garde. Particularly in Germany, the establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1918 created a moment that was highly experimental, performative, political and contingent upon the rapidly changing social and economic climate. The course fosters an in-depth understanding of the political scene. It considers the effects of war upon culture and confronts this era in relation to the history of international and German politics, economics, feminism, graphic design, photography, art and cinema. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 491 Topics in New Media Art
This course provides an in-depth theoretical and critical investigation of a particular topic within the new media arts. The topic varies from quarter to quarter; however, the course is intended to provide students with the opportunity to refine their expertise in a specific field of inquiry. Prerequisite(s): Varies according to topic.
ARTH 493 Visiting Scholar/Curator
Taught by both a visiting scholar/curator and a SCAD faculty member, this seminar is organized around the expertise of the visiting scholar/curator. Students read and discuss the visiting scholar/curator's work and other work of comparable scope, scale or historical context. Through discussions, workshops, criticism and research projects students work with the visiting scholar/curator to expand their critical understanding and the historical and cultural context of research projects or exhibitions. Prerequisite(s): Any 300-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 496 Special Topics in Art History
The topic of this course varies from quarter to quarter. Each class focuses on various issues in the art history field, giving students an opportunity to pursue individual projects related to the subject of the course. Prerequisite(s): Vary according to topic.
ARTH 499 Art History B.F.A. Thesis
This course provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate sound scholarly methodology and critical thinking skills as they select a topic, research it and write an advanced research paper under the supervision of a faculty committee. The thesis topic must be approved at least one quarter in advance by a faculty adviser. The course is designed for senior art history majors. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 400, permission of the department chair.
Graduate Courses
ARTH 700 Historiography of Art History
Historiography is a thorough introduction to the principal developments and writings in the field of art history, with an emphasis on developments from the 18th-century onward. Readings for class meetings demonstrate various approaches to art history. Students write a 15-page paper and make a presentation to the class.
ARTH 701 Contemporary Art
In response to the complexity of the centers and peripheries of the art world, students are presented with a spectrum of theoretical discourses, art historical methodologies and art practices of the recent decades. An in-depth analysis of central artwork and its relationship to crucial issues of its cultural context is addressed.
ARTH 702 Art Criticism
The structure of this course combines analysis of texts by major art critics and the development of critical writing skills. Each class discussion focuses on key terms, analytical lenses and the development of pertinent frameworks for the interpretation of contemporary art and artistic practice in art criticism. Students are presented with examples by leading practitioners. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 701.
ARTH 703 Modern and Contemporary Critical Theory
This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of the importance of critical theory and how it has shaped the practices of both artists and art historians in recent times. Through exploring various theoretical models, students are encouraged to consider the position of art and its histories within the socio-cultural realm.
ARTH 707 Caricature and Satire in 18th-century British Culture
William Hogarth was the foremost visual satirist of eighteenth century Great Britain. His oeuvre's commentary on the social, political and intellectual issues of 1720s-1760s Great Britain and (to a lesser extent) his influence on contemporaneous and subsequent artists are analyzed through readings, discussions, research and writings.
ARTH 713 The Pre-Raphaelite Movement
This is a seminar course examining painting, prints and design associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Students read one or more readings that serve as the basis for discussion and debate for each class, as well as expose students to a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. There often are short lecture components for the purpose of putting the material into context.
ARTH 716 Art and Architecture in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt and its pyramids have represented the apex in world architectural achievement since antiquity. This seminar examines the chronological development of the pyramid form, its functional synthesis in ancient Egyptian culture and its transmission as an emblem for Egyptianization through time.
ARTH 717 Art History in Visual Culture: Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome has long been the inspiration for major films in the U.S. and abroad. This seminar examines the evidence of visual culture and the role of art history in producing such cinematic vehicles. Students also specifically address spectacle and propaganda as the major Roman legacies preserved in the genre of film.
ARTH 721 Rome in the Middle Ages
Rome in the Middle Ages is the story of a city re-inventing itself, evolving from the capital of an empire to the headquarters of the Catholic Church in the West. This course centers on the evolution of art and architecture of medieval Rome, and how the popes employed this work to convey both political and religious messages glorifying the papacy, the Church and the city of Rome. Students also explore the increasing importance of Rome as a spiritual center and pilgrimage destination and the city's impact on Western Europe. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 723 Media and Modernity
This course offers students interested in media technologies the opportunity to engage directly with the art-historical and theoretical debates prompted by those technologies—debates that recurred throughout the twentieth century and continue unabated into the present day. Through intensive readings, discussion and writing, students explore the rise and growth of the mass media—from the gramophone to Internet radio, photography to Adobe Photoshop, the Lumières to 3-D digital cinema—in light of the larger context of a rapidly modernizing world. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 726 Medieval Manuscripts
The medieval manuscript provided artists with the most important venue for painting for over 1,200 years. Students learn how and why they were made by exploring production practices and patronage. The socio-historical context under which this fine work was created is also a significant component of this course.
ARTH 729 Virtuality in the Public Sphere
Whether it is called Web 2.0, cloud computing, the noosphere, cyberdemocracy or neo-Maoism, the polemics surrounding the theories of the public sphere and virtuality hold tremendous cultural interest. This course explores the ethical role of artists and designers as cultural producers and public intellectuals. The goal of this course is the dialectical analysis and interpretation of the "public sphere" as described by Jürgen Habermas within the context of Ted Nelson's definition of virtuality. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 737 Egyptian Art and Archaeology
This course examines the artistic contribution of the ancient Egyptian civilization over a chronological continuum of more than three millennia, from the predynastic cultures in the north and south through the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Special attention is given to the current archaeological discoveries in Egypt, the importance of hieroglyphs in understanding Egyptian art and the impact of Egypt throughout the history of Western art.
ARTH 747 The Hybrid City: Ancient and Early Modern Rome
The distinctive urban fabric of Rome captures the eye of the artist and architect by the dynamic presence of the ancient city as a continuous actor within the contemporary city. This seminar pays particular attention to visual representations of the city and her monuments to uncover the union of the ancient and modern. The documents of the 15th and 16th centuries fuse the diachronic artifacts of history into a synchronic view of ancient and contemporary Rome. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 755 Art and Architectural Treasures of the Vatican
This course concentrates on the historical development of major art and architectural monuments at the Vatican. Topics include such themes as the Vatican area in classical times, the Vatican cemetery, the Petrine tradition, Constantine’s church, New St. Peter’s, the Sistine Chapel, the Stanze and the Vatican gardens and museum collections.
ARTH 757 Media Art
This course introduces students to the breadth of new media in the digital and imaging arts and the recent history of artistic exploration into these media. Underscoring the surveys is the conception that new media has forced art history into expanding the canon and its criteria for examining art. In particular, this course surveys their evolution out of traditional media.
ARTH 759 The Art of the Ruin
This course traces the art resulting from human interest in the wrecked remains of civilizations past. From the early modern period on, artists have held a special fascination for ancient buildings left half standing, sculptures in fragments and what profound lessons such objects of melancholic beauty hold. Looking at, thinking about and making art in response to the buildings and monuments that humanity has made, but that time has unmade, has long been an especially poignant exercise for artists, perpetually engaged as they themselves are in processes of making and unmaking. Using the interest in Roman ruins as a starting point, students learn the specialized visual language of the art of the ruin and the many ways in which artists and thinkers describe and determine the ruin's cultural significance. Case studies from across any period and culture form the basis of student research projects. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 761 Landscapes and Photography
How do people define landscape? How are photographs uniquely suited to capture the grace, horror and beauty of the places in which people live, work and play? This course examines photographic landscapes from the everyday to the extraordinary, from the serene to the surreal. Theoretical readings situate landscape photography within a larger framework of photographic history and criticism and explore various representations of landscape throughout the history of photography from 1839 until the present, with a special focus on American practitioners and places. Topics include landscapes and beauty, religion, politics, time and the ordinary. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 763 History of Prints
This course follows the historical development of printmaking media and its most significant artists. Students are expected to develop the skills necessary to recognize the different media and to use the specific terminology of printmaking.
ARTH 777 Critical and Theoretical Approaches to Photography since 1945
Addressing the history of photography from circa 1945 to present, this course examines major photographic movements, styles, critics and theoretical perspectives. The focus is on the rich and varied critical and theoretical discourse circulating between photographs, or images using photography, and the texts which helped frame the most significant contributions to contemporary photography. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 701.
ARTH 779F Graduate Field Internship
Students in this course undertake a field assignment under the supervision of a faculty member. Prerequisite(s): 15 graduate credit hours, good academic standing.
ARTH 779T Graduate Teaching Internship
Students in this course undertake a teaching assignment under the supervision of a faculty member. Prerequisite(s): 15 graduate credit hours, good academic standing.
ARTH 786 Visual Culture
The practices of looking in contemporary visual culture produce cultural, social and political meaning. A language of visual culture builds from sets of symbols, strategies and messages. By looking at a range of visual material, from fine art to popular culture, the course explores representations and their relationships to ideological and institutional structures. Theories of media and mediation, text and image, and power and desire shape the investigation. The course introduces students to different forms of visual culture, while comparing and contrasting these within a philosophical and historical setting.
ARTH 787 Gender and the Body
The history of art is one that is rich, varied and contested. Questions regarding gender and the body have impacted all areas of contemporary art. Feminist history, the Civil Rights Movement, the Stonewall riots and other historical circumstances have given rise to a theoretical discourse and shape the so-called Second and Third Waves of Feminism from 1970 to the present. This course covers topics such as, but not limited to: the history of "feminisms," feminism and gender questions as theoretical frameworks, the history of women as artists, the relationship of feminism, Civil Rights, Queer Theory, Cyberfeminism, and "post-feminism" to artistic and art historical practice. Students enhance their analytical thinking and interpretative skills by engaging in close readings and seminar discussions. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 702.
ARTH 788 Art History M.A. Thesis
Students enrolled in the art history M.A. program are required to complete a thesis demonstrating knowledge of the methods and theories in the discipline. Students must have topic approval from a faculty adviser and work under the close supervision of a faculty committee. Prerequisite(s): Completion of the review for candidacy.
ARTH 793 Visiting Scholar/Curator
Taught by both a visiting scholar/curator and a SCAD faculty member, this seminar is organized around the expertise of the visiting scholar/curator. Students read and discuss the visiting scholar/curator's work and other work of comparable scope, scale or historical context. Through discussions, workshops, criticism and research projects students work with the visiting scholar/curator to expand their critical understanding and the historical and cultural context of research projects or exhibitions. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 796 Issues in Art History
The topic of this course varies from quarter to quarter. Each course focuses on various issues in the field of art history.
Historiography is a thorough introduction to the principal developments and writings in the field of art history, with an emphasis on developments from the 18th-century onward. Readings for class meetings demonstrate various approaches to art history. Students write a 15-page paper and make a presentation to the class.
ARTH 701 Contemporary Art
In response to the complexity of the centers and peripheries of the art world, students are presented with a spectrum of theoretical discourses, art historical methodologies and art practices of the recent decades. An in-depth analysis of central artwork and its relationship to crucial issues of its cultural context is addressed.
ARTH 702 Art Criticism
The structure of this course combines analysis of texts by major art critics and the development of critical writing skills. Each class discussion focuses on key terms, analytical lenses and the development of pertinent frameworks for the interpretation of contemporary art and artistic practice in art criticism. Students are presented with examples by leading practitioners. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 701.
ARTH 703 Modern and Contemporary Critical Theory
This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of the importance of critical theory and how it has shaped the practices of both artists and art historians in recent times. Through exploring various theoretical models, students are encouraged to consider the position of art and its histories within the socio-cultural realm.
ARTH 707 Caricature and Satire in 18th-century British Culture
William Hogarth was the foremost visual satirist of eighteenth century Great Britain. His oeuvre's commentary on the social, political and intellectual issues of 1720s-1760s Great Britain and (to a lesser extent) his influence on contemporaneous and subsequent artists are analyzed through readings, discussions, research and writings.
ARTH 713 The Pre-Raphaelite Movement
This is a seminar course examining painting, prints and design associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Students read one or more readings that serve as the basis for discussion and debate for each class, as well as expose students to a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. There often are short lecture components for the purpose of putting the material into context.
ARTH 716 Art and Architecture in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt and its pyramids have represented the apex in world architectural achievement since antiquity. This seminar examines the chronological development of the pyramid form, its functional synthesis in ancient Egyptian culture and its transmission as an emblem for Egyptianization through time.
ARTH 717 Art History in Visual Culture: Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome has long been the inspiration for major films in the U.S. and abroad. This seminar examines the evidence of visual culture and the role of art history in producing such cinematic vehicles. Students also specifically address spectacle and propaganda as the major Roman legacies preserved in the genre of film.
ARTH 721 Rome in the Middle Ages
Rome in the Middle Ages is the story of a city re-inventing itself, evolving from the capital of an empire to the headquarters of the Catholic Church in the West. This course centers on the evolution of art and architecture of medieval Rome, and how the popes employed this work to convey both political and religious messages glorifying the papacy, the Church and the city of Rome. Students also explore the increasing importance of Rome as a spiritual center and pilgrimage destination and the city's impact on Western Europe. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 723 Media and Modernity
This course offers students interested in media technologies the opportunity to engage directly with the art-historical and theoretical debates prompted by those technologies—debates that recurred throughout the twentieth century and continue unabated into the present day. Through intensive readings, discussion and writing, students explore the rise and growth of the mass media—from the gramophone to Internet radio, photography to Adobe Photoshop, the Lumières to 3-D digital cinema—in light of the larger context of a rapidly modernizing world. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 726 Medieval Manuscripts
The medieval manuscript provided artists with the most important venue for painting for over 1,200 years. Students learn how and why they were made by exploring production practices and patronage. The socio-historical context under which this fine work was created is also a significant component of this course.
ARTH 729 Virtuality in the Public Sphere
Whether it is called Web 2.0, cloud computing, the noosphere, cyberdemocracy or neo-Maoism, the polemics surrounding the theories of the public sphere and virtuality hold tremendous cultural interest. This course explores the ethical role of artists and designers as cultural producers and public intellectuals. The goal of this course is the dialectical analysis and interpretation of the "public sphere" as described by Jürgen Habermas within the context of Ted Nelson's definition of virtuality. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 737 Egyptian Art and Archaeology
This course examines the artistic contribution of the ancient Egyptian civilization over a chronological continuum of more than three millennia, from the predynastic cultures in the north and south through the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Special attention is given to the current archaeological discoveries in Egypt, the importance of hieroglyphs in understanding Egyptian art and the impact of Egypt throughout the history of Western art.
ARTH 747 The Hybrid City: Ancient and Early Modern Rome
The distinctive urban fabric of Rome captures the eye of the artist and architect by the dynamic presence of the ancient city as a continuous actor within the contemporary city. This seminar pays particular attention to visual representations of the city and her monuments to uncover the union of the ancient and modern. The documents of the 15th and 16th centuries fuse the diachronic artifacts of history into a synchronic view of ancient and contemporary Rome. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 755 Art and Architectural Treasures of the Vatican
This course concentrates on the historical development of major art and architectural monuments at the Vatican. Topics include such themes as the Vatican area in classical times, the Vatican cemetery, the Petrine tradition, Constantine’s church, New St. Peter’s, the Sistine Chapel, the Stanze and the Vatican gardens and museum collections.
ARTH 757 Media Art
This course introduces students to the breadth of new media in the digital and imaging arts and the recent history of artistic exploration into these media. Underscoring the surveys is the conception that new media has forced art history into expanding the canon and its criteria for examining art. In particular, this course surveys their evolution out of traditional media.
ARTH 759 The Art of the Ruin
This course traces the art resulting from human interest in the wrecked remains of civilizations past. From the early modern period on, artists have held a special fascination for ancient buildings left half standing, sculptures in fragments and what profound lessons such objects of melancholic beauty hold. Looking at, thinking about and making art in response to the buildings and monuments that humanity has made, but that time has unmade, has long been an especially poignant exercise for artists, perpetually engaged as they themselves are in processes of making and unmaking. Using the interest in Roman ruins as a starting point, students learn the specialized visual language of the art of the ruin and the many ways in which artists and thinkers describe and determine the ruin's cultural significance. Case studies from across any period and culture form the basis of student research projects. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 761 Landscapes and Photography
How do people define landscape? How are photographs uniquely suited to capture the grace, horror and beauty of the places in which people live, work and play? This course examines photographic landscapes from the everyday to the extraordinary, from the serene to the surreal. Theoretical readings situate landscape photography within a larger framework of photographic history and criticism and explore various representations of landscape throughout the history of photography from 1839 until the present, with a special focus on American practitioners and places. Topics include landscapes and beauty, religion, politics, time and the ordinary. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 763 History of Prints
This course follows the historical development of printmaking media and its most significant artists. Students are expected to develop the skills necessary to recognize the different media and to use the specific terminology of printmaking.
ARTH 777 Critical and Theoretical Approaches to Photography since 1945
Addressing the history of photography from circa 1945 to present, this course examines major photographic movements, styles, critics and theoretical perspectives. The focus is on the rich and varied critical and theoretical discourse circulating between photographs, or images using photography, and the texts which helped frame the most significant contributions to contemporary photography. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 701.
ARTH 779F Graduate Field Internship
Students in this course undertake a field assignment under the supervision of a faculty member. Prerequisite(s): 15 graduate credit hours, good academic standing.
ARTH 779T Graduate Teaching Internship
Students in this course undertake a teaching assignment under the supervision of a faculty member. Prerequisite(s): 15 graduate credit hours, good academic standing.
ARTH 786 Visual Culture
The practices of looking in contemporary visual culture produce cultural, social and political meaning. A language of visual culture builds from sets of symbols, strategies and messages. By looking at a range of visual material, from fine art to popular culture, the course explores representations and their relationships to ideological and institutional structures. Theories of media and mediation, text and image, and power and desire shape the investigation. The course introduces students to different forms of visual culture, while comparing and contrasting these within a philosophical and historical setting.
ARTH 787 Gender and the Body
The history of art is one that is rich, varied and contested. Questions regarding gender and the body have impacted all areas of contemporary art. Feminist history, the Civil Rights Movement, the Stonewall riots and other historical circumstances have given rise to a theoretical discourse and shape the so-called Second and Third Waves of Feminism from 1970 to the present. This course covers topics such as, but not limited to: the history of "feminisms," feminism and gender questions as theoretical frameworks, the history of women as artists, the relationship of feminism, Civil Rights, Queer Theory, Cyberfeminism, and "post-feminism" to artistic and art historical practice. Students enhance their analytical thinking and interpretative skills by engaging in close readings and seminar discussions. Prerequisite(s): ARTH 702.
ARTH 788 Art History M.A. Thesis
Students enrolled in the art history M.A. program are required to complete a thesis demonstrating knowledge of the methods and theories in the discipline. Students must have topic approval from a faculty adviser and work under the close supervision of a faculty committee. Prerequisite(s): Completion of the review for candidacy.
ARTH 793 Visiting Scholar/Curator
Taught by both a visiting scholar/curator and a SCAD faculty member, this seminar is organized around the expertise of the visiting scholar/curator. Students read and discuss the visiting scholar/curator's work and other work of comparable scope, scale or historical context. Through discussions, workshops, criticism and research projects students work with the visiting scholar/curator to expand their critical understanding and the historical and cultural context of research projects or exhibitions. Prerequisite(s): Any 700-level ARLH/ARTH course.
ARTH 796 Issues in Art History
The topic of this course varies from quarter to quarter. Each course focuses on various issues in the field of art history.
