Courses

Courses

Fall 2006 Courses

013. Stories and Scrolls
De-nin Lee M 11:30 - 12:55, W 11:30 - 12:55 VAC-Picture Study
Introduces and examines lessons, legends, myths, and ideal worlds pictured in handscroll paintings of China and Japan. Considers how later viewers reinterpreted these artworks using text sometimes inscribed on the actual scrolls. Students play the roles of artist and audience by creating their own scrolls and composing colophons. Still, emphasis is placed on analyzing images and texts, researching, and writing clearly and intelligently about art. Materials for the course will draw on web resources and the library�s Special Collections.
101. Introduction to Western Art
Linda Docherty T 8:30 - 9:55, TH 8:30 - 9:55 VAC-Beam Classroom
A chronological survey of the art of the Western world (Egypt, the Near East, Europe, and the European-based culture of North America), from the Paleolithic period of prehistoric Europe to the present. Considers the historical context of art and its production, the role of the artist in society, style and the problems of stylistic tradition and innovation, and the major themes and symbols of Western art. Required of majors and minors in art history and visual arts. This course is a prerequisite for most upper-level courses in the history of art.
209. Introduction to Greek Archaeology
James Higginbotham M 10:30 - 11:25, W 10:30 - 11:25, F 10:30 - 11:25 VAC-Beam Classroom
Introduces the techniques and methods of classical archaeology as revealed through an examination of Greek material culture. Emphasis upon the major monuments and artifacts of the Greek world from prehistory to the Hellenistic age. Architecture, sculpture, fresco painting, and other �minor arts� are examined at such sites as Knossos, Mycenae, Athens, Delphi, and Olympia. Considers the nature of this archaeological evidence and the relationship of classical archaeology to other disciplines such as art history, history, and classics. Assigned reading supplements illustrated presentations of the major archaeological finds of the Greek world.
222. Art of the Italian Renaissance
Susan Wegner M 9:30 - 10:25, W 9:30 - 10:25, F 9:30 - 10:25 VAC-Beam Classroom
A survey of the painting, sculpture, and architecture of Italy in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, with emphasis on major masters: Giotto, Masaccio, Donatello, Brunelleschi, Alberti, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Michelangelo.
243. Modern Architecture: 1750 to 2000
Jill Pearlman M 1:00 - 2:25, W 1:00 - 2:25 VAC-Beam Classroom
The course examines major buildings, architects, architectural theories and debates during the modern period, with a strong emphasis on Europe through 1900, and both the U.S. and Europe in the twentieth century. Central issues of concern include: architecture as an important carrier of historical, social, and political meaning; changing ideas of history and progress in built form; and the varied architectural responses to industrialization. While exploring these and other issues, the course also attempts to develop students� visual acuity and ability to interpret architectural form. Not open to students who have previously enrolled in Environmental Studies 245.
266. African American Art: From Emancipation to Civil Rights
Julie McGee T 1:00 - 2:25, TH 1:00 - 2:25 VAC-Beam Classroom
Surveys African American art from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1960s. This course examines the lives and careers of African American artists within the contexts of art, history and theory. Topics include race and representation through eras of slavery, Emancipation, Primitivist Modernism, the Harlem Renaissance and the New Negro, the Civil Rights movement and emergent Black Nationalism. Artists considered include Robert Duncanson, Henry O. Tanner, Edmonia Lewis, Aaron Douglas, James VanDerZee, Palmer Hayden, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden and Faith Ringgold.
269. Modern and Contemporary African Art
Julie McGee T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25 VAC-Beam Classroom
An introduction to modern and contemporary art from Africa and the discourses that frame its history, the artists, and their works. Issues considered include authenticity, tradition, modernity, nationality, and African diasporic art. Also examines the complex relationship of African art to colonialism, European art, and its discourse, and the influence of globalization and popular culture. Students are not expected to have prior knowledge of African art, but some background in either Africana studies (theoretical discourses) or art history (historical and stylistic traditions) is recomended.
322. Buddhist Art in Asia
De-nin Lee M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55 VAC-Picture Study
This seminar examines the complex art and architecture of the Buddhist religion in Asia. Students will gain understanding of the basic teachings of Buddhism in order to understand the religious context of art objects and architectural sites. This seminar begins during the time of Ashoka (272-31 BCE) in India and continues through medieval and modern East and Southeast Asia. Throughout the course, we will consider how local conditions--cultural, social, and political--shape religious expression.
324. The Art and Life of Michelangelo
Susan Wegner M 1:00 - 2:25, W 1:00 - 2:25 VAC-Picture Study
Examines painting, sculpture, drawings, and poetry of Michelangelo in light of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian society. Topics include color, meaning and recent restoration of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling and Last Judgment; the heroic male figure in sculpture and drawings; religion and politics in relation to patrons; artistic rivalries with Leonardo, Raphael and Titian. Readings include English translations of sixteenth-century biographies, art theory, and poetry.
361. The World of Isabella Stewart Gardner
Linda Docherty T 11:30 - 12:55, TH 11:30 - 12:55 VAC-Picture Study
A contextual study of Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) and the museum she created. Focuses on the cosmopolitan world that Gardner inhabited intellectually, artistically, geographically, and historically, and the influence she, in turn, exerted on American art and culture. Field trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and related sites.

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