Art 150, Introduction to Art History I, taught with Prof. Karil Kucera

This course is an introduction to the art and architecture of various geographical areas around the world from antiquity through the Middle Ages. The course provides foundational skills as well as a general, historical understanding. It focuses on a select number of major developments in a range of media and cultures, emphasizing the ways that works of art function both as aesthetic and material objects and as cultural artifacts and forces.

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Art 151, Introduction to Art History II, taught with Prof. Matthew Rohn

This introduction to Art History examines artistic traditions of Europe, North America and Africa from c.1400 to today. Through lectures, discussions and oral presentations, students develop skills in visual analysis and interpretation. The course considers a variety of artistic media, including painting, sculpture, architecture and textiles, as well as broader issues of aesthetics, function and patronage. In order to give our studies focus, class lectures and discussions concentrate on the analysis of a relatively small number of works of art from each culture. We also read and analyze several specialized articles on various topics throughout the semester. Through these visual and scholarly studies, we hope that ultimately you will build both your visual vocabulary and your analytical skills and your ability to understand culture through visual material

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WS 121, Introduction to Women's Studies

This course is an introduction to the study of the social construction of gender in contemporary culture. Through reading, discussion, watching and writing, we will explore the varieties of women’s experiences in America today. We treat a variety of subjects, including the ways in which gender is learned in school, the ways in which women are portrayed in the media, women and the healthcare system, women and social policy, and the history of the women’s movement. Because your instructor is an art historian, we also discuss the work of artists who address issues related to the course material.

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Art 254, Italian Renaissance Art

This course explores painting, sculpture and architecture created in Italy from c.1250 to c.1600. Our study focuses on the major urban centers of the period: Florence, Rome and Venice. One of the central ideas we address throughout the semester is how works of art functioned in their original context. Much of the art studied in the course was created for specific people and places for a specific purpose. We will also address basic art historical issues such as form, iconography and style.

 

Art 255, The City of Florence
taught in Florence

This course is an intensive introduction to the history of the art and architecture of Florence. Through a study of Florence's topography, its built environment and painted and sculpted imagery, students will study first-hand the history of Florence. The course begins with a study of the city as a Roman colony, and ends with a discussion of the 19th century, when Florence was briefly the capital of the newly unified Italian nation. The study of medieval and Renaissance Florence in particular will be supplemented with trips to other Tuscan cities.

Florence Interim 2006 blog

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Art 263, Medieval Art

This course explores the arts and architecture of western Europe from around 300 to 1350. In our lectures and discussions, we will look at paintings, sculpture, manuscripts, metalwork and stained glass windows created by the many cultures of this rich and diverse period in the history of art. Our approach is multifaceted: in addition to issues of style, technique and iconography, we also address issues of viewing, patronage and gender throughout the semester.

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Art 271, Gothic Art

What is Gothic art, and what are the origins of the term Gothic? This course treats both the art created in the Gothic period in Western Europe (c.1140-1400) and the revival of the Gothic style in 19th-century Europe, the era that coined the term Gothic. In the later medieval world, we focus on the rise of the city, on the spirituality of the Franciscan and Dominican orders, and on a new class of patrons who, fueled by the new economy of Europe, commissioned art on a larger scale than ever before. We end the interim with a discussion of what the Gothic came to mean in the 19th century, as European nations solidified and industrialized.

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Art 277, Women and the Arts

This course explores the involvement of women in the arts from the time of Hildegard of Bingen in twelfth-century Germany to that of Artemisia Gentileschi in seventeenth-century Italy. Through class readings, discussions and presentations, weboth explore feminist approaches to the study of Art History and examine the roles of women as artists, patrons and viewers in this period.

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Art 350, Methods of Art History

This course is designed to introduce you to the discipline of Art History and to allow you to develop your own research project in the field. The class does not cover specific periods of Art History but instead treats the history and current state of the discipline itself through readings and discussions. An important aspect of the class is the critical reading of texts.