Art Courses
ART 101 Line, Form and Space: Studies in Drawing, Photography and Sculpture (4)
This course establishes the fundamentals of visual literacy and communication by considering the relations among line, form, and space. Students learn the essential technical and theoretical principles of design, structure, materials, and methods as they pertain to drawing, photography, and culture. Instruction proceeds through studio assignments, writing exercises, readings, discussions, and critiques. Together with ART 102, this course introduces students to the principles of artistic production while encouraging understanding of the relationships between form and content, personal expression and social experience. Required for all art majors and minors. Open only to first-year students and sophomores.
ART 102 Color, Motion, and Time: Studies in Digital Art, Painting, and Video (4)
This course establishes the fundamentals of visual literary and communication by considering the relations among color, motion, and time. Students learn the essential technical and theoretical principles of design, structure, materials, and methods as they pertain to digital art, painting, and video. Instruction proceeds through studio assignments, writing exercises, readings, discussions, and critiques. Together with ART 101, this course introduces students to the principles of artistic production while encouraging understanding of the relationships between form and content, personal expression and social experience. Required for all art majors and minors. Open only to first-year students and sophomores.
ART 103 Introduction to Lens and Time-based Media (4)
An introduction to processes dependent on the lens as an imaging device, including wet-lab photography, digital photography, video editing and installation-based sequencing. The course incorporates the fundamental theoretical, technical and aesthetic principles of working with photography as an expressive medium. Assignments include darkroom laboratory work, studio projects, discussions, written analyses, and class presentations.
ART 104 Introduction to Three- and Four-Dimensional Media (4)
An introduction to media involving spatial and temporal dimensions, including sculpture, video, sound, installation, computer-aided design, and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) fabrication. The course incorporates the fundamental theoretical, technical and aesthetic principles of composition in space and time. Assignments involve design of sound; video production; computer modeling; traditional and non-traditional sculpture techniques.
ART 105 Introduction to Drawing and Two-Dimensional Media (4)
An introduction to two-dimensional media that explores mark making as the basis for visualization and ideation. The course incorporates the fundamental theoretical, technical and aesthetic principles of composition in two-dimensions. Students use wet and dry media to solve problems and investigate concepts of representation, abstraction and expression using traditional and non-traditional techniques.
ART 231 Topics in Electronic and Interactive Art (4)
The course examines the broad range of electronic technologies and processes that are employed in contemporary art practice. Students meld traditional processes with software and hardware towards the production of physical, time-based and interactive projects. Assignments include consideration of the interplay between society, technology, and experience.
ART 242 The Lens and the Landscape: Documentary Studies and the Environment (4)
This course studies the human, ecological, and environmental histories of the region through the lens and practice of documentary production. In collaboration with historians, archaeologists, and biologists, students develop individual and group projects to create short documentaries about a diverse range of topics focused on the past and present environmental conditions of the Domain and its surroundings.
ART 243 Cutting Time: Topics in Contemporary Video Production and the Moving Image (4)
This course involves study of the theories and processes of video and audio production as well as other techniques for making moving images. It examines a variety of aesthetic, formal, thematic, and technical approaches to composition and artistic expression through moving images and sound. The evaluation and analysis of assignments involves group discussions and individual critiques. Examples from a spectrum of artists and filmmakers provide a context for understanding the potential of moving images in a variety forms.
ART 248 Video off the Wall: Topics in Video Installation Art (4)
Combining video technology and installation art, this course considers video as a medium to engage the specific spatial, material, social, and other environmental factors of the place where it is presented. Projects are composed and presented as projections upon various objects or sites and as synchronized, multiple-channel installations in several distinct locations and configurations. Concepts of interactivity and various approaches to both linear and nonlinear composition are explored.
ART 251 Topics in Contemporary Drawing (4)
Using both traditional and non-traditional drawing media, this course investigates drawing and its role in the contemporary world. Students explore the relation between perception and conception, reinforcing basic skills and increasing their sophistication in the organization of space, surface, material, composition, and design. Thorough exploration of contemporary artists working across media with a variety of themes is an essential part of the learning experience. Projects and student-led discussions address themes such as Space, the Figure, Narrative, Identity, or Abstraction. Emphasis is placed on challenging the notions of traditional drawing as it relates contextually to an ever-changing world.
ART 255 Collage and Assemblage: Combinations of Contemporary Culture (4)
Using found and self-generated imagery, this course explores collage and assemblage as means for developing artistic concepts. Through the understanding and juxtaposition of materials such as magazine clippings, wallpaper, texts, objects, photographs, and drawings, students establish a heightened sensitivity to the meaning of specific materials, explore various methods of combining them, and critically address how collage and assemblage have been used and created in both past and present. Through studio assignments, writing exercises, readings, discussions, and critiques, students explore forms of both historical and contemporary collage processes.
ART 257 Figure Drawing (4)
This course investigates drawing the human form through the study of anatomy, observation of the live human form, and fundamental exercises in gesture, line, contour, and tonal modeling. Students explore the relationship between figures and their environments, as well as the proportions and forms of the body and how to depict dynamic three-dimensional forms on a two-dimensional surface. In class, students work predominantly from the live model, and outside of class pursue a combination of advanced assigned and self-directed projects aimed toward an understanding of the body in space.
ART 259 Drawing from Life (4)
This course explores use of observational drawing techniques as a means for translating three-dimensional realities into two-dimensional drawn images. By observing still lives, structures, landscapes, and live models, students gain heightened sensitivity to the world around them through attentiveness to the visual. In the process, they also become acquainted with various drawing materials. Through studio assignments, exercises, readings, discussions, and critiques, students learn to draw from both life and the imagination, all the while honing their observational skills and their facility with drawing media.
ART 261 The Lens, Time and Space: Topics in Photography (4)
This course introduces students to thematic approaches in photography using film-based methods, digital printing, and multi-media. Class projects and discussions center around the cultural and socio-political impact of the medium, as well the deeply personal and expressive aspects of photographic art.
ART 263 Intermediate Documentary Projects in Photography (4)
The course introduces students to documentary methods and issues pertaining to photography and related media used in the making of photo-documentaries. Class projects and discussions examine the cultural and socio-political impact of this genre, as well as the genre's core triangulation points of subjectivity, objectivity, and truth.
ART 281 Material, Space, and Form: Topics in Contemporary Sculpture (4)
This course explores both new and traditional media for the study and production of sculptural form. A series of assignments involve additive and reductive processes, mold making and casting, static and temporal composition, and a range of materials. Examples ranging from ancient to current sculptural practices are discussed and reviewed to provide historical and theoretical context for the assignments. The evaluation and analysis of assignments involves group discussions and individual critiques. Prerequisite: ART 101 or ART 104.
ART 282 Sustainable Structures (4)
Through the study and application of sustainable materials as media for sculpture, design, and architecture, this course examines relationships among landscape, physical culture, and the built environment. With the benefit of various locally grown and recycled materials used to build a series of projects, the course employs new technologies and discusses issues related to the practical integration of ecologically sound aesthetics into contemporary culture.
ART 285 Modeling and Casting in Contemporary Sculpture (4)
This course provides an introduction to a variety of modeling, mold-making, and casting techniques for use in sculpture. Traditional and other techniques, including metal casting, computer-aided design, and modeling with clay are investigated through a series of assignments aimed at both technical instruction as well as creative exploration of notions of representation and artistic production. Prerequisite: ART 101 or ART 104.
ART 287 Electronic Sculpture (4)
This course employs new media technologies in sculpture and installation projects. Students translate digital and analog input from a variety of sensors and sources into creative output through the use of programming, circuits, sound, video, motors, and traditional sculptural media.
ART 291 Topics in Contemporary Painting (4)
Using both traditional and non-traditional painting media, this course investigates painting and its role in the contemporary world. Students explore the relation between perception and conception, reinforcing basic skills and increasing their sophistication in the organization of space, surface, material, composition, and design. Thorough exploration of contemporary artists working across media with a variety of themes is an essential part of the learning experience. Projects and student-led discussions revolve around themes such as Space, the Figure, Narrative, Identity, or Abstraction. Emphasis is placed on challenging the notions of traditional painting as it relates contextually to an ever-changing world.
ART 299 Painting from Life (4)
This course explores use of observational painting techniques as a means for translating three-dimensional realities into two-dimensional painted images. By observing still lives, structures, landscapes, and live models, students gain heightened sensitivity to the world around them through attentiveness to the visual. In the process, they also become acquainted with various painting materials and surfaces. Through studio assignments, exercises, readings, discussions, and critiques, students learn to paint from both life and the imagination, all the while honing their observational skills and their facility with painting media.
ART 331 Advanced Projects in Digital Arts (4)
This course builds on experience gained from courses such as ART 101, ART 102, and ART 231. Students continue to receive specific instruction in using the main imaging and design software and are assigned projects to help consolidate expressive and conceptual skills. This course can be repeated twice for credit. Prerequisite: ART 231.
ART 343 Advanced Seminar in the Production of Video and the Moving Image (4)
This seminar course involves the production of video, sound, and the moving image. Students pursue a combination of advanced assignments and self-directed projects aimed towards furthering the study of these art forms through a focused set of methods and technologies. This course can be repeated twice for credit. Prerequisite: ART 102 or ART 104 or ART 231 or ART 243 or ART 331.
ART 349 Community Engagement and Creative Practice: Investigating the Highlander Folk School through Art (4)
An inquiry-based course that examines the impacts of the Highlander Folk School. The course introduces an interdisciplinary approach to the production of socially-engaged art through place-based experiential learning. Utilizing participatory practices and critical pedagogy to examine local contexts and social issues through community engagement, students visualize, record, and reflect on Highlander’s history. A range of approaches including journal writing, activating archives, field trips, recording oral histories, and production of video and photographic work are involved. Prerequisite: ART 242 or ART 243 or ART 248 or ART 261 or ART 263 or junior standing.
ART 351 Advanced Studio Seminar in Drawing (4)
In this drawing seminar, students engage in a combination of advanced assignments and self-directed projects aimed towards furthering the study of the drawing in both traditional and non-traditional materials. Prerequisite: ART 101 or ART 105 or ART 251 or ART 255 or ART 257 or ART 259 or ART 291.
ART 352 Advanced Studio Seminar in Drawing and Painting (4)
In this seminar, students engage in a combination of advanced assignments and self-directed projects aimed towards furthering the study of drawing, painting and mixed media in both traditional and non-traditional materials. Content will vary from semester to semester. This course may be repeated twice for credit. Prerequisite: ART 251 or ART 255 or ART 257 or ART 259 or ART 291 or ART 299 or ART 351 or ART 391.
ART 361 Advanced Photography (4)
The course builds on prior experience and concentrates on small and large format photography, color and alternative photographic processes. Class projects and discussions are shaped around self-defined projects. This course can be repeated twice for credit. Prerequisite: ART 101 or ART 103 or ART 261 or ART 263.
ART 363 Advanced Documentary Projects in Photography (4)
The course builds on ART 263 and consolidates methods and issues pertaining to the making of photographic documentaries. Class projects and discussions examine the cultural and socio-political impact of this genre, as well as the genre's core triangulation points of subjectivity, objectivity, and truth. Prerequisite: ART 263.
ART 381 Advanced Studio Seminar in Sculpture (4)
In this sculpture seminar, students engage in a combination of advanced assignments and self-directed projects aimed towards furthering the study of the art involved in three-dimensional media and methods.This course can be repeated twice for credit. Prerequisite: ART 101 or ART 104 or ART 281 or ART 282 or ART 287.
ART 391 Properties of Painting (4)
This seminar course explores the properties and applications of acrylic and oil paints as they relate conceptually to our contemporary world. Working both observationally and abstractly, students experiment with traditional techniques such as glazing and under painting. They also investigate paint as a sculptural and textural material. Prerequisite: ART 102 or ART 105 or ART 291 or ART 299.
ART 420 Seminar in Creativity (4)
This investigation of the creative process requires advanced studio skills and is based on discussion of works-in-progress. Selected readings, participation in critiques, and a semester-long studio project help establish a disciplined and systematic approach to creative practice. Open only to seniors pursuing majors in art.
ART 430 Senior Seminar (4)
Participants will have already developed advanced skills in at least one of the five media offered (drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, video production). This seminar further enhances studio skills by referencing individual, self-defined project work to readings that explore the theory and practice of the visual arts, the societal role of the artist, contemporary issues and interdisciplinary approaches. Open only to students pursuing majors in art.
ART 444 Independent Study (2 or 4)
For select students. Permission of the instructor required. Prerequisite: Instructor prerequisite override required.
ART HISTORY COURSES
ARTH 103 Survey of Western Art I (4)
A survey of the architecture, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts of the West from prehistory to the end of the Middle Ages.
ARTH 104 Survey of Western Art II (4)
A continuation of ARTH 103, beginning with the art of the Italian Renaissance and concluding with the major artistic developments of the 20th century.
ARTH 105 The Arts of Asia (4)
A survey of the visual arts of India, China, Japan, and neighboring countries from prehistory to the present. The major monuments consisting of architecture, sculpture, and painting are discussed. Both indigenous and cross-cultural aspects of each art work are examined in the light of style, iconography, and historical context.
ARTH 107 The Films of Alfred Hitchcock (4)
Rear Window will serve as a model for Hitchcock's persistent interest in climactic chases, claustrophobic locations, sexual voyeurism, ironic humor, and a sense of the inevitability of fate. Analysis of other Hitchcock films from the late twenties to the mid sixties will emphasize the director's treatment of editing, framing, sound, and mis en scene. Students will become familiar with a variety of critical approaches and with cultural and historical influences on Hitchcock's work.
ARTH 202 History of Photography (4)
This course introduces students to the history of photography, from the invention of the medium in the 1830s to recent practices of photographers and artists working with a wide variety of photographic technologies. Emphasis is given to key artist, artistic movements, and theories of photography, as well as to visual literacy and familiarity with the multiple genres and social functions of photographic image production.
ARTH 210 Islamic Art and Architecture (4)
A survey of the origins, characteristics, and development of Islamic art, approached by considering productions ranging from architecture to sumptuary arts. This course covers the early formation and definition of Islamic art during the Ummayad and Abbasid periods and later phases of splendor in late Medieval and Modern eras. It includes the art and architecture of Fatimids, Mamluks, Saljuks, Ottomans, Ilkhanids, Timurids, and Safavids, in areas stretching from the Iberian Peninsula and northern Africa to India.
ARTH 212 American Animation, 1910-1960 (4)
A chronological examination of the most significant and influential short and full-length animated features made in the United States between 1910 and 1960. This course begins with the experiments of Winsor McCay ("Little Nemo," 1911) and ends with the rise of made-for-television cartoon in early 1960s. Emphasis is placed both on major studios in New York, Kansas City, and Los Angeles and on pioneering directors and animators working in those studios. The course also situates the work of those studios, directors, and animators within the larger contexts of twentieth century American history and popular culture.
ARTH 305 Sacred Arts of Japan (4)
This course introduces religious artworks of Japan from the sixth century to the present day. Following a chronological sequence, examines artwork from Buddhist, Shinto, and Christian belief systems. Investigates two-dimensional works, sculpture, and architecture. Explores topics such as the relationship between ritual practice and the visual arts, images of heaven and hell, hidden icons, relics, and interactions of sacred and secular in the visual realm. Readings taken from primary sources and scholarly articles in the field.
ARTH 306 Art and Disaster in Modern and Contemporary Japan (4)
Using disaster as a starting point for understanding the visual culture of modern and contemporary Japan, this course provides students with a survey of Japanese art history from 1850 to the present day. Considers the intersections of popular culture and fine art, examines painting, sculpture, architecture, memorials, photography, prints, video, and installation art. Explores the impact and legacy of natural disasters, war, the nuclear bomb, imperialism, environmental issues, and terrorism in the visual arts, analyzing various artistic responses to calamity.
ARTH 308 Gender in Japanese Art (4)
Using gender as a lens for examining works of art in the Japanese tradition from the thirteenth through twentieth centuries, this course examines a wide variety of formats and mediums, including corpse paintings, cross-dressing performers, and prints of the modern girl. Participants will identify and analyze varying interpretations of gender through time and across culture and address issues associated with applying contemporary gender theory to pre-modern works. Topics to be covered include: Buddhist ideas of the feminine, voyeurism in early modern woodblock prints, and the role of gender in contemporary art.
ARTH 309 Sacred Arts of China (4)
Following a chronological sequence, this course introduces religious artworks of China from the prehistoric period to the present day and examines artwork from Buddhist and Taoist religions. It investigates two-dimensional works, sculpture, and architecture and explores such topics as the relationship between ritual practice and the visual arts, images of the natural landscape, pilgrimage, cave temples, religion and political rule, and the interactions of major religious and philosophical beliefs.
ARTH 310 Contemporary Chinese Art (4)
This course examines major artistic currents in China from 1980 to the present day. Explores connections between artistic production, political movements, and political structures. Considers the position of Chinese artists in a global society, issues of diaspora, and the role of art institutions and markets in the production and reception of Chinese contemporary art.
ARTH 312 Greek and Roman Art and Architecture (4)
A chronological survey of the painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Greek, and Hellenistic worlds and Roman Empire from the eighth century B.C.E. to the fourth century C.E. While emphasizing stylistic developments, political and cultural contexts will also be examined. Prerequisite: ARTH 103 or HUMN 103 or HUMN 104.
ARTH 316 Introduction to Museum Studies (4)
Providing students with a survey of museology and the museum field, this course covers the history of museums, contemporary museum practice, and theories of representation. It explores the role of museums in society through readings, lectures, site visits, and class projects, and introduces the fundamentals of collections, exhibitions, the curatorial process, museum education, and administration.
ARTH 317 Approaches to Art History (4)
This writing-intensive seminar addresses the history and methods of art history by exploring its philosophical development. The current state of the discipline as it negotiates the theoretical challenges of poststructuralism and postmodernism will also be explored. Written and oral assignments develop the students' research and communication skills. Open only to students pursuing programs in art history. Prerequisite: ARTH 103 and ARTH 104.
ARTH 320 Medieval Art and Architecture (4)
The art and architecture of Western Europe from the late Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance. Emphasis will be placed on the development of monumental architecture and the regional peculiarities of sculpture, painting, and the minor arts over the course of this thousand-year period. Prerequisite: ARTH 103 or HUMN 104.
ARTH 323 Imagining the City in the Age of Dante (4)
This course explores the ways medieval Italian city-dwellers imagined and shaped their communities and civic identities in art, architecture, and literature, with a focus on vibrant thirteenth and fourteenth century urban centers like Siena, Florence, and Padua. Medieval Italian urbanites strategically imagined and represented their civic ideals and communities in the face of factional divisions and violence. Art, architecture, and urban planning had essential roles to play, as communities, institutions, and religious orders sought to define themselves in an accessible visual language, and as organizations.
ARTH 325 Italian Renaissance Art and Architecture (4)
A survey of painting, sculpture, and architecture in Italy from the late 13th to the close of the 16th century. While the artists and monuments of Florence, Rome, and Venice will be the principal foci, important developments in other centers will also be considered. Prerequisite: ARTH 103 or ARTH 104 or HUMN 103 or HUMN 104 or HUMN 105.
ARTH 326 Northern Renaissance Art (4)
A study of northern European art from the early 14th to the late 16th centuries. While the course will concentrate on Flemish and German panel painting, attention will also be paid to French and Flemish manuscript illumination as well as to Netherlandish sculpture. Prerequisite: ARTH 103 or ARTH 104 or HUMN 104 or HUMN 105.
ARTH 333 French Art (4)
A survey of French painting, sculpture, and architecture from the early seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. Emphasis is placed on the founding of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, the artistic program of Louis XIV, the development of the rococo style, and the emergence of sensibilité and a new moralizing art in the years leading to the French Revolution. Prerequisite: ARTH 104 or HUMN 105.
ARTH 335 Nineteenth-Century Art (4)
A survey of European painting and sculpture from the 1780s to 1900, with an emphasis on the social and political contexts in which the works were created. While the focus is on the art of France, that of Germany, Spain, and England is also discussed. Prerequisite: ARTH 104 or HUMN 105 or HUMN 106.
ARTH 338 British Art (4)
A survey of British art from the late 17th to the close of the 19th century. Emphasis will be on painting; sculpture, architecture, and landscape design will be considered as well. Prerequisite: ARTH 104.
ARTH 340 American Art (4)
A survey of painting, sculpture, and architecture in the United States from the Colonial period to 1913, with an emphasis on the relationship between American and European art and artists. Other topics considered include the development of art institutions in this country, in particular art museums and academies. Prerequisite: ARTH 104 or HUMN 105 or HUMN 106.
ARTH 345 Modern Art (4)
This course examines various trends in Western art from the 1860s through the 1950s. The role of the visual arts and the means of their production and reception underwent tremendous change during this period. Critics and historians have long referred to this century as the era of modernism. Understood variously as a stylistic, philosophic, social, political, or economic category, the notion of modernism and the significance of this concept for the visual arts provides a guiding theme for lectures and in-class discussions.
ARTH 346 Contemporary Art (4)
An examination of the critical and thematic issues raised by visual artists working during the second half of the twentieth century. The changing definition of modernism and its relationship to contemporary artistic practice will be analyzed. Toward this end, the class will seek to define modernism and postmodernism as well as some of the myriad other isms that have emerged in art and critical theory over the past fifty years.
ARTH 350 Spanish Painting (4)
A critical and historical survey of Spanish painting from the sixteenth through twentieth century, this course focuses on major artists against the backdrop of Spain's unique cultural traditions.
ARTH 360 Pop Art (4)
This seminar charts the development of Pop Art in North America and Europe between 1960 and 1973, investigating why art made by a diverse group of artists, using a variety of aesthetic techniques, is labeled "pop." Lectures and discussions explore stylistic, social, and political issues raised by Pop as well as features that diverse Pop practices show in common—including the use of readymade imagery, photography, text, and performance. The seminar concludes by tracing Pop art's influence on work from the late 1970s to the present. Prerequisite: ARTH 104 or HUMN 106.
ARTH 365 Modern and Postmodern Architecture (4)
This survey of architecture and urban planning begins with the revivalist architecture of the nineteenth century and concludes with global contemporary practice, exploring along the way efforts to formulate a "modern" architecture and subsequent postmodern critiques. Students are introduced to significant figures like Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Jane Jacobs, Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, and Zaha Hadid, and to significant themes in modern and postmodern architectural practice, like the archetype of architect as hero, architecture as social engineering, and architecture as spectacle. Students thus learn of essential reference points for understanding our built environment and its discourse.
ARTH 370 Art in Germany: 1919-1933 (4)
This course examines artistic production in Germany within the social and political context of the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1933. The course investigates Expressionism, the "anti-art" theories espoused by Dada artists, and the formal characteristics of New Objectivity painting under the influence of photography. The art and politics of the Bauhaus are explored in detail, including the practices of painting, architecture, and industrial design. The course concludes with consideration of the rapid change in leadership and direction at the Bauhaus and its closing at the hands of the Nazis.
ARTH 371 Post-World War II European Visual Culture (4)
This course will consider issues of identity, migration, and politics in European art after World War II. Students will examine ways in which visual culture has intersected with these issues by traveling to different sites in Berlin to study the work of individual artists, local galleries, and established national institutions. The global art market will also be a topic of study. Students will be prompted to ask questions about the culture industry and its development since WWII. How do art institutions engage with political and social debate? How do changing notions of identity play a role in new categories for visual culture? This course is only available through the European Studies Program. Prerequisite: Only open to students admitted to the European Studies program.
ARTH 402 Senior Seminar (4)
A seminar designed to introduce students to the research methods and interpretive approaches of art history. Written as well as oral assignments develop students' research and communication skills. Each year the seminar focuses on a specific historical, cultural, or thematic topic chosen by the instructor. Open only to seniors pursuing majors in art history. Prerequisite: ARTH 103 and ARTH 104.
ARTH 440 Independent Study (2 or 4)
Permission of the instructor required. Prerequisite: Instructor prerequisite override required.
ARTH 490 Artistic Centers of Western Europe: Their Art and Architecture, Museums and Monuments (4)
The travel-study portion of Track Two of European Studies includes a month-long exploration of the Continent including, in France, Paris, Chartres and Beaune; in Italy, Rome, Siena, Florence, Padua, Venice and Ravenna; in Germany, Nurnberg, Bamberg and Munich; in Belgium, Bruges and Ghent; and concludes with a week in London, including a study visit to the National Gallery. Each student produces a daily academic journal and should acquire the ability to look at a building, a painting, or a sculpture and understand its period, its function, the materials and techniques used in its production, as well as the artist's intentions. This course is only available through the European Studies Program. Prerequisite: Only open to students admitted to the European Studies program.
ARTH 492 Western Europe: Middle Ages and the Renaissance (4)
This course provides a broad-based, chronological survey of the art and architecture of Western Europe, from the emergence of Christian art in the early fourth century to the development of Mannerism at the end of the Renaissance. Many of the themes and works of art that are explored further on the Continental tour are introduced. Slide lectures trace the general developments of style throughout the period, set within their historical contexts, and focus on individual buildings, manuscripts, pieces of sculpture, metal work or paintings as case studies of technique or patronage. Visits to the Bodleian Library and Ashmolean Museum in Oxford enable students to view examples of the objects studied in the course. This course is only available through the European Studies Program. Prerequisite: Only open to students admitted to the European Studies program.
ARTH 494 Greece, the Eastern Aegean, and Italy: the Monuments and Centers of Classical Civilization (4)
The travel-study portion of Track One of European Studies includes a month-long exploration of the Continent including, in Greece, Athens, Delphi, Olympia and the islands of Crete, Santorini (Thera) and Delos; in Turkey, Istanbul, Troy, Aspendos and Didyma; in Italy, Naples, Rome, the Vatican City; and concludes with a week in London, including a study visit to the British Museum. Each student produces a daily academic journal and should acquire the ability to look at a building or a sculpture and understand its period, its function, the materials and techniques used in its production as well as the artist's intentions. This course is only available through the European Studies Program. Prerequisite: Only open to students admitted to the European Studies program.
ARTH 495 Spanish Art, Western Art, and the Road to Santiago (4)
An approach to Western Art, particularly Spanish, in connection with the development of the pilgrimage road to Santiago, starting from its origins in early Christianity, focusing on medieval art, and discussing its persistence in the Modern Era. Special emphasis will be given to the importance of multidisciplinary studies concerning the subject. This course is only available through the Sewanee Summer in Spain program. Prerequisite: Only open to students admitted to the Sewanee Summer in Spain program.
ARTH 496 Islamic Spain and Spanish Art (4)
A survey of Spanish Muslim art from the Emirate to the Nasrid period (8th to 15th centuries), including extensive discussion of the main monuments such as the mosque at Cordoba and the Alhambra palace of Granada. The course examines the presence and persistence of Islamic influence on Spanish Christian art of the late Middle Ages and the modern era. Special attention is given to Mudejar art.
ARTH 497 Europe: A Community in the Arts (4)
This art history course emphasizes the relationships and interactions between Spain and the other Western European countries as well as Spain as a cultural and artistic bridge between Europe and North Africa and between Europe and the New World. It includes visits to museums, monuments and cultural institutions in Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Morocco with special attention to art collections, collecting and their origins. Selected moments and artworks connected with the fundamental topics of the course are discussed, including examples from Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque times. This course is only available through the Sewanee Semester in Spain program.
Film Studies Courses
FILM 105 Introduction to World Cinema (4)
With the benefit of guest presentations, this course offers an introduction to essential techniques of analyzing film along with an introduction to a number of national cinemas represented in the film studies program, such as Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish film.
FILM 108 History of Film: Invention to Mid-Century (4)
A chronological survey of the most significant and influential developments in international cinema from the invention of moving pictures to mid-century. Emphasis is on pioneering directors and major films. This course also introduces the student to film theory along with the major aesthetic and technological developments of the medium.
FILM 109 History of Film: Mid-Century to the Present (4)
This course traces the major developments in world cinema from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. Organized chronologically, it covers the international, aesthetic, and technological benchmarks of film history, with an introduction to the critical vocabulary necessary for film analysis.
