| AHIS 101 |
| Introduction to the History of Art in the West I |
| A survey of the history of art and architecture from the Paleolithic period to the Middle Ages, examining objects in their cultural, historical, and artistic contexts.
(ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 102 |
| Introduction to the History of Art in the West II |
| A survey of the history of painting, sculpture, and architecture from the Renaissance to the present day. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 103 |
| Introduction to Asian Art |
| This course surveys 5,000 years of East Asian history and culture through the close analysis of 40 primary artworks. Classes are generally presented in chronological order, and provide a selection of major and minor artistic traditions from China, Korea, and Japan from pre-history to the 21st century. Each class focuses on two objects, and will emphasize the connection between close looking and big ideas, including transcultural exchange, religion, materiality, empire, class, and globalism. As such, this course addresses the basic contribution of art history to the humanities by demonstrating how individual art objects provide evidence for arguments about the cultures of the past. (GLB1) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 105 |
| History of World Cinema |
| A survey of the art of the cinema examining different national schools with special attention to major commercial and avant-garde filmmakers such as Coppola, Hitchcock, Fellini, Bergman, Godard, Eisenstein, Welles, and Renoir. In order to address individual films in a broad cultural context, one film will be screened and analyzed each week. (Note: Replaces "Film as a Visual Art.") (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 161 |
| Survey: Introduction to the History of Western Architecture |
| A survey of the history of architecture from the ancient world to the present, focusing on Western Europe. Some themes that will be examined are: the classical tradition, the development of building technologies and structural systems, the urbanization of Europe, the influence of patronage, the introduction and mutability of building types, and changes in domestic interior life. The final weeks of the course trace the continuation of these themes in the America and the modern world. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 201 |
| Intro to Islamic Art/Arc |
| This course introduces the visual arts of the Islamic lands through the study of selected masterpieces dating from 600-1500 AD. These will be chosen to represent a wide variety of forms, functions, regions, techniques and ideas. The course will explore all the major arts of the Islamic lands, including religious and secular architecture, the arts of the book, textiles, ceramics, metalwork and woodwork. Firsthand examination of original works of art in Boston and Springfield will be emphasized. (GLB1) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 209 |
| The Arts of China in the 20th Century |
| In this course, we will examine the development of art in China during the long 20th century, starting with the 1911 Revolution which concluded China's imperial past and ending with the post-Mao economic policies which culminated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We will study major works of various formats and genres which define and redefine Chinese art. We will explore issues related to the tension between Chinese nationalism and Westernization, the adaptation of modern aesthetics and visual technologies, the conflict between state sponsorship and censorship, the changing perception of gender and self-image, the emergence of urban space and consumer culture, and the connection between art and the global economy. (GLB1) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 210 |
| Art of Zen in Japan |
| Zen, a school of Buddhism, represents quintessential values of Japanese art and aesthetic principles. This course discusses how the ideas of Zen constitute a philosophical foundation for Japanese art, by examining major works in painting, calligraphy and garden design from the 13th to 18th centuries. We discuss how Japanese aesthetics shaped the practice of Zen rituals, especially those related to meditation and the tea ceremony. Through exploring the meanings of pictorial and literary ko'an, we learn how they form visual and textual riddles based on metaphors, allusions, and wordplay. In a contextual approach, we analyze the development of form, style, and iconography in Japanese art associated with Zen, while tracing the underpinning philosophical concepts related to enlightenment, emptiness, and beauty. (GLB1) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 211 |
| History of Chinese Painting |
| This course offers both a historical survey of Chinese painting and an opportunity to critique the survey model through self-directed scholarship in the sub-fields of Chinese painting history, including perception, materiality, gender, patronage, ethnicity, etc. The semester is split into two halves. For the survey half, students use a textbook to gain broad knowledge of the tools, formats, and schools of Chinese painting history. For the topics half, students form small study groups and lead mini-conferences on their topics. In this way, the course emphasizes the skills of self-guided scholarship, close reading, critical thinking, and public presentation. (GLB1) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 218 |
| Art and Its Markets - Global and Local |
| The sale of artwork, both contemporary and classical, comprises one of the most fascinating luxury markets in today's economy. It behaves more unpredictably than almost any other market. Many of its goods are non-fungible, and it often requires academic expertise. In this class, students approach art history from a market perspective, addressing topics such as patronage, market diversification, looting, NFTs, and the historical development of the auction house, museum, and gallery systems. Examples are taken from global sources. Students will visit auctions and galleries in New York and will write proposals for the acquisition of actual artworks to nearby museums. As such, this course offers a chance for students to build practical experience with galleries, auction houses, and museums. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 219 |
| The Visual and Material Culture of Medieval and Renaissance Women |
| This course looks at images made by female artists and artisans, as well as works commissioned by and for women, between the Medieval and Renaissance periods (c 1100-1600). As recent scholarship shows, daughters, wives and sisters were integral members of artists' workshops, producing paintings, sculpture, prints and household furnishings. Female patrons - from queens and duchesses to nuns and widows - commissioned grand buildings and public memorials as well as small decorative items. Here, we discuss women from various social classes and their contributions to the visual and material culture of Europe across five centuries. Along with art making and patronage, we will also consider gift giving and bequests as modes of consolidating wealth and security among women. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 220 |
| Baroque Rome |
| In this course, we examine art and architecture in Rome from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 18th century, a dynamic period that shaped much of the fabric of the city as we know it today. While analyzing urbanism, structural design, sculpture, and painting by many of the well-known artists of the period (Caravaggio, Bernini, Borromini, Artemisia, Pietro da Cortona), we also discuss commemoration of the ritual and ceremonial life of the city as portrayed in engravings, drawings, printed books and the decorative arts. We round out our critical exploration of Baroque Rome by viewing documentary and feature films that engage with this fascinating period (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 222 |
| The Renaissance Embodied |
| Renaissance depictions of the body range from idealized nudes to decaying, and sometimes ambulatory, corpses. In Europe, artists dissected human cadavers and, for the first time since antiquity, reflected the use of living models in their workshops and studios. In this course, we examine works that embodied early modern ideas about power and dependence, race and class, gender and sexuality, death and disease, the marginalized and the fantastic. Focusing on the artist's studio and early modern practice, we consider a diverse set of bodies as they were represented in paintings, sculpture, drawings, decorative arts, books and prints in relation to contemporary spiritual, political, and social concerns. We also consider ways that artists today incorporate Renaissance models and methods into their studio practice and work. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 223 |
| Medieval Art and Architecture |
| The art and architecture of the Middle Ages beginning with the emergence in the 4th century of distinct styles, subjects and forms from the Christian and pagan art of the late Roman empire to the works of the Greek East and Latin West. The course also surveys the monuments of the Carolingian Renaissance and of the Romanesque and Gothic periods in Western Europe. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 224 |
| Understanding Architecture |
| This course introduces a range of approaches to understand architecture in an historical perspective. Focusing on European and American architecture from 1400 to the present, lectures and discussions will consider how architects have approached the built environment at various times in both urban and rural settings. Lectures and class discussions will discuss ways that buildings, gardens, landscapes, and urban plans have been shaped by cultural values, social beliefs, political and technological developments, rubrics of art, and responses to nature. In addition to situating architecture within historical perspectives, this class provides students with the tools to begin analyzing, understanding, and decoding the landscapes and environments that we inhabit today. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 226 |
| Drinking, Dining, and Community in Antiquity |
| The act of eating and drinking in self-defining social groups preoccupied ancient Greek and Roman societies in ways that modern societies have inherited—although the forms of these gatherings have changed. We will study the history of banqueting in the ancient Mediterranean world, from communal feasts at religious festivals to the private Greek symposion and Roman convivium. Through artistic representations, architectural remains, archaeological finds, and literary texts, we’ll explore what kind of food and drink was consumed at these banquets, and what was offered to the dead at their tombs; the origins of reclining to dine and this custom’s social implications, and how culinary and dining practices can serve as a lens for recognizing codes of gender, otherness, status, and power in a culture. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 227 |
| Public Art |
Art as part of public spaces or incorporated into architecture has been integral to artistic practice and civic patronage from antiquity to the present. This digital humanities course will give students the chance to create written, visual and interactive content while learning the history of art in public places from antiquity to the present. Students will curate tours and other digital features for a web catalog of public art and gain field experience working with Greater Hartford NGOs, Museums and Government. (ART)
This course is not open to first-year students. |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 229 |
| Israeli Art: Reflecting Israeli Culture |
| The course deals with different forms of art created in Israel from the establishment of the state in 1948 until contemporary times. Analysis of artwork provides students with an opportunity to experience a myriad of clashing perspectives on Israeli culture and society. Utilizing a chronological perspective, combined with thematic approaches, students will gain access to Israeli cultural discourse. Through the art works, students are exposed to ongoing societal issues such as the Holocaust, military conflict, social tensions, politics, gender representation, and alterity. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 234 |
| Early Renaissance Art in Italy |
| A study of painting, sculpture and architecture in Italy from the later Middle Ages through the 15th century, with emphasis on masters such as Pisani, Giotto, Brunelleschi, Piero della Francesca, Botticelli, and Bellini. Themes of naturalism, humanism, the revival of antiquity, and the growth of science as they relate to the visual arts will be explored. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 236 |
| High Renaissance Art in Italy |
| Italian painting, sculpture, and architecture from the end of the 15th century through the 16th century. Examines the work of the creators of the High Renaissance style, including Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian. The emergence of mannerism in central Italy and its influences on North Italian and Venetian painters will also be explored. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 241 |
| Classical Ideals: Representations of the Human Body in Ancient Mediterranean Art |
| Examine the roots of modern beauty standards by digging into the history of the “classical ideal”, down to its origins in Greek and Roman representations of the human body. Social status and beauty seem always to have been correlated; how are nudity and clothing, the athletic ideal, gender and sexuality, and racialized ideals of beauty implicated in portrayals of the bodies of social actors and symbolic bodies? Even character and emotion were portrayed as physically embodied. We’ll analyze classical sculpture, painting, and other arts, supported by readings from studies in the history of art, critical approaches to conceptions of the human form, ancient medical texts, and Greek and Roman poetry. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 246 |
| Art in the Age of Absolutism: The European Baroque |
| During the seventeenth century, Europe underwent a series of civil, religious, and economic upheavals which paradoxically resulted in a period of extraordinarily innovative art. This course begins with the rise of the Roman Baroque, from the disturbing realism of Caravaggio to the multi-media theatricality of Bernini, examining artistic patronage and production in the highly charged political, social, and cultural contexts of Europe during and after the Thirty Years' War. It continues with a study of the broad range of artistic response to these developments in both Southern and Northern Europe, from the elaborate state pageantry of Rubens to the intensely personal portraiture of Rembrandt. Other artists to be studied include Poussin, Le Brun, Zurbaran, Velazquez, Van Dyck, and Vermeer. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 247 |
| Renaissance and Baroque Architecture and Urbanism |
| This course explores major trends in Western architecture and urbanism from the emergence of Italian Renaissance architecture and planning to the extensive Baroque palaces at Versailles and elsewhere in absolutist Europe. Topics to be examined include the classical tradition, the influence of patronage, the rise of architecture as a profession, and the legacy of European theory and practice in North and South America during the colonial period. In addition to exploring the relationship between architectural and urban theory and form, this course will examine buildings and cities in the evolving social, political, and religious contexts of the period. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 252 |
| 18th-Century Art and Architecture |
| This course will examine the major artists, patrons, critics, and art movements of Europe in the Age of the Enlightenment, with emphasis on the reflections in the arts of the political, social, and technological changes that marked this early modern era. In early 18th-century France, we will trace the significance of the Academie Royale in Paris, of the French academy in Rome, and of state patronage and critical support for royal portraiture, secular and religious painting and the theatrical landscapes. As well as the more liberal climate that fostered the French Rococo, naturalists genre and still life painting. In Italy, we will focus on Venice and the Grand Tour. After a brief look at Goya's early career and seminal student trip to Italy, we will consider the rise of satire, history painting, and portraiture in the 18th-century England. In conclusion, we will return to Paris to trace in its art, political, and social history the waning years of the ancient regime and the onset of the French Revolution. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 257 |
| The Islamic City: Places, Pasts and Problems |
| This course explores the great variety of cities founded, claimed, and inhabited by Muslims from the beginnings of Islam to the present day. While there is no such thing as a prototypical "Islamic city," this course grapples with questions of change and continuity in the organization of urban life among Muslims globally. Through a combination of lectures and discussions, we will situate cities in their historical contexts, examine their built environments, and consider the ways in which exchange, mobility, empire, revolution, and globalization have shaped urban space. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 258 |
| Design and Everyday Life |
| This course examines the history of interior architecture and the many types of utilitarian objects that different cultures have used for ceremonial and daily life. The course teaches the history of the techniques of making and the characteristics of materials which have constrained design across time and around the globe. In Fall 2022, the course will take special advantage of an exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum on Contemporary Art Glass and many class sessions will be field trips. The course content falls into three parts: the study of interior architecture and the relationship of design to social practices; the history of individual crafts, materials, and makers; the history of styles. The course will consider furniture, ceramics, textiles, metalwork and glass and the new materials of post-industrial living. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 261 |
| 19th-Century Painting and Sculpture |
| A study of European painting and sculpture from the Romanticism of the late 18th century to the emergence of new directions at the end of the 19th century. The course is adapted each year to take advantage of major exhibitions. Museum visits and extensive readings will be integral to the makeup of the course. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 264 |
| Art in the Age of Revolution, War, and Contagion: 1789-1871 |
| The human experience in the period from 1789-1871 closely parallels modern times. We will explore how the issues in nineteenth-century painting anticipate our concerns today. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 265 |
| 19th-Century Architecture |
| This course examines architecture, design, and urban developments in Europe and America between roughly 1750 and 1900. Contextualized with topics including social and cultural change, politics, and technological developments, themes considered in this course will include the revival of historical styles such as the Greek and the Gothic, and their application to modern contexts; the rise of new building types, such as museums, railroad stations, prisons, and skyscrapers; the emergence of modern capitals such as Berlin, New York, London, and Paris; and the development of the professions of architecture and urban planning. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 271 |
| Arts of the United States |
| The course examines major trends in American painting, sculpture, architecture, and decorative arts from pre-colonial times to the early 20th century. Lectures and discussions consider artistic production and meaning, and situate artworks, objects, and buildings within social and cultural frameworks. Topics include Native American arts and material culture, colonial portraiture and architecture, and the development of American artistic output in the Federal period. Themes of politics, race, and understandings of the American landscape will be discussed alongside paintings, material culture, and architecture of the 19th century. This class will situate artworks, buildings, and objects within discussions of class, social hierarchies, and disenfranchisement, and will also consider the interpretation and presentation of these items in public settings like museums and exhibitions. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 280 |
| Japanese Calligraphy |
| In this course, students will learn the history and theories of shodo, or calligraphy, which Japan adopted from China and developed. They will also learn to practice the art form. Reading essays about the art and drawing various Chinese characters, or Japanese kanji, they will be expected to recognize the values of calligraphy works and learn how to appreciate them along with a few important concepts in shodo such as “nothingness” and “emptiness.” Students will be required to practice patiently and repeatedly important basic brushstrokes in order to draw a few of the kanji used in words. This course will also cover ink paintings occasionally, and, near the end of the semester, Japanese kana systems. No previous experience studying Japanese or Chinese characters is required. (GLB1) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 282 |
| 20th-Century Avant Garde in Painting and Sculpture |
| This course addresses the position of art in European and American society from 1890 to 1945 when the concept of the artist as a rebel and visionary leader defined art's relation to contemporary social, political, and aesthetic issues. The movements of symbolism, expressionism, cubism, dada, and surrealism are discussed. Current exhibitions and the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum are used whenever appropriate. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 283 |
| Contemporary Art |
| Following the Second World War, artists transformed the avant-garde tradition of their European predecessors to establish a dialogue with the mass media and consumer culture that has resulted in a wide array of artistic movements. Issues ranging from multiculturalism and gender to modernism and postmodernism will be addressed through the movements of abstract expressionism, pop, minimalism, neo-expressionism and appropriation in the diverse media of video, performance, and photography, as well as painting and sculpture. Current exhibitions and criticism are integral to the course. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 286 |
| Modern Architecture: 1900 to the Present |
| This course surveys broad developments in architecture, design, and urban planning as they relate to social, political, and cultural changes between roughly 1900 and the present. With a focus on Western Europe and America, topics include Viennese Modernism, the legacy of the Arts and Crafts movement, the Bauhaus, the International Style, the birth of Modernism, Brutalism, Postmodernism, and the architecture of the recent past. Close attention will be given to figures including Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Robert Venturi, and Frank Gehry, but the class will also include discussion of important practitioners who have historically been omitted from architectural studies. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 292 |
| History of Photography |
| Major developments in European and American photography from 1839 to the present. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 301 |
| Major Seminar in Art Historical Method |
| Required of and limited to art history majors, as one of the first courses they take after declaring their major. Studies in the tradition and methodology of art historical research. Readings in classics of the literature of art history; discussions of major issues and meeting with scholars and museum professionals; students will pursue an active research project and present both oral reports and formal written research papers. (WEB) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 303 |
| The Contemporary Art World |
| This seminar will examine the individuals and institutions that define the art world today: museums, global art fairs and biennials, galleries and auction houses, as well as critics and artists. Beginning with the 1960s, we will trace the development of the nexus called “the contemporary art world” and study the work of artists on a global scale. Besides Europe and North America, we will focus on activities in Africa, South America, and Asia. Classroom discussion will be supplemented by visits to galleries and museum exhibitions. Students will be immersed in contemporary events and will participate in Professor FitzGerald’s ongoing projects with museums, galleries, and artists. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 306 |
| Chinese Literati Art |
| In this course, we trace the development of visual and conceptual underpinnings of Chinese art and aestheticism from the 11th to 16th century by examining seminal works of painting and calligraphy with critical theories in Chinese literati art. Important issues for this seminar include iconology and form, concepts of political protest and self-cultivation, the allegorization of nature and antiquity, and the historiography of art history. (GLB1) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 307 |
| Architecture of Leisure in America |
| This seminar considers how architecture and the built environment have been used to facilitate and satisfy American expectations of recreation and leisure. Through close-reading and discussion of primary and secondary sources, lectures, field trips, and class activities, this class will analyze buildings and landscapes as means of understanding social values and cultural beliefs at various times. Topics will include conceptions of nature, the evolution of specific building types, like hotels, the development of specific architectural styles, like the Shingle Style, and the changing beliefs relating to material choices. Focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries, this class will also consider how race and socioeconomic status impacted architectural decisions and the lived experience as it related to this landscape of leisure. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 308 |
| Global Landscape Art - Exploitation and the Sublime |
| This seminar takes a global and cross-cultural view of landscape art in the early modern through contemporary periods. Landscapes often appear to be politically neutral. They offer us escapes to unspoiled places where nature is celebrated- sublime wildernesses, pastoral pasts, and Edenic gardens. Yet in many parts of the world, the rise of landscape art coincided with and contributed to ideologies of expansionism, colonialism, industrialism, and resource extraction. In this class, we wrestle with these contradictions as we consider the global history of landscape art. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 311 |
| Rise & Fall of the Aegean Bronze Age |
| How do we access the history of a period in which the primary media for representing culture and society were not literate? The art, architecture, and archaeology of the Aegean Bronze Age, especially the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures, provide tantalizing insights into the governmental structures, societal inequities, economies, wars, and religion in the region. Students will investigate the techniques and methods of Bronze Age artists and architects, as well as how their works represent race, gender, and ethnicity; the influence of foreign peoples on Aegean art and society; climate change, migrations, and piracy; and cult practices, including funerary customs through which so much of the material remains of this lost world has been preserved. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 334 |
| Patrons, Artists and the Art Market in the Italian Renaissance |
| During the Renaissance in Italy, most art was produced on commission, initiated by the buyer or patron and contracted with the artist. Readings and discussion will center on the collaboration between patrons and artists, focusing on the tangible and intangible goals and results for both parties. The interaction of supply—the artist’s stylistic and technical choices--and demand—the patron’s needs and tastes—will be examined in case studies of civic, ecclesiastic and family commissions between 1300-1500 in central Italy. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 341 |
| Seminar in Baroque Art: Caravaggio |
This course will examine the life, work, and legacy of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) within the artistic and historical contexts of the Baroque era. Reviled and revered for his shockingly realistic painting style, along with his famous (but disputed) insistence on painting directly from life rather than from preparatory drawings, Caravaggio was the most influential painter of his time. Topics to be examined include Caravaggio's relationship to Counter-Reformation art and the Inquisition, his controversial religious scenes, themes of violence, eroticism and homoeroticism in his work, his working methods in light of recent technical analyses, his biographers and critical reception, and the works of his followers, or Caravaggisti, in Europe and beyond. This course fulfills the 17th century requirement in art history. (ART)
Prerequisite: C- or better in Art History 102 or 246, or permission of instructor. |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 341 |
| The Baroque Festival: Art and Authority in the Age of Spectacle |
This course will explore the complex relationships between art, architecture, politics, and theater in seventeenth-century Europe. During this period, Europe's civil, religious, and economic upheavals provoked increasingly elaborate and inflexible ideologies among its secular and religious rulers, yet the art and architecture of this period is among the most innovative and varied in Western culture. By combining politics and art, baroque festivals explored--and frequently altered--the seemingly opposed conventions of each. Students are encouraged to pursue class presentations and final projects that address a similarly broad range of related themes. (ART)
Prerequisite: C- or better in Art History 102. |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 342 |
| Seminar in Baroque Art: Art in the Age of Rembrandt |
| Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), was one of the most prolific and profoundly original painters and printmakers to emerge in seventeenth-century Holland's Golden Age. The newly independent republic, a mercantile power and middle-class urban society with strong Calvinist leanings, found expression in the painting of Rembrandt and his contemporaries. This course will examine Rembrandt's imaginative reinventions of the genres of self-portrait and group portrait painting, his naturalistic and often eroticized female nudes, and how his biblical narratives draw upon modern Protestant Amsterdam, where an important emigrant Jewish population found refuge. Questions of attribution, workshop production and art market manipulation will also be explored.
NOTE: This course fulfills the Art History major requirement for the 17th -18th Century (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 345 |
| Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500-1800 |
This seminar will examine the artistic output and careers of a group of talented Italian women artists in Italy from 1500-1800, focusing on the work of Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654 or later). We will look at issues including the construction of female identity in the Early Modern era, the intersection of biography and personal style, and other factors that affected the course of a woman artist's career in Renaissance and Baroque Italy. The seminar is offered in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition "By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500-1800" at the Wadsworth Atheneum. It will be jointly taught by exhibition organizer and curator Oliver Tostmann and Professor Kristin Triff. Class meetings will take place both on campus and at the Atheneum. (GLB1)
Prerequisite: C- or better in Art History 102. |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 361 |
| Seminar in 19th Century Art: Impressionism |
This seminar will explore the emergence of modern painting from its Realist roots in Courbet and the plein air landscape to the innovations of Manet, Degas, Whistler to Impressionism and its international offshoots. (ART)
C- or better in Art History 102 or C- or better in any 200 level AHIS course. |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 364 |
| Architectural Drawing |
| A conceptual and practical introduction to the varied types of architectural drawings used to describe and perceive buildings. Tailored for liberal arts students, topics include geometry vs perception, freehand drawings, foreshortening, drafting measured drawings, understanding plans and sections, 3D parallel projection drawings, and setting up basic perspective views Students study and analyze inspiring drawings and buildings from their related classes, whether Art History, Engineering or Urban Studies. The class is taught as a hands-on studio course. This class serves as a prerequisite for AHIS 365/ENGR 342. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 365 |
| Elements of Architectural Design |
Echoing the curriculum in Architecture Schools but tailored for liberal arts students in a studio setting, this class teaches the basics of architectural design and language. Through sketches, hardline drawings, and model-making, students explore the fundamental principles of hierarchy, proportion, space, light, surface, order, rhythm, contrast, tectonics, craftsmanship and technique. This course includes a series of pedagogically stepped abstract projects, adding complexity and dimensions, understanding and building upon what is successful in each project, culminating with a project exploring and adding the critical concepts of site, context and program. This class is recommended for those who might consider graduate study in architecture. (ART)
Prerequisite: C- or better in Art History 364. |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| AHIS 366 |
| Architectural Design Studio and Portfolio Development |
This course is ideal for students interested in an architectural design/portfolio development studio format and is a continuation of AHIS 365. Students will complete an architectural design project of their choice with weekly online meetings and studio critiques with the instructor. These Zoom meetings will include the entire class, allowing students the benefit of seeing and participating in what others are working on. (ART)
Prerequisite: C- or better in Art History 364. |
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0.50 units, Studio
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| AHIS 371 |
| American Art: The Art of Walt Disney |
| Walt Disney was arguably the most consequential figure in the history of American culture. This course will study his many achievements, from the making of Mickey Mouse and his pioneering work in the synchronization of screen action with music and sound effects to the creation of the destination theme park. In the 1930s he was hailed by Charlie Chaplin, Marxist muralist Diego Rivera, H. G. Wells, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, production art from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs entered the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale and Harvard gave him honorary degrees. After WW II, academe and the culturati largely rejected him, but Americans young and old have always revered his films and those will be the prime focus of the class. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 386 |
| Le Corbusier Beyond Europe: Architectural Modernism and Ideologies |
| Le Corbusier (Swiss and French, 1887-1965) is one of the most productive architects of the 20th century, having designed approximately 300 buildings and urban plans throughout five continents. Expanding upon recent developments in global architectural history, this seminar invites students to focus on his designs for non-European contexts including Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, India, Iraq, Japan, Russia, and Turkey. Based on the principle that this geographical shift entails a distinctive set of questions on cultural exchanges, colonialism, and postcolonialism, this course invites students to consider power dynamics in global modernism. Prior attendance to an art or architectural history course is recommended. Students who are new to this field should reach out to the instructor for additional guidance. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 389 |
| Seminar: The Art of Exhibitions |
| Focusing primarily on modern and contemporary art, this seminar will explore both the history and practice of curation. Based on an exhibition that Professor FitzGerald is organizing for the Museo Picasso Málaga that will open in the spring of 2024, the course will offer students the opportunity to curate their own model exhibition based on our studies of museum and gallery practice and their independent research on an agreed topic. (ART) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| AHIS 399 |
| Independent Study |
| Submission of the special registration form, available in the Registrar's Office, and the approval of the instructor and program director are required for enrollment. (ART) |
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1.00 units min / 2.00 units max, Independent Study
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| AHIS 466 |
| Teaching Assistantship |
| Submission of the special registration form, available online, and the approval of the instructor are required for enrollment. Guidelines are available in the College Bulletin.
(0.5 - 1 course credit) |
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0.50 units min / 1.00 units max, Independent Study
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| AHIS 497 |
| Senior Thesis |
| An individual tutorial to prepare an extended paper on a topic in art history. An oral presentation of a summary of the paper will be delivered in the spring term. Submission of the special registration form, available online, and the approval of the instructor and program director are required for enrollment in this course. (1 course credit to be completed in one semester.) (ART) |
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1.00 units, Independent Study
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