Courses - Fall 2025
ARTH200
Art and Society in Ancient and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean
Examines the material culture and visual expressions of Mediterranean and European societies from early times until ca. 1300 CE, emphasizing the political, social, and religious context of the works studied, the relationships of the works to the societies that created them, and the interrelationship of these societies.
ARTH201
Art and Society in the West from the Renaissance to the Present
Examines representative European and American works of art from the later Middle Ages to the present, highlighting the dynamic exchange between artistic and cultural traditions both within periods and across time.
ARTH261
Monuments, Monumentality, and the Art of Memorial
Why do societies create monuments? And why do they preserve and destroy, change and remove them? How do monuments embody cultural values, shape historical narratives, and become sites of mourning and memory? This course investigates the political and cultural work of monuments across time and space, from the ancient world to European empires to the contemporary United States. The issues we consider include intercultural exchange and religious contexts, race and representation, and appropriation and iconoclasm.
ARTH262
How does public art function on a university campus, in major cities, and across the United States? This course invites students to empirically study the modern history and civic values of public art spanning sculpture, painting, mixed-media, and installation. We consider the nature of public space, the politics of representation and community, and the civic and memorial functions of art. The course is built around a semester-long project in which students will commission a work of public art for our College Park campus.
ARTH265
How (and Why) to Look at Art in the Era of Climate Change
Credit only granted for: ARTH265 or ARTH465.
Formerly: ARTH465.
How can art help us build the mindset necessary for fashioning a sustainable civilization? Paintings, photographs, films, novels, songs, and other creative works as they shape beliefs related to sustainability and justice.
ARTH289A
Special Topics in Art History and Archaeology; Ethics of Art Museums
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Examines the art museum as a site of aesthetic contemplation, Cultural preservation, education, and business as we attempt to answer questions such as: Why were art museums established? What ethical questions might they raise for artists, museum professionals, and members of the public?
ARTH303
Sites and monuments of painting, sculpture, architecture, and the minor arts from the earliest times through the third century A.D. with emphasis on the Italian peninsula from the Etruscan period through that of Imperial Rome.
ARTH305
Archaeological Methods and Practice
Prerequisite: ANTH240, ARTH200, CLAS180, or CLAS190.
Cross-listed with: ANTH305, CLAS305, JWST319Y.
Credit only granted for: ANTH305, ARTH305, CLAS305, or JWST319Y.
A team-taught, interdisciplinary course discussing theories, methods, and ethical issues in the practice of archaeology.
ARTH313
Medieval Art: Cultural Exchanges in the Byzantine World
Recommended: ARTH200 or ARTH201.
Focuses on the art and architecture from the eastern Mediterranean, specifically, the Byzantine empire. Our broad focus will be on the formation and evolution of the visual arts in Byzantium as a result of exchanges with various cultural, ethnic, and religious entities and traditions. In this context, we will be looking at the legacy of the Graeco-Roman past, contacts with Islamic world, as well as with people and cultures along the periphery of Byzantium: from the Balkan peninsula, to Sicily and Russia.
ARTH351
Picturing Contemporary Life: Art Since 1945
Visual art since 1945, with an emphasis on North America and Europe.
ARTH359E
Film as Art; Film as Dream
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
The course first considers film created by the original Surrealists and their exploration of the unconscious and the freedom and language of dreams. Then psychological and philosophical dream theories will be applied to more recent and mainstream film to reveal structures and subtext in films from directors using elements of the Surreal including Lynch, Cronenberg, and Jodorowsky, and Svankmajer.
ARTH386
Experiential Learning
Prerequisite: Permission of ARHU-Art History & Archaeology department.
Restriction: Junior standing or higher.
Supervised internship experience in diverse areas of art historical, archaeological, and museological work.
ARTH389R
Special Topics in Art History and Archaeology; North American Indigenous Modern and Contemporary Art
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Explores modern and contemporary art in North America by First Nations, Metis, and Inuit artists, focusing on a diverse range of artistic practices and their cultural significance. We will consider key aspects of the social and political lives of Indigenous peoples and the ways in which artists navigate and respond to the legacy of colonialism.
ARTH389T
Special Topics in Art History and Archaeology; The Marks of the Maker: Art and Artists in the Medieval Islamic Mediterranean
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Throughout the medieval Islamic Mediterranean, individuals inscribed their names on a variety of media, ranging from rock cli?s to manuscripts to buildings. What can we learn about the lives of these people and the societies they lived in by looking at the objects they created? This course examines the artistic production of individuals in early medievalIslamicate societies, with an emphasis on the eighth through twelfth centuries.
ARTH392
Contemporary Chinese Art and Film
Cross-listed with: CINE337.
Credit only granted for: ARTH392, FILM329L or CINE337.
Formerly: FILM329L.
Contemporary Chinese art and film are arguably the most vibrant of all national arts at the turn of the millennium and have become the face - both figuratively and literally - of contemporary China, a complex society with historic overlays of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Communism, Post-socialism, and state capitalism. Students will consider a wide range of art forms (painting, photography, video, installation, web-based media, and film) in four broad themes (uses of the past; critiques of power; representations of race, gender, and sexuality; socially engaged art) and explore the complex intertwining of the political, historical, and aesthetic aspects in Chinese contemporary art and film, as well as the multiple contexts in which these artworks are created and circulated.
Cross-listed with FiLM329L. Credit only granted for ARTH392 or FILM329L.
ARTH488D
Colloquium in Art History; Art and Visual Culture of the Great Depression
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
During the Great Depression, skyrocketing economic inequality, environmental disasters, and social movements transformed American life. This class focuses on the visual culture of this period-from documentary photography and public murals to film and sculpture. In addition to examining iconic works by artists like Dorothea Lange and Diego Rivera, we will engage archives of photographs, posters, artist papers and other primary sources from the 1930s. In this way, students in this course will not only explore a critical era in American visual culture but also reflect on how we form and use archives to shape our understanding of the past.
ARTH488I
Colloquium in Art History; Living in the shadow of Vesuvius
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
When Mt. Vesufius erupted in 79 CE, Roman cities along the Bay of Naples, such as Pompeii and Herculaneum, were completely buried by volcanic debris. Elite retreats for leisure, such as the villas at Oplontis and Stabiae, were also destroyed. This course will rediscover the lost cities and ancient monuments on the Bay of Naples the temples, theaters, baths , streets, and many houses to understand the infrastructure and daily life of these ancient cities and spaces. Surveys of area archaeological sites will help to contextualize these monuments within their regional and cultural landscape. Material and information will also be drawn from UMD's excavations at Stabiae.
ARTH488Y
Colloquium in Art History; Art, Cinema, Law, Money
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Examines the manners in which law and money constrained and directed the creation, circulation, distribution, and exhibition of art and cinema. Themes to be explored may include: cinematic representations of artists, bankers, and lawyers; how artists (such as Picasso and Zhang Daqian) achieved financial success and critical acclaim through courting of dealers, critics, collectors, and curators; art crimes (forgery, theft, looting, money laundering); how science fiction films were marketed in response to financial pressures; trials in which artists, artworks, and films acted as protagonists; censorship and self-censorship of art and cinema; art as investment and the roles of private banking services in the global art market.
ARTH498
Directed Studies in Art History I
Credits:
2 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
ARTH499
Honors Thesis
Credits:
3 - 6
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
ARTH668A
Studies in Latin American Art and Archaeology; TBD
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
ARTH692
Methods of Art History
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Methods of research and criticism applied to typical art-historical problems; bibliography and other research tools.
For all non-Art History and Archaeology majors, permission of the department is required.
ARTH698
Teaching Art History
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
S-F
ARTH708C
Seminar in Ancient Art and Archaeology; Painting the Wine-Dark Sea: Mural Traditions in Bronze Age Greece
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
ARTH758D
Seminar in American Art; Being and Becoming: Histories of Black American Art
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
Trace the development of the field of African American art history from the early 20th century through the present ?across exhibitions, critical theory, and historical studies. Our conversation will privilege Blackness as both a political and an aesthetic condition of being. Students will have an opportunity to explore ideas presented in class inconversation with objects in the permanent collection of the David C. Driskell Center, and to engage with contemporary scholars in the field via virtual class visits.
ARTH798
Directed Graduate Studies in Art History
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
ARTH799
Master's Thesis Research
Credits:
1 - 6
Grad Meth:
S-F
ARTH898
Pre-Candidacy Research
Credits:
1 - 8
Grad Meth:
Reg
ARTH899
Doctoral Dissertation Research
Credits:
6
Grad Meth:
S-F
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