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Courses - Fall 2023
ARTH
Art History & Archaeology Department Site
ARTH200
Art and Society in Ancient and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU, DVUP
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
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU, DVUP
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.
ARTH230
Symbolic Images: The Theory and Practice of Iconography in European Art, 1400-1850
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSSP
Iconographic interpretation of visual narratives, signs and symbols has long been a topic of art-historical inquiry. In early modern European art, images were often conceived with the deliberate intent of posing a 'puzzle' or 'problem' for the beholder to solve; yet in most cases we have little or no evidence of how contemporary beholders solved such enigmas. Provides students with the opportunity to take command of these research methods and source materials, addressing a genuine iconographic problem, researching the relevant literature, identifying the essential primary source evidence, making contextually appropriate assumptions, and producing a valid result.
ARTH260C
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU or DSSP, SCIS
Can art effect social change? How may we use the history of radical and avant-garde art to inform present-day movements and models of artistic and creative activism? This course explores the modern and contemporary history of political art and arts activism on local, national, and global scales.
Restricted to students in Carillon Communities.
ARTH305
Archaeological Methods and Practice
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F
GenEd: DSHS
Prerequisite: ANTH240, ARTH200, or CLAS180.
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.
ARTH335
Seventeenth-Century Art in the Netherlands
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Painting, sculpture and architecture in seventeenth-century Netherlands.
ARTH351
Picturing Contemporary Life: Art Since 1945
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU
Visual art since 1945, with an emphasis on North America and Europe.
ARTH359V
Film as Art; Seeing Through Films: How Movies Mean
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Hollywood is known for creating entertaining, accessible films. This course explores how Hollywood entertainment films have meanings beyond their plots. Students will learn how to analyze the totality of a film and its context, how a film tells its story as they explore the way directors use film form and film conventions to create films with multiple meanings, films that undermine their overt stories, films that critique film genres and star personae, films created out of other films, films that explicate philosophical ideas, and films that change meanings depending upon the culture and expectations of the audience.
ARTH362
Presently Black: Contemporary African American Art
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU, DVUP
Looks critically at African-American and African diaspora art, focusing particularly on works made in the 20th and 21st centuries. Organized chronologically, this class will provide students with a more thorough understanding of this period of art, as well as the overall connection of visual material to the social, the political, and the aesthetic frames of its production. We will study the ways in which African-American visual production has been shaped by larger discourses about American art, but has also responded to the very real circumstances of racial exclusion in both the mainstream art world and larger society. Students will also have a chance to interact directly with the collection of the David C. Driskell Center throughout the semester.
ARTH386
Experiential Learning
Credits: 3 - 6
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F
GenEd: DSSP
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.
Contact department for information to register for this course.
ARTH389C
Special Topics in Art History and Archaeology; Gender, Representation, and Identity: Women Artists from 1860-1940
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
This course focuses on women artists from approximately 1860-1940 who worked within the styles of different avant-garde movements, including Impressionism, Symbolism, Expressionism, and Surrealism. The position of women within avant-garde movements was complex as they fought for professional advancement while often being barred from mainstream art academies and facing limited opportunities. Nevertheless, many women carved out spaces of representation and their work critically adds to our understanding of avant-garde movements. We will examine the art production by women artists and the challenging artistic milieus they navigated during this time. We will also consider the current scholarship on women artists and the lenses through which art historians have previously studied them.
ARTH389W
Special Topics in Art History and Archaeology; Practical Writing in Art History: Museum and Gallery Communications
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
ARTH392
Contemporary Chinese Art and Film
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
GenEd: DSHU
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.
ARTH428B
(Perm Req)
Selected Topics in Art History; Small Things in the Renaissance
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Restriction: Permission of instructor.

Very small things, things that could be grasped in the hand or worn on the body, had a particular fascination to sight and to touch in the Renaissance. This course will look at objects such as miniature paintings (narratives, landscapes, portraits), statuettes, jewels, watches, coins, small books, playing cards and dice, writing tools, and naturalia (shells, coral) that people held and that held their attention.
ARTH488J
Colloquium in Art History; Japanese Art in the 20th Century: Empire,War & Occupation
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Learn how art played a role in building the Japanese empire, supporting the war effort, and rebuilding the nation after defeat. Discover the relation between art, power and politics. See how contemporary Japanese artists incorporate modern history into their art. Handle archival materials and artworks with your own hands.
ARTH488L
Colloquium in Art History; Toward a New Aesthetic: Art, Literature, and Music of the Harlem Renaissance
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
This course will consider the cultural production of the Harlem Renaissance, which was the major intellectual and creative movement primarily centered in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. We will study the African American artists, writers, musicians, and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance and focus on the ways in which their creative work and ideas formed the center of a significant debate at the time: the debate around race and representation and defining a new Black aesthetic. By examining their cross-disciplinary achievements, we will critically analyze the ways in which artists, writers, and musicians challenged, were shaped by, and participated in these ongoing debates.
ARTH489L
Special Topics in Art History; The Transnational Cinema of Ang Lee: Culture, Gender, and Race
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with CINE459L and WGSS498K. Credit only granted for ARTH489L, CINE459L or WGSS498K.

Students will examine how the award-winning director Ang Lee has been able to explore important issues of culture, gender, race, identity, and values across borders in a transnational world. Films to be studied are from a wide spectrum of genres and may include "The Wedding Banquet," "Sense and Sensibility," "The Ice Storm," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Hulk," "Brokeback Mountain," "The Life of Pi," and "Gemini Man."
ARTH498
(Perm Req)
Directed Studies in Art History I
Credits: 2 - 3
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Contact department for information to register for this course.
ARTH499
(Perm Req)
Credits: 3 - 6
Grad Meth: Reg, P-F, Aud
Contact department for information to register for this course.
ARTH692
(Perm Req)
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.
ARTH708B
Seminar in Ancient Art and Archaeology; Double Vision: The Ancient Copy in Context
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, Aud
This course explores the history, theory, and technology of the production and use of copies of ancient objects and buildings. Focus falls on works from Italy and Greece and considers equally copies produced in antiquity and replicas (exact and adapted) made for display in private collections, museums, and universities. Over the duration of the course, we will unpack the complex concept of the "copy," and interrogate points of intersection with "copy culture" in other art-historical periods.
ARTH789B
Selected Topics in Art History; Small Things in the Renaissance
Credits: 1 - 3
Grad Meth: Reg, Aud
Very small things, things that could be grasped in the hand or worn on the body, had a particular fascination to sight and to touch in the Renaissance. This course will look at objects such as miniature paintings (narratives, landscapes, portraits), statuettes, jewels, watches, coins, small books, playing cards and dice, writing tools, and naturalia (shells, coral) that people held and that held their attention.
ARTH798
(Perm Req)
Directed Graduate Studies in Art History
Credits: 3
Grad Meth: Reg, Aud
Contact department for information to register for this course.
ARTH799
(Perm Req)
Master's Thesis Research
Credits: 1 - 6
Grad Meth: S-F
Contact department for information to register for this course.
ARTH898
(Perm Req)
Pre-Candidacy Research
Credits: 1 - 8
Grad Meth: Reg
Contact department for information to register for this course.
ARTH899
(Perm Req)
Doctoral Dissertation Research
Credits: 6
Grad Meth: S-F
Contact department for information to register for this course.