Courses - Fall 2024
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.
ARTH230
Symbolic Images: The Theory and Practice of Iconography in European Art, 1400-1850
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.
ARTH255
Explores the origins and evolution of art in the modern American world, from the late colonial era to the present, comparing major artistic movements and their historical contexts. Considers the diversity of art across Latin America and the United States, and the ways in which artworks mediate social, ethnic, political, and national identities.
ARTH260C
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.
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.
ARTH301
Aegean Art and Archaeology
Sites and monuments of painting, sculpture, architecture, and the minor arts of Crete, the Cycladic islands, and the Greek mainland from the earliest times to the downfall of the Mycenaean empire.
ARTH305
Archaeological Methods and Practice
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
Painting, sculpture and architecture in seventeenth-century Netherlands.
ARTH359M
Film as Art; The Western and the Vision of the West
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
This course is a consideration of the West in American Imagination. The primary documents and focus will be Western films. However the themes of the Western arise out of cultural and artistic traditions pre-existing film, and we will consider the shaping of the Myth of West in popular literature and social discourse as it, in turn, is manifested and reinforced in visual art, both elite and commercial. The Western will be considered in this tradition as an artistic creation shaping and mediating themes of American identity through the continuation and alteration of pre-film constructions of "The West" in visual art, literature and social discourse. The underlying intention behind this course is to explore the way that cultural narratives and ideologies shape and are shaped by artistic creations.
ARTH362
Presently Black: Contemporary African American Art
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.
ARTH383
Art of Japan after 1500
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Thematically-focused topics in the painting, sculpture, architecture, gardens and decorative arts of early modern, modern and contemporary Japan, from 1500 to present.
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.
ARTH389I
Special Topics in Art History and Archaeology; Social and Socialist Realisms: Art, Revolution, and Solidarity in the Global Cold War
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Although the history of modern art in the 20th century is often told in terms of tendencies towards abstraction, this course investigates the important role played by 'realisms' across much of the socialist and non-aligned world (including Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa), tracing an alternate history of how artists used art to convey the urgency of political change.
ARTH389M
Special Topics in Art History and Archaeology; Afrofuturism
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Examines Black creative works that express futuristic spaces of radical possibility and radical imagination, often loosely termed "Afrofuturism." Afrofuturism encompasses a network of Black artists who are geographically diverse and whose creative explorations are located at the intersection of art, technoculture, and Black identity. These visual artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers engage different mediums and technologies to articulate new futures through a Black cultural lens, often with a space-age theme. Throughout this course, we will trace the Afrofuturist point of view in 20th and 21st century Black speculative fiction, film, music, and the visual arts. We will analyze fiction by authors like Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany, study artworks by Wangechi Mutu, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Yinka Shonibare, explore the music and visual output by Sun Ra, Parliament Funkadelic, and Janelle Mone and consider films such as "Black Panther."
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.
ARTH428F
Selected Topics in Art History; Sources and Methods of Early Modern European and Euro-Colonial Iconography
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
ARTH428G
Selected Topics in Art History; Colonialism and the Art of South and Southeast Asia
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
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.
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.
ARTH488Z
Colloquium in Art History; Great Chinese Film Directors: Ang Lee to Zhang Yimou
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with CINE459Y. Credit only granted for ARTH488Z or CINE459Y.
Filmmaking is the most fascinating and fastest growing art form in China. Students will examine the films directed by some of the greatest Chinese directors such as Ang Lee, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wong Kar-wai, and Zhang Yimou. The films will be studied in their artistic, historical, political, and social contexts.
Filmmaking is the most fascinating and fastest growing art form in China. Students will examine the films directed by some of the greatest Chinese directors such as Ang Lee, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wong Kar-wai, and Zhang Yimou. The films will be studied in their artistic, historical, political, and social contexts.
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
ARTH638A
Studies in Seventeenth-Century Southern European Art; Sources and Methods of Early Modern European and Euro-Colonial Iconography
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
Includes a review of the vast early modern literatures pertaining to the theory and practice of pictorial invention, including literatures in pictorial theory and symbolic theory. A series of readings in recent research will orient students to the current state of inquiry.
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
ARTH788A
Seminar in Indian and South Asian Art; Colonialism and the Art of South and Southeast Asia
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Examines the role of trade, policies of direct and indirect colonial rule, anti-colonial nationalism, and decolonization on the development of art in South and Southeast Asia from the 16th century to the present. Discussions will be broad, with the goals of surveying canonical and recent literature and contextualizing current debates on decolonial art history.
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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