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Meadows School of the Arts
Associate Professor Janis Bergman-Carton, Division
Chair
University Distinguished Professor: Annemarie
Weyl Carr; Professors: Karl Kilinski II, P. Gregory Warden; Associate
Professors: Randall C. Griffin, Adam Herring, Pamela Patton; Assistant
Professors: Amy Buono, Lisa Pon; Adjunct
Professor: Eric White; Adjunct Associate Professor: Mark
Roglán;
Instructor: Eric Stryker.
The B.A. degree in Art History places the history of art within the wider context of such humanistic disciplines as history, religion, aesthetics, politics, language and civilization generally. Through the study and analysis of art, architecture and objects of virtue, the program is intended to extend the student’s visual and cultural awareness. Because of the richness of its intellectual background, the B.A. in Art History provides one of the most diverse and stimulating of the liberal arts degrees. Students completing this course of study are prepared for advanced training either in the numerous related professions or within the field of art history.
NOTE: Only courses passed with a grade of C or better will count toward the major in art history. Courses passed with a grade of C- or less may count toward other, elective requirements in a student’s degree plan.
Credit Hours
General Education Curriculum: 41
Division of Art History:
The only 1000-level classes that count toward the art history major are 1303, 1304 and 1308. Two of these are required and should be taken during the first or sophomore year.
Upper-Level Required Art History Courses: 27
This requirement must be satisfied at the 3000 level or higher. These hours are distributed as follows:
Included in the 27 hours are at least two 4000-level seminars, in the subject areas or as art history electives, to be taken in the junior or senior year.
Studio Art: 3
Foreign Language: 12
Students must have completed the intermediate level (12-16 hours) in one foreign language.
Meadows Elective (outside of major): 3
Other Electives: 30
Students will be advised to take free electives in Art History, History, Studio Art, Literature or other fields that are relevant to their areas of particular interest.
TOTAL HOURS: 122
Art History majors should consider minors in Advertising, Anthropology, Chemistry (for conservation), Foreign Languages, International Business, International Studies and Psychology in order to maximize their opportunities in obtaining rewarding careers.
An Art History major with a G.P.A. of 3.5 or higher may graduate with “Honors” by applying in the junior year to receive a degree “with departmental distinction.” During the senior year, candidates for distinction will pursue an individual research project under the direction of a particular faculty member while enrolled in ARHS 4301. The project must derive from one of the 4000-level Art History seminars and be presented as a thesis and successfully defended by examination.
The minor in art history enables all students in the University to extend their study into the realm of the visual arts and so to broaden their appreciation of the cultural content of artistic form. As a discipline especially dedicated to the examination of art in context, art history is a natural complement to a major in history, languages, anthropology, political science, sociology, psychology, philosophy, religion, music or any of the humanities. It is also a rewarding minor for students who wish to combine business or engineering with a study of the humanities.
Requirements: 18 credit hours in art history with a maximum of three 1000-level courses.
NOTE: Only classes passed with a grade of C- or better will count for credit toward the minor
1303. Introduction to Western Art I: Prehistoric through Medieval. An introduction in lecture form to the fundamentals of art history. Includes observations of historical styles, techniques and media of cultures.
1304. Introduction to Western Art II: Renaissance through Modern. A continuation of ARHS 1303. Can be taken separately or as part of a two-term survey of the history of Western art.
1305. Introduction to Far Eastern Art. A survey of the major monuments of China and Japan including paintings, ceramics, sculpture, bronzes and some minor arts. Some material from India is also included, especially for the beginnings of Buddhism.
1306. Introduction to Architecture. A contextual history of European and North American architecture from classical antiquity to the present century, with particular emphasis on 1400 to the present. Students will be introduced to basic principles and terminology, but the course will focus on the social and cultural meanings of the built environment in its urban context.
1307. World Art Traditions: A Survey. A survey of the visual arts (painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics) of Asia, the Pacific World, Africa and the native New World peoples.
1308. Epic of Latin America. Examines art, society and culture in Latin America, 1450-1950. Presents art as a broad and multifaceted cultural problematic, and considers both the enduring legacies and the dynamic processes of change that have shaped the region and its art. Topics include: Pre-Columbian Empires; Royal Spanish Cities, Revolution, Reform and Modernism; Umbanda, Santeria and Vodou; Native American and Gendered Identities. An introductory survey intended for undergraduates of all academic and professional interests: no previous art history courses or experience with Latin America necessary. Slide lectures, classroom discussions, visits to SMU and Dallas museums.
1309. Image and Imagination: Myth and Narrative in Classical Art. An introduction to the ways and means Greek and Roman mythology is presented to the spectator in classical art. The interrelationships between poet and painter, author and artist are explored through the common medium of myth. Changing approaches to narrative in each medium and in different periods of classical antiquity are of prime importance as the student becomes familiar with the particulars, uses and interpretations of Greek and Roman sagas focusing on the gods and heroes of the classical past.
1311. Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient Mediterranean. Integrates the social and cultural functions of sport and spectacle in the ancient Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to late antiquity. Lectures and discussions focus on the institutions of sport and spectacle in ancient Greece, Etruria and Rome as evidenced by architecture, art, material culture and historical sources.
1315. Medieval Messages: Symbol and Storytelling in Medieval Art. Designed to introduce nonmajors to the many questions surrounding the making, meaning and interpretation of images in medieval art. Emphasis is placed on developing visual and critical skills through writing and discussion exercises. Weekly case studies are drawn both from the medieval secular and Christian West and from Byzantine, Islamic and Jewish artistic traditions.
1325. Picturing the American West. Explores the ways in which the American West has been represented in visual imagery from the early 19th century to today.
1331. Nineteenth Century European Art. Major art movements of the 19th century from Gothic Revival, Neoclassicism, Romanticism and Realism to Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Symbolism, with emphasis on parallel developments in politics, philosophy, literature, music and dance. (Also SMU-in-Copenhagen)
1332. Twentieth Century Art: Sources and Styles of Modern Art. Major art movements of the 20th century from Art Nouveau, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism and Futurism, the Bauhaus, and Surrealism to the contemporary, with emphasis on parallel developments in politics, philosophy, literature, music and dance. (Also SMU-in-Copenhagen)
1333. Introduction to Visual Culture. Designed to help students develop the skills necessary to negotiate the visual culture in which we now live. Organized as an introduction to the media, methods and issues of visual culture through the dialectic of copies and originals. Questions of originality and authenticity are particularly resonant today in the age of video and electronic media where digital technology has generated a world of endlessly reproducible, transmittable images. The class is particularly well-suited to students interested in art, art history, advertising, film and electronic media.
Ancient Art
3303. Archaeological Field Methods of Italy. Archaeological field experience in classical archaeology in Italy. Students will be introduced to the principles of archaeological field method through lectures and field experience. Lectures on Etruscan history, art and culture also will be provided.
3306. Mummies, Myths and Monuments of Ancient Egypt: Art and Expression of Eternal Egypt. Mummies, magic, pyramids and pharaohs provide the focus for a survey of the exotic world of the ancient Egyptians as seen through their brilliantly preserved art and architecture along the banks of the Nile. Egyptian artistic developments from Pre-Dynastic times through the New Kingdom are followed.
3307. Art and Society in Late Antiquity, 300-700. This class studies the complex artistic, religious and cultural transformations that occurred in the territory of the Roman Empire from the time of Constantine to the rise of Islam. Lectures will focus on the era’s artistic and architectural creations; readings will include selections from its major primary documents.
3311 (CLAS 3311). Mortals, Myths and Monuments of Ancient Greece. A visual analysis of the rich tapestry of ancient Greek culture, fountainhead of Western civilization, with emphasis on mythological, archaeological and historical settings in which the art and architecture occur. Touches on various aspects of ancient Greek life including religious practices, Olympic contests, theatrical performances and artistic perfection, among others.
3312. Etruscan and Roman Art. A survey of the art, architecture and material culture of Etruscan and Roman Italy from about 800 BC to the advent of Christianity. Begins with the Etruscans and their neighbors in Iron Age Italy, and ends with Roman art in the age of Constantine. Special emphasis is placed on the interpretation of art within the historical, social and cultural context of ancient Italy.
3313. The Etruscans and Iron Age Italy. The art and architecture of early Italy, including Etruscan art, early Roman art and “Italic” art will be studied with respect to the cultural context and environment.
3314. The Art and Architecture of Ancient Pompeii. A survey of the history, monuments and society of Campania from the Iron Age to AD 79 as reconstructed from the excavations of Pompeii, Herculaneum and neighboring sites. The influence of the Pompeian discoveries on 18th- and 19th-century art will also be discussed.
3315. Classical Sculpture. A study of the styles, subjects and techniques of the sculptor’s art during the ancient Greek, Hellenistic and Roman eras. Focuses on the functions of sculpture in the round and in relief, free-standing and in architectural settings, with particular attention to historical background.
3316. Art in Rome. A broad survey that explores the wide range of art works from four major periods in Rome: Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque. Art historical methodologies will be stressed in looking at painting, sculpture and architecture. On-site lectures will be given. (SMU-in-Rome)
3317. Ancient Painting. A study of the painter’s art in the Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman eras encompassing murals, mosaics and ceramics. Iconographical and stylistic developments are given equal consideration.
3318 (CF 3392). Currents in Classical Civilization. Interdisciplinary study of the art, literature and history of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds, including ideals of democracy, individualism, immortality, heroism, justice, sexuality, nature, etc.
3319. Art of the Roman Empire. The art and architecture of Imperial Rome will be studied in relation to the complex artistic traditions of the Roman provinces. The monuments and art of all the provinces of the Roman Empire are surveyed, dealing with the problem of Roman interaction with alien cultures and styles.
3603. Archaeological Field Methods of Italy. Archaeological field experience in classical archaeology in Italy (SMU-in-Rome).
3320. Medieval Art. An introduction to the art of Byzantium, Islam and the medieval West through study of five genres to which each of these cultures made distinctive contributions: the congregational worship space, imaging the sacred word, the court and its objects, the pilgrimage site, and the urban religious complex.
3321. Age of the Crusades. Looks at the art of the various Christian cultures that were swept into the Crusades – especially the northern European, Italian, Byzantine and Armenian – and examines both the changes and the interchanges that characterize the period between 1096 and 1291.
3322. Art and the Italian Commune. The interplay of artistic styles, workshop practice, religious change and political controversy in the century between St. Francis and the Black Death, emphasizing the art of the Pisani, Cimabue, Cavallini, Giotto, Duccio and the Lorenzetti.
3323. Romanesque Art and Architecture. Surveys the flowering of art and architecture that appeared throughout Western Europe at the threshold of the new millennium. Emphasis will be placed on issues of cultural exchange and conflict, the intensification of national identities, the role of spirituality, and the changing conception of the individual during the 11th and 12th centuries.
3324. Art and Cultures of Medieval Spain. Considers the art and architecture of the Iberian Peninsula within its highly diverse cultural context. Hispano-Roman, Visigothic, Romanesque, Gothic, Jewish and Islamic examples will be highlighted; classroom lectures will be supplemented by direct study of works in the Meadows Museum.
3325. The Gothic Cathedral. The social and spiritual centerpiece of medieval European life, the Gothic cathedral was also one of the greatest multimedia creations of its age. This lecture course uses the cathedral as a springing point for the investigation of the rich architectural and artistic traditions of the high and late Middle Ages in Europe.
3328. Byzantine Art. The art of the Byzantine Empire from the end of Iconoclasm through the 14th century, examining both major media – gold mosaics, mural painting, manuscript illumination, ivory carving and enamel – and the role that this art played in the lives, thoughts and writings of its contemporaries.
3329. Paris Art and Architecture I. Interweaves an investigation of the development of Paris from Roman times to the Renaissance with a history of French architecture during this period, revealing the major trends of both and their reciprocal relationship. Takes advantage of its Paris location to visit important monuments, buildings and features of urban design. (SMU-in-Paris)
3330. Renaissance and Baroque Architecture. An introduction to Renaissance and Baroque architecture through a focus on the fashioning of religious spaces in Italy from the 15th to 17th centuries. The work of artists and architects such as Bramante, Sangallo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Vasari, Bernini, Borromini, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Guarini and others will be considered.
3331. Art and Culture of the Italian Renaissance. Surveys major artistic developments of the Renaissance (1300-1600), with special attention to the work of Giotto, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian and Michelangelo. Includes study of the customs, literature and philosophy of the period through selected readings of primary sources.
3332. Sixteenth-Century Italian Art. Issues to be considered include the dominance of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian in the 16th century; the High Renaissance in Florence and Rome and its aftermath, Mannerism, in Catholic courts across Europe; the development of art history as a discipline in conjunction with the rise of academics, art collecting, and the search for elevated status; and the challenge of women artists such as Sofonisba Anguissola to prevailing notions of creativity.
3333. Art and Architecture in Italy. A survey of major monuments in painting, sculpture and architecture through classroom lectures and visits to the actual sites. (SMU-in-Rome)
3335. Renaissance and Baroque Art in Northern Europe. A survey of major artists and monuments in France, Germany and the Low Countries from 1400 to 1700.
3336. Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art. An examination of visual culture of the Netherlands during the 17th century as an “art of describing” through the work of such painters as Hals, Vermeer, van Ruisdael and Rembrandt, the major figure of the period.
3337. The Baroque from a Northern Perspective. The world of Rembrandt, Rubens, Leyster, Vermeer, Van Dyck, De la Tour, Le Brun, Jones and Wren is explored in this course in the context of such contemporary events as the Thirty Years’ War and the Reformation, as well as such issues as art vs. craft, nationalism vs. internationalism, individual genius vs. market, colourism vs. classicism, collector vs. connoisseur. By considering a broad range of artworks – from tapestry to painting, from etching to architecture – in terms of the maker, patron/client and market, this survey will seek the underlying whys for this absorbing period.
3338. Baroque Art in Italy, Spain and the New World. A survey of artistic currents in Southern Europe and the Americas during the 17th century, this course concentrates on the achievements of such artistic giants as Bernini, Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Murillo and Velázquez, studying the artistic controversies they ignited and placing them in the context of major social movements. Also looks at the work of artists who are less well-known and traces the development of Baroque styles in Central and South America.
3339. El Greco to Goya: Spanish Painting of the Golden Age. A survey of the painting traditions of Spain’s 15th through early 19th centuries, including such artists as El Greco, Velázquez , Ribera, Murillo and Goya. Lectures will be supplemented by direct study of Spanish paintings and prints in the Meadows Museum.
3344. Paintings at the Prado. A study of Spanish paintings at the Prado Museum. Familiarizes students with the most relevant Spanish artists and offers a general European view through differences and affinities between Spain and the rest of the continent. (SMU-in-Spain)
3346. Paris Art and Architecture II. Interweaves an investigation of the development of Paris from the Renaissance to the present with a history of French architecture during this period, revealing the major trends of both and their reciprocal relationship. Takes advantage of the Paris location to visit important monuments, buildings and features of urban design. (SMU-in-Paris)
3347. Eighteenth-Century European Art and Theatre: Staging Revolution. Considers intersections between the visual arts and the theater in Western Europe between 1770 and 1850. In addition to the obvious genres of the actor portrait and the costume piece, students will examine the impact of changing theories of acting, gesture, set design and lighting on Neoclassical, Romantic and Realist art. The case studies around which the class is organized will include the work of Canova, David, Delacroix, Fuseli, Goya, Millais, Reynolds, Vigee-Lebrun and Watteau.
3348. Eighteenth-Century Art. A study of European visual culture, 1700-1800, in its many contexts. Topics to be considered include art and the public sphere; the rise of museums, exhibitions, criticism and theory; shifts in patronage and artistic practice; connections between commerce, industry and the arts; questions of identity; stylistic revivals and innovations; explorations of the past; and encounters with cultures outside Europe.
3399 (CFB 3399). The Medieval Jewish-Christian Dialogue in Art and Text. Examines the mutual perceptions, conflicts and commonalities among medieval European Christians and Jews, as reflected in works of visual art and in philosophical, theological, legal and literary texts.
3350. Modern Art and Media Culture 1789-1870. This class examines the emergence of a public sphere and a culture of looking in the 19th century. European visual art will be discussed in relation to the rise of museum and gallery culture, journalistic illustration, the department store display window, photography and the panorama.
3351. History of Modern Sculpture. A survey of the development of modern European and American sculpture from the late 19th century to the present. Also attempts to relate stylistic changes in sculpture to major trends in other mediums of expression and to art theory and criticism.
3352. Impressionism, Symbolism and the Deviant Body: Making a Difference. Examines Impressionist and Symbolist art in relation to the emergence of the modern metropolis and the concept of modernity in Europe from 1848-1914. The discourse of deviance and degeneration that emerged in the context of 19th-century racial theory, criminology and medical science will form the framework for discussion. (Also SMU-in-Paris)
3353. Impressionism in Context. Focuses on an in-depth study of the evolution of the Impressionist group with special emphasis on the historical and cultural dimensions of its work. Among the topics investigated are the changing conceptions of modernism and modernity, diverse representations of “City” and “Country,” and the role and status of the artist in society. (SMU-in-Paris)
3356. Modern Architecture. Western architecture from the late 19th century to the present, focusing on the proto-modern trends of the late 19th century, and the major masters of the “modern” movement: Sullivan, Wright, Gropius, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe.
3358. Women in the Visual Arts: Both Sides of the Easel. Offers an in-depth study of women in the visual arts in Europe and the Americas. Though introductory lectures will examine the historical exclusion of women from the canon, most of the class will look at images produced by and of women from 1850 to the present. Topics include feminist challenges to the history of art; abstraction and the female nude; the use of one’s “self” as material for art; and feminist filmmaking.
3360. Modern Painters in Spain. Deals with Spanish art since the beginning of modernity in Spain from the early 19th century to the present. Focuses on the most important and internationally recognized Spanish painters of the 20th century (Picasso, Dali and Miró), and also emphasizes actual trends in painting. Special attention is given to integrating program activities into the syllabus, such as the study of Gaudi’s architecture. (SMU-in-Spain)
3364. History and Theory of Prints. We are surrounded by printed things: newspapers, postage stamps, maps, works of art. This course offers a chance to be more attentive to how prints are made and how they can function, while providing an overview of the history of printmaking. Surveys established and emerging printmakers and major printmaking techniques from the 15th through 21st centuries. Considers fundamental issues regarding originality/copying, uniqueness/multiplicity, display and collecting as raised by the medium of print. First-hand experience of prints, through looking assignments and visits to local collections as well as in-class exercises, is a vital part of this course.
3367. History of Photography. A survey of the evolution of photography from its beginnings in the early 19th century. Focuses on the closely interwoven threads of technological and aesthetic developments in photography.
3368. Contemporary Art and Architecture, 1945-1965. A survey of American and European art and architecture from World War II to 1965. Within this chronological survey, broader themes of nationalism, race and gender will be discussed.
3369. Contemporary Art and Architecture, 1965-Present. A survey of American and European art and architecture from 1965 to the present. Within this chronological survey, broader themes of nationalism, race and gender will be discussed.
3370. British Architecture. Developments, architects and buildings in Great Britain from the late Middle Ages through the middle of the 19th century, emphasizing Smythson, Wren, Hawksmoor, Adam, Soane and Pugin.
3373. American Art and Architecture to 1865. A survey of American painting, sculpture and architecture from the Colonial period through the Civil War.
3374. American Art and Architecture, 1865-1945. A survey of American painting, sculpture and architecture from the Civil War through World War II.
3375. Arts of the American Southwest. An overview of the visual culture of the region, defined as Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and California. Focuses on the region’s cultural landscape, its past and present identity as art colony, art subject and art center. Looks at works produced by indigenous inhabitants, later arrivals, and visitors; at cross-cultural connections and disconnections; at the roles played by the arts and tourism in the region’s development; and at the validity of regionalism as a category of investigation.
3376. Latin American Art. A survey of art and architecture in Latin America from the initial contacts between European and American civilizations until the 20th century.
3377 (CF 3375). Art and Architecture of Hispanic New Mexico. Examines the artistic and cultural legacies of colonial New Mexico: Spanish city planning and church design; retablos, santos, and their place in religious experience; art in the secular life of towns and haciendas of colonial and post-colonial New Mexico. Emphasizes field trips to galleries, collections and historical sites of northern Mexico. (SMU-in-Taos)
3380. Native American Art: The Southwestern Traditions. Surveys, through field trip and lecture-discussion, two major traditions, Native American and Hispanic, which flourish in the American Southwest.
3381. American Indian and Eskimo Art. The ritual and everyday objects of the native inhabitants of North America, and the architecture of the Mound Builders and the Southwestern Indians.
3382. Arts of the Ancient Andean Tradition: Chavín to Inca. A survey of the major arts produced between ca. 1200 BC and AD 1530 by the indigenous peoples of modern western South America with greatest emphasis on the many successive art-producing cultures of Peru.
3383. The Ancient Maya: Art and History. Presents an introduction to the art and history of the Maya of Central America. Addresses the principal sites and monuments of the ancient Maya civilization, imparts a working understanding of the Maya hieroglyphic writing system, and surveys the political history of the fractious ancient Maya cities.
3385. The Aztecs Before and After the Conquest: Mesoamerica, 1400-1600. Examines the art and cultural history of Mexico in the centuries immediately before and after the Spanish arrival in Mesoamerica. Topics include the art and ceremony of the imperial Aztec state; the nature of the conflict between 1519 and 1521 that ended in the fall of the Aztec capital to the Spanish; and the monuments of Spanish conquerors, missionaries and native elite in Mexico’s early colonial period.
3390. Traditional Arts of Africa. A survey of the art produced in traditional African societies with special emphasis on the sculpture of West and Central Africa.
3392 (CFA 3313). Islamic Art and Architecture: The Creation of a New Art. Treats issues significant to the creation and expansion of Islamic art from the 7th to the 15th century. Topics include the cultural and political exchange and conflict between Muslims and Christians; religious concerns and the artistic forms created to meet them; the importance of the book in Muslim culture; the distinctions between religious and secular art; and the appropriation of sacred space in Muslim architecture.
3394. Art and Architecture of Japan. Survey of religious and secular arts from prehistoric times through the Edo period. Field trips to Kyoto and Nara. (Also SMU-in-Japan)
3395. Art and Architecture of India. Designed to introduce the student to the major artistic expressions of India from the Indus Valley civilization through the time of the Mughals.
3396. Art and Architecture of China. Focuses on important monuments in China ranging from 2000 BC to the present day, in a variety of media: cast bronze, stone, sculpture, painting on silk and paper, porcelain and wooden architecture, among others. Selected objects and sites will illuminate the concept of “monument” from differing perspectives of technology, aesthetics, labor, religion, ethnicity and politics. Also discussed are comparisons to analogous monuments outside China, and visits to collections of Chinese art in Dallas-Fort Worth. (Also SMU-in-China)
3398. Introduction to Museum Studies. This course endeavors to introduce art history majors and graduate students to the basic principles of connoisseurship, conservation, framing, lighting and exhibition design in the context of the art museum today, with emphasis upon the interpretative, cultural and social role of museums over time. The course will evaluate specific collections and exhibitions in area museums and will examine a number of private collections, challenging students to make quality judgments based upon objective criteria and intuitive response. Students will be required to assess the meaning of art through visual analysis and comparison. The efficacy and ethics of museum management will also be considered.
4300 (CFA 3300). Calligraphy and Culture: Vision, Line and Design in World Artistic Traditions. A multidisciplinary inquiry into the cultural history of calligraphy and line in several major cultural traditions of the world: readings and discussions will encompass philosophical, anthropological, archaeological, materialist, cultural-historical and art-historical perspectives on line and cultural signification in the visual arts.
4304. Urbs et Orbis: The City in Italy as Place and Concept. Given to us by ancient Roman reality and myth, the distinction between the city as a physical place, the urbs, and the city as an idea, the orbis, created a long-standing link between territory and ritual, locale and law, nation and citizen, and homeland and world. The class will investigate the city in Italy in space and time as it is the locus of such cultural to-and-fro. Our goal is to better understand the complexities of the Italian city as it is a living entity. In time, the period of study will span some 3,000 years, from the Etruscan foundations of Rome to Richard Meier’s Jubilee Church located along the suburban periphery of the city. We will cover the Italian city of antiquity, early Christianity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque and Modernism. The class will consist of city and museum tours, lecture, readings, discussion and short essays (SMU-in-Rome).
4310. Seminar in Ancient Art. Specific topics for investigation will be chosen by the instructor.
4320. Seminar in Medieval Art. Specific topics for investigation will be chosen by the instructor.
4321. World and Image in the Early Middle Ages. There are three purposes to this seminar: to encounter a distant but crucial moment in the history of our understanding of the image, to join powerful minds in thinking about the nature of the image, and to ask how it was that different stances to the image came to divide Byzantium, Islam and the medieval West in the decades between 692 and 843.
4324. Art History and the Work of Art. This
undergraduate seminar investigates the many means by which art historians and
others have grappled with the questions surrounding all works of art, including
material and ethical concerns, traditional art historical methods, and newer
theoretical and interdisciplinary approaches. Based in the Meadows Museum,
the course will use objects in the collection to bring to life the challenges
inherent in the study of any work of art.
4330. Seminar in Early Modern Art. Specific topics for investigation will be chosen by the instructor.
4332. Art and Drama in Classical Athens. This undergraduate seminar is an intensive reading and discussion course focused on the relationships between the visual arts and dramatic performances as seen against the historical background of golden-age Athens during the fifth century BC. The course is team-taught by senior faculty in the Divisions of Art History and Theatre.
4344. Images of Power: Kings, Nobles and Elites in 17th-Century France. Using art, literature, history and philosophy, this course explores the social, political and intellectual life of the French monarchy, aristocracy and elites of the 17th century in and around Paris. As the course is set both intellectually and physically in Paris, students will visit monuments and museums to encourage them to make immediate connections between what they read and what they see. (SMU-in-Paris)
4349. Seminar in Contemporary Art. Specific topics for investigation will be chosen by the instructor.
4350. Seminar in Modern Art. Specific topics for investigation will be chosen by the instructor.
4351. European Art and Media Culture 1789-1870. Examines the emergence of a public sphere and a culture of looking in the 19th century. Discusses European visual art in relation to the rise of museum and gallery culture, journalistic illustration, the department store display window, photography and the panorama, the art critic, and early cinema.
4352. Paris and London: Industrial Capitalism and the City. Offers a cultural history of Paris and London between 1850 and 1920. In addition to a discussion of the architectural and social transformation of the cities into modern metropolises will be a look at responses to those transformations in the visual arts, music and literature. While lectures will emphasize the architecture, sculpture and photography of the period, they also will address subjects ranging from the operas of Offenbach to the novels of Flaubert to the world expositions of 1867 and 1889.
4371 (CF 3381 and WS 3381). Modern Myth-Making: Studies in the Manipulation of Imagery. The quest for enduring cultural heroes and the projection of changing social messages as reflected in art from past epochs to modern times. Examples traced range from politician to musician, from the fine arts to television. Student reports on individual topics.
4386 (CFB 3386). Patrons and Collectors. A social history of art from the point of view of its consumers. Examines art patronage and collecting from antiquity to the present, with emphasis on the modern period.
4101, 4201, 4301. Undergraduate Majors Directed Studies and Tutorials.
4111, 4211, 4311 Undergraduate Museum Internships.
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