Courses Offered This Year

Course description
The purpose of the course is to provide a stylistic and iconographic survey of painting, sculpture and architecture from 1700 to the present. The course will situate those works (from picturesque gardens and Rococo paintings to the drip paintings of Jackson Pollock and the sculptural buildings of Frank Gehry) within their specific cultural contexts. By examining not simply how art reflects society, but how the arts actively contributed to the dynamic changes experienced during these centuries, students will learn to draw on multiple sources of evidence for historical study. Students will also acquire a fundamental knowledge of, and vocabulary associated with, a wide range of artistic techniques and processes, as well as the skills to describe and analyze the formal elements of a work of art.

Professor: Randal Griffin
UC: CA Breadth, Ways of Knowing
CC: CA, Global Perspectives 

Monday/Wednesday, 11 - 11:50 a.m. (with Friday sections)
OFAC 2130 (O’Donnell Hall)

Image: Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881

Course description
Examines art, society and culture in Latin America from 1450–1950. Presents art as a broad and multifaceted cultural problematic, and considers 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 and revolution, reform and modernism; Umbanda, Santeria and Vodou; and Native American and gendered identities. An introductory survey course intended for undergraduate students of all academic and professional interests; no previous art history courses or experience with Latin America necessary. Includes slide lectures, classroom discussions and visits to SMU and Dallas museums. 

Professor: Dr. Roberto Conduru
UC: Creativity&Aesthetics Breadth, Historical Contexts Breadth
CC: Creativity&Aesthetics

Tuesday/Thursday, 11 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. 

OFAC 2130 (O’Donnell Hall) 

Image: Xul Solar, Nana-Watzin, 1923. China ink and watercolor on paper mounted on cardboard, 25.9 x 31.5 cm. Galeria Vermeer, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Course description
Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Palenque, Copán, Tenochtitlán: these are among humanity’s greatest architectural achievements. They are Latin America’s most significant cultural landmarks, and among our hemisphere’s most beautifulcities. This course introduces students to the architectural expression of those ancient centers, offering new insights into three indigenous societies of the ancient Americas (Aztec, Maya, Inca). 

Professor: Dr. Adam Herring
CC: Creativity & Aesthetics (Pending)

Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 10 - 10:50 a.m. 

OFAC 2130 (O’Donnell Hall) 

Image: Machu Picchu Overlook

Course description
This is an introductory survey of the major artistic traditions across the wider Iranian world, spanning from the time of the ancient Achaemenids (6th century BCE) to the early modern Safavids (17th century CE). Our aim is to explore the stories and histories behind buildings, paintings and arts of the object (e.g., ceramics, glass, metalwork and textiles) produced and consumed by various communities within the historical and cultural sphere of Iran, stretching from Central Asia in the east to Mesopotamia in the west. 

Professor: Arvin Maghsoudlou
UC: Creativity & Aesthetics Breadth, Historical Contexts Breadth 
CC: Historical Contexts 

Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 1 - 1:50 p.m. 

Greer Garson 3515 

Image: The Court of Kayumars, attributed to Sultan Muhammad, folio from the Shah Tahmasp Shahnameh, c. 1524–35, Iran (Aga Khan Museum)

Course description
From the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens to the Code of Hammurabi, the art of Mesopotamia holds a mythical aura. This lecture course investigates and demystifies the arts of ancient Iraq and its neighbors (Iran, Israel, Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean) from the invention of cities (c. 4000 B.C.E.) to the beginning of Islam (c. 600 C.E.). Also, examines temple and palace architecture, monumental sculpture, glyptic, terracotta and small-scale luxury arts to appreciate some of the oldest civilizations in the world.

Professor: Dr. Stephanie Langin-Hooper
UC: Ways of Knowing
CC: Creativity & Aesthetics 

Tuesday/Thursday, 9:30 - 10:50 a.m. 

Greer Garson 3515

Image: The Ishtar Gate, Babylon, glazed brick, built in the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar (c. 604-562 BCE), Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin

Course description
A survey of the painting traditions of Spain during the 15th through early 19th centuries. Includes artists such as El Greco, Velazquez, Ribera, Murillo and Goya. Lectures are supplemented by direct study of Spanish paintings and prints in the Meadows Museum.

Professor: Kelsey Rozema
UC: Creativity & Aesthetics Breadth, Historical Contexts Breadth
CC: Creativity & Aesthetics 

Tuesday/Thursday, 12:30 - 1:50 p.m.

Greer Garson 3515 

Image: Jusepe de Ribera, Prometheus Chained, 1630s

Course description
This course examines the relationship between artistic and scientific practice in Western culture from the 17th century through the present. It begins with a study of early modern artisanship and the ways in which practices in artist’s workshop laid the groundwork for scientific inquiry. It continues with an examination of Enlightenment science and its reliance on visual description and discrimination. With the advent of industrialization, we will consider the emergence of art and science as contested categories, explored through 19th- and 20th-century media like photography and film. The course culminates with a discussion of the ways in which these seemingly distinct fields have once again come together in our contemporary media-saturated environment. Combining lecture and discussion, class sessions will consider a wide array of objects, from early modern scientific instruments to contemporary experiments in bioart. By studying the tools, techniques and theories used by both artists and scientists to investigate the natural world, this course offers students an opportunity to explore the shared forms of inquiry, observation and imagination that continue to link the sciences and the humanities. 

Professor: Dr. Elizabeth Eager
CC: Technological Advances and Society (Pending) 

Tuesday/Thursday, 11 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.

Greer Garson 3515 

Image: NASA (Michael Collins), Earthrise, 1969

Course description
Explores Brazilian art and architecture from the encounter of the Portuguese with native peoples of the New World in 1500, through the long period of colonial history, to the vibrant contemporary arts of Brazil today. Topics include the complex tapestry of artistic and intercultural exchange among Brazil’s Amerindian, African and European populations; indigenous terra-forming; Tupi feather work, ceramics and urban planning; European mapping of Brazil and the Amazon; religious art and architecture; Afro-Brazilian art forms and religious practices; Carnival and other performances of popular culture; the artistic production of the colonial period and the foundations of Brazilian modern art; video art during the dictatorship and contemporary allegories of underdevelopment; and historical artistic practices and their link to different national and international models for representing Brazilian national identity today, as well as their ethical, aesthetic, political and/or social repercussions.

Professor: Dr. Roberto Conduru
CC: Creativity & Aesthetics 

Tuesday/Thursday, 3:30 - 4:50 p.m. 

Greer Garson 3515 

Image: Jaider Esbell, Entidades (Entities), 2021. Multimedia installation. Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo, Brazil

Course description
A survey of the history of photographic media from 1940 to the present with particular emphasis on the still photograph in its various uses – as art, document, aide-mémoire, amateur pursuit and social practice. This course examines photographic images and image-makers in relation to the social historical contexts in which they are produced, as well as the evolution of photographic technologies. The idea of the “photographic image” as it appears in and is transformed through television, video, film, conceptual art and new media will also be evaluated.

Professor: Dr. Tashima Thomas
UC: History, Social, and Behavioral Sciences Breadth, Humanities and Fine Arts Breadth
CC: Technological Advances and Society

Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 11 - 11:50 a.m.

Greer Garson 3515 

Image: Graciela Iturbide, Mujer Ángel, Desierto de Sonora, México (Angel Woman, Sonora Desert, Mexico), 1979

Course description
This course offers a history of direct action in museums and galleries, from the early 20th century to the present day. It considers protests staged in response to the content of particular artworks, along with demonstrations regarding museums’ acquisition, exhibition, governance and fundraising policies. Students will consider how protests within museums and galleries have been used to highlight broader issues including legacies of colonialism, environmental damage, political repression, unemployment, voting rights and military action. Each class will focus on a particular demonstration, examining the artwork or architectural space targeted, the motivating factors behind the protest, the choreographing of the protest and the institution’s response. 

Professor: Dr. Anna Lovatt
CC: Historical Contexts (Pending), Civics and Individual Ethics (Pending) 

Tuesday/Thursday, 9:30 - 10:50 a.m.

Image: Protest by PAIN (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, in response to funding by the Sackler Family, 2019

Course description

This course considers changing representations of children and the family in art from 1850 to the present. Artworks will be studied in relation to literary and theoretical texts, from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland to Melanie Klein’s research on the emotional development of children. Key topics will include the perceived relationship between childhood and artistic creativity, the representation of gender and sexuality, family members as artistic collaborators and representations of the changing structure of the family in the 21st century. 

Professor: Dr. Anna Lovatt
UC: History, Social, and Behavioral Sciences Breadth, Humanities and Fine Arts Breadth
CC: Historical Contexts 

Tuesday/Thursday, 2:00 - 3:20 p.m. 

Greer Garson 3515 

Image: Catherine Opie, Oliver & Mrs. Nibbles, 2012

Course description
What did it mean to picture the self in the Age of Enlightenment? How did the visual arts formulate and critique received notions of personhood? This seminar will examine how portraiture responded to changing definitions of the self in 18th-century Europe, with particular attention to questions of gender, race and species. Participants will develop and put to use the most important skills of our discipline – visual analysis, critical reading of primary and secondary sources, and advanced research and writing skills – in order to produce substantial research essays on the topics of their choice. 

Professor: Dr. Amy Freund

Wednesday, 2:00 - 4:50 p.m. 

Visual Resources Lab, OFAC 1190 

Image: David Murray, Portrait of Dido Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray, late 1770s, Scone Palace, Perth

Course description
This course traces the evolution of art historical scholarship in the West, offering an introduction to the theoretical frameworks and research methods that have come to define the discipline. Each week, we will cover a different methodological approach through a combination of theoretical texts and applied methods. You will learn to apply these theories to your own work through a sustained investigation of a single work of art in a local collection. A series of written assignments related to this object will introduce you to key forms of written expression in the field. Through both regular writing and weekly discussions, you will develop a good sense of both the shape of the field and the critical theories that continue to direct its development. 

Professor: Dr. Elizabeth Eager
UC: Oral Communication, Writing in the Major
CC: Oral Communication

Thursday, 2:00 - 4:50 p.m. 

Location TBA 

Image: Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, Sight from The Five Senses, 1617-1618. Prado Museum, Madrid