| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|
| ART HIS 40A | HISTORY WESTERN ART | KENNEDY-QUIGLE, S. | Art History 40A is the first quarter of a year-long course, “History of Western Art,” which provides an overview of art in its various forms within the context of Western civilization, from the earliest evidence of visual culture to the present day. This first part of the course surveys the art and architecture of the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Particular attention will be paid to why the peoples of antiquity created art and architecture, the significance of art within its historical, political, social, and religious context, and how the visual arts can illuminate cultural issues. Course requirements include midterm and final examinations, one paper-based on a visit to a museum, and participation, homework, and quizzes in discussion sections. No prerequisite. |
| ART HIS 42C | HIST OF ASIAN ART | WINTHER, D. | This course presents an overview of developments in art in Japan from the medieval period to the present day. Focus will be placed on religious expression, artistic technologies, urban design, painting formats, political functions of art, and art historical methodology. Topics include the transformations of Buddhist art in Japan, castles and other monuments of the age of the warrior, mass print culture of the 17th and 18th centuries, modern developments of visual culture of the 19th and 20th centuries, and new expressions of recent years. Quiz, Midterm exam, writing assignment, final exam. |
| ART HIS 100 | ART/ARCH ANC EGYPT | KENNEDY-QUIGLE, S. | This course will survey the art and architecture of ancient Egypt from the Pre-Dynastic Period to the Ptolemaic Period (ca. 3100-31 B.C.E.). The course will be structured chronologically, examining monuments within the context of Egyptian religion, politics, and history. Particular attention will be paid to how context and function inform innovations and continuities in the visual culture of ancient Egypt. Prior exposure to the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean and/or Near East is helpful, but not required or presumed. Course requirements include participation in class discussions relative to required readings, a research paper, and midterm and final examinations. |
| ART HIS 140B | ART & POLITICS NOW | FEINSTEIN, R. | Explore the political power of images and artistic actions and the ability of artists and their work to effect change, from Andy Warhol’s paintings of electric chairs and race riots to Shepard Fairey’s Hope poster for Barack Obama’s election campaign, and from Joseph Beuy’s apologies for German aggression in the second World War to Ai Wei Wei’s critiques of Chinese governmental oppression. We will focus on art produced since the early sixties and consider the politically-charged nature of California art, the subject of many exhibitions opening locally this fall. We will also explore identity politics (feminist, racial, and queer) on the national scene and artists’ responses globally to issues including war, terrorism, poverty, immigration, inequality and more. Other topics we will cover: public sculpture in public space, artists’ collectives and collective action, graffiti and street art, and art and the law. |
| ART HIS 151C | MODERN CHINA | WUE, R. | This course is an exploration of art and visual culture in modern China from the late nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. It will focus on how Chinese artists addressed and experienced immense social and historical changes in this period, and their use of a wide variety of media, ranging from brush-and-ink painting to photography, oil painting and printmaking to installation and performance pieces. Major themes we will touch on include the constantly shifting issues of modernity and identity in China. The primary objectives of this course are not only to gain knowledge and understanding of Chinese works of art in a modern cultural and historical context, but also to develop visual and analytical skills in looking at, writing about and interpreting Chinese art. |
| ART HIS 163 | ASIAN AMER ART HIST | WINTHER, D. | This course investigates a broad selection of contemporary Asian American art and its antecedents. Focus will be placed on artists working in a wide range of media (painting, sculpture, architecture, performance, video) and representing diverse Asian American identities. While spotlighting individuals remarkable for their extraordinary accomplishments and exceptional life stories, emphasis will also be placed on their relationship to the broader social context of American and Asian American history. Students will be responsible for a writing assignment, midterm exam, and final exam. |
| ART HIS 164B | CONTEMP AFAM ART | COOKS CUMBO, B. | This course is the second part of a two-part investigation of the history and aesthetics of African American art with a particular focus on the politics of representation. Beginning chronologically with government sponsored artworks in the 1930s and ending with contemporary art of the twenty-first century, students will study artworks created by African Americans. Explores art in a variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, and new media. Issues of cultural politics, appropriation, identity, gender, sexuality, hybridity and civil rights are discussed. Course readings and class discussions are the primary means of investigating the topics discussed. |
| ART HIS 167 | LAT AMER ART 15C | BAUER, D. | The Western Image Goes West: Attitudes of Conquistadors to Images, 1492-1600: The course explores fundamental European notions concerning the nature and use of images as they manifested themselves during the colonization of Latin America. Europeans involved in the colonization of Latin America had certain expectations as to what images should look like as well as how images should function. However, in the New World, they encountered a set of visual cultures different than their own. The tensions produced by this encounter led many colonizers such as Columbus, Ramón Pané, and Peter Martyr to reflect and write about images. Later on, colonizers not only wrote about images but also drew up and executed strict policies regarding the authorization, production, and use of images. The corpus of writings thus produced together with actions pertaining to images betray an array of beliefs, convictions, opinions, and feelings about images that were rooted more in medieval, rather than Renaissance, practices. |
| ART HIS 190W | PRACTCUM FOR MAJORS | WUE, R. | A required course for junior and senior art history majors, the practicum has the dual purpose of 1) closely examining the tools, methods and approaches of the art historian and 2) strengthening writing skills and strategies. Through analytic readings, presentations and discussion, students will investigate the major methodologies employed by art historians and their implications for how we understand the work of art. Along with these close readings, students will also practice their own analytical and writing skills through a series of paper assignments focusing on art historical formats, ranging from formal analyses to a final research paper. |