| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ART HIS 40C | MODERN ART EUR&AMER | HERBERT, J. | Less a comprehensive survey than a collection of historical vignettes, this segment of the course explores the meaning and function of works of art--painting, sculpture, architecture--in Europe and America at various moments in time from the dawn of the seventeenth century to the beginning of twenty-first century. In each case study, we will examine the mechanisms through which works of art formulated, preserved and propagated certain ideas, social and political as well as artistic. |
| ART HIS 42B | ARTS OF CHINA | WUE, R. | This course offers an introduction to art history through the art and visual culture of China from prehistoric times to the 20th century. We will examine how the religious, political, philosophical and cultural traditions of China are expressed, created and communicated by visual images and objects, proceeding chronologically and thematically. The objectives of this class are not only to gain knowledge and understanding of these art works in a cultural and historical context, but also to develop visual and analytical skills in looking at and interpreting Chinese art. |
| ART HIS 107 | ANCIENT ROME | MILES, M. | How did Rome become the center of the ancient world and how did the city itself reflect the leading role of Romans in the Mediterranean? We will study how Romans used art and architecture to project their hard-won power, to live comfortably, to dazzle vistors. Our focus is the city Rome, but we’ll consider too the well-preserved houses and villas in the Bay of Naples (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae)—Rome’s vacationland. The Romans made substantial contributions in sculptured and decorated arches and altars, wall-painting, buildings with soaring interiors, as well as the famous baths and amphitheaters. Fortunately ancient authors wrote a lot about the city, so we’ll read what they have to say what life was like. We will also consider the impact of Rome on the art of later periods, including representations of ancient Rome in painting and film. |
| ART HIS 150 | KOREAN ART | WOLFGRAM, J. | Come explore the visual culture of Korea through 5,000 years of prosperity, bloodshed, and perseverance. While the peoples toiled the land, the dynastic kings ruled the nation in a military aristocracy that patronized the arts as visual venues of power, authority, and cultural sophistication. Learn how shamans, civil servants, and Buddhist monks developed some of the world’s greatest artistic traditions under the auspices of a Korean court that embraced animistic beliefs, Buddhist ideologies, Confucian social practices, and scientific observations. Follow Korean expression as it embraces rhythm, evokes elegance, celebrates color, and glorifies man and nature! This course will include visits to local collections of Korean art allowing in-depth examination of materials, formats, and artistic styles. |
| ART HIS 155B | MEDIEVAL INDIA | PATEL, A. | This course will explore some of the world’s great religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Islam) and their artistic traditions, challenging modern notions of religious and national identities. Beginning with the Guptas’ aesthetic legacies in the architecture, sculpture and painting of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (South Asia), we will continue with the dissemination of religious ideas and artistic practices in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam (Southeast Asia) in the 8th-10th centuries. The course will also examine the dispersal of Islam in South Asia, beginning with the settlement of early Muslim commercial communities in the 8th century, continuing with the Islamic Sultanates of the 12th-15th centuries, and culminating in the magnificence of the Mughal Empire (1526-1857). |
| ART HIS 164B | CONTEMP AFAM ART | COOKS CUMBO, B. | In this course students will study contemporary artworks created by African Americans. Course readings and discussions will focus on artistic themes, materials, representational issues, and exhibition contexts. |
| ART HIS 165C | MODERN AMERICAN ART | WHITING, C. | How did New York City become an international art capital in the twentieth century? Starting in 1900 new art galleries, museums, and little magazines devoted to modernism were established in New York, and by the end of World War II Manhattan had replaced Paris as the center of modern and contemporary art. The transatlantic movement of artists also contributed to the changing status of New York City in the art world. If at the beginning of the twentieth century a few European artists such as Marcel Duchamp traveled to the United States, and American artists such as Marsden Hartley joined European avant-garde circles in Paris and Berlin; after World War Two artists from around the globe settled in Manhattan. Of course, not all artists remained in New York City, and many escaped the city for various regional outposts where they discovered native and folk arts or artists. This course will consider networks of artistic exchange that developed both internationally and internally, within the United States. During this entire period as artists traveled, settled in New York, and experimented with various visual languages from realism to abstraction, they also became preoccupied either with international politics during World War I and World War II or with domestic issues such as the Great Depression and Cold War. Between 1900 and 1965, in other words, artists actively flocked to Manhattan while also engaging the world. |
| ART HIS 185 | ART AND MEDICINE | MASSEY, L. | From the anatomical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci to Hieronymous Bosch's references to medical alchemy, from nineteenth century photographs of mental illness to Japanese pharmaceutical dolls, from portraits of famous physicians to portraits of medical students posed with their cadavers, from Chinese acupuncture manuals to the Visible Human Project, this course will explore the intertwined histories of art and medicine from the late Middle Ages to the present. |