| Course | Title | Instructor | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ART HIS 40C | MODERN ART EUR&AMER | NISBET, J. | This course is an exploration of visual modernity in Europe and the United States. It will examine the conditions of modern life that have transformed the visual arts from the Industrial Revolution to the present day. We will consider the themes of labor, colonialism, political revolution, the natural environment, and image technologies as they inform topics such as Rembrandt, the invention of photography, Impressionism, Picasso, abstraction, the environmental movement, and Andy Warhol. This visual art registers the dramatic and fundamental changes that have shaped the globalized, multi-mediated world in which we now live. |
| ART HIS 42D | ARTS OF ISLAM | PATEL, A. | This course examines past and present Islamic art, spanning 1500 years and extending from the Americas through Indonesia. Themes include Islam as a globalizing force, the definition of “Islamic,” and the competing roles of religion and politics in making art. GE [categories?]; no prerequisite. |
| ART HIS 114 | GEN/SEX MEDEVAL ART | SHARTRAND, E. | Belching gargoyles, soaring architecture, and bejeweled curtains of glass—these are the hallmarks of Gothic art and architecture that capture our imagination to this day. But what engineering and theological secrets lie hidden within the walls of these medieval structures—virtual skyscrapers of their day? This course examines the total architectural and artistic environments of Gothic Europe (1150-1550 CE). It will investigate the symbolism, design, building methods, and liturgical uses of Gothic cathedrals as well as sculptural and stained-glass programs, manuscript illumination, and the cult of relics. Of special interest are: the status of the image and icon/idol, women and gendered spaces, royal patronage, the politics of gift giving, visual culture and identity, and the position of “the Other” in Medieval Europe, i.e., Jews and Muslims. In this seminar, students will become acquainted with a variety of interdisciplinary, methodological approaches and become conversant in both primary and secondary source readings. |
| ART HIS 140B | SUBLIME LANDSCAPES | DAVISON, M. | This course studies the relationship between sublime landscape aesthetics in modern and contemporary art, perceptions of the changing natural environment, and the ongoing impact of colonial capitalism and the institution of slavery on the climate crisis. Looking at paintings of the Romantic movement in Europe, landscape paintings and survey photographs of the Americas, landscape design and land-based arts practices, and contemporary art and film that engage with climate change, the course critically examines how sublime landscape aesthetics frame cultural understandings of the natural environment and directly impact land and resource management policies. The first half of the course introduces students to crucial scholarship from Indigenous studies and Black Feminist theory as a framework for approaching key artworks and historical discourses on sublime landscape aesthetics. To further study contemporary examinations of the embodied sublime in relation to our experience of the climate crisis in Southern California, the second half of the course is devoted to an interdisciplinary workshop series, “Living With and Through Wildfire.” The series is co-led by L.A.-based multimedia artist Julie Weitz and includes talks by local Indigenous community groups and scientists, guided site visits to burned wildland landscapes, and a community harvesting workshop. The workshop culminates in the student-led curation of an online exhibition. |
| ART HIS 145C | ARCHITECT THEORY | DIMENDBERG, E. | The war for and against modern architecture was fought with ideas as well buildings, and the goal of this class is to introduce the central theoretical formulations that accompanied the rise of modernism and post-modernism in the twentieth century and contemporary architecture in the twenty-first. We will consider the writings of the historical avant-garde in the first decades of the last century, as well as the ideas of philosophers such as Martin Heidegger and Theodor Adorno. Influential post-1945 architectural and urban thinkers such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Reyner Banham, Kevin Lynch, Robert Venturi, Denise Scott-Brown, Rem Koolhaas, Peter Eisenman, Charles Jencks, Anthony Vidler, Keller Easterling, and Harry Mallgrave will be studied against the background of changing conceptions of architectural form and practice. New conceptions of urban design will be evaluated in relation to evolving concepts of the city and the pressures of demography, economy, and culture upon urban aesthetics. Course requirements: Completion of weekly reading assignments, take-home midterm, and final research paper. |
| ART HIS 155D | TAJ MAHAL | PATEL, A. | The world-renowned Taj Mahal (Agra, northern India) embodies myth, religion, colonialism, contemporary politics and much more — one historical complex traversing nearly a half-millennium of global history. This course focuses on a single site to trace all of the strands of its making through time — beginning with the Taj's initial foundation in 1632 shrouded in the myth of undying love between an emperor and his queen; through its transformation into a "picturesque folly” anchoring the colonial discourse on historical monuments; until its contested status as one of the most recognizable symbols of a modern nation-state. Ultimately, the Taj Mahal demonstrates that a “monument” is never static but always in the making, accruing different usages and perceptions throughout its existence. No prerequisite. |
| ART HIS 162C | CONTEMPORARY JAPAN | WINTHER TAMAKI, B. | Over the last half century Japanese art has developed in manifold directions intersecting and diverging from art elsewhere in the world. This course highlights Japanese avant-gardism, urbanism, women artists, exhibitions, and disasters. Media include painting, ceramics, sculpture, collage, photography, and video. You will learn about Japanese artistic responses to World War II and other historical events, the reassessment of traditional arts, artists' groups, the critique of popular culture, and artistic statements about environmental disasters. |
| ART HIS 164E | AFAM & PHOTOGRAPHY | COOKS, B. | |
| ART HIS 190W | ART HISTORY METHODS | VOLZ, S. | This seminar surveys major methodologies in art history and develops writing and analytical skills necessary to produce critical scholarship. Students will read essays demonstrating key interpretive modes including semiotics, Marxism, feminism, and ecocriticism, and will practice these approaches through research and writing assignments; class discussion will also be a major component. By studying the numerous methodological strategies that characterize current art history, students will attain a fuller understanding of the discipline and how it operates. This course is writing-intensive and is required for art history majors. |
| ART HIS 198 | MEDIEVAL ENVIRON | SHARTRAND, E. | The personal is political. It is also historical; after Judith M. Bennett and Carissa Harris. Although the notion of sexual identity is an invention of the nineteenth century, it is possible to queer medieval art history. By focusing on issues of sexuality, desire, and representation this course will relate feminist and queer studies to broader social constructions regarding sex, race, and gender in the period of 500-1500 CE in western Europe. It will investigate the origins of western misogyny and the exclusion of Othered sexual communities within medieval Europe while simultaneously attempting to recover women’s experiences and voices when possible. Ultimately, this class seeks to both celebrate and critique the representation of feminine, masculine, and queer identities in medieval art histories. |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | WUE, R. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | WINTHER TAMAKI, B. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | PATEL, A. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | NISBET, J. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | MASSEY, L. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | LAPIN DARDASHT, A. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | JUNG, G. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | COOKS, B. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | CANEPA, M. | |
| ART HIS 199 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | BETANCOURT, R. | |
| ART HIS 298 | MEDIEVAL ENVIRON | SHARTRAND, E. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | WUE, R. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | WINTHER TAMAKI, B. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | PATEL, A. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | NISBET, J. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | MASSEY, L. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | LAPIN DARDASHT, A. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | JUNG, G. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | COOKS, B. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | CANEPA, M. | |
| ART HIS 299 | MA THESIS RESEARCH | BETANCOURT, R. | |
| ART HIS 399 | UNIVERSITY TEACHING | NISBET, J. | |
| ART HIS 399 | UNIVERSITY TEACHING | PATEL, A. |