Art History

Topics vary from semester to semester.

This course examines contemporary arts of Japan; China; North/South Korea; India; Pakistan; Tibet; and Vietnam; with a focus on emerging theories of global arts and diverse art practices; such as curating; viewing; and the making of Asian art today.

This course focuses on arts of the Mughal Empire to now; including architecture; painting; sculpture; courtly and popular arts; and photography. Students will consider how ancient forms of art and culture endure into the 21st century; examples include yoga; tantra; ceramics; metalwork; textiles and more.

This course is an introduction to Japanese visual arts; material culture; and architecture from prehistory to the present. Major monuments of Japan are analyzed according to their historical; social; and religious contexts. A field trip to study objects in the Johnson Museum Collection at Cornell University is part of the course.

This course is a survey of ceramics; wood; metalwork; textiles and product design from the 15th century to the present in China; Korea and Japan. Emphasis is on aesthetics; production systems; social worlds and craft discourse. (Fall; odd years)

A survey of Japanese ceramic objects and practice from prehistory to the present. Focus is on materials; techniques; aesthetics; and networks of makers; producers; and patrons. Also includes the study of Japanese influences on ceramics globally. (Spring).

The seminar inquires about the conditions that make possible painting's persistence as a vital artistic medium and practice. Students develop an understanding of the conditions underlying the persistence of painting as a medium and practice by studying the approaches and strategies employed by both its participants and selected artists who have made significant contributions. It will help clarify some of the reasons for the privileged position that has presumably held in the ecology of art. (Fall)

This course traces the history of the art; architecture and culture of the Islamic world bordering the Mediterranean basin. Religious and secular works of art are examined in order to foster greater understanding and appreciation of Islamic visual culture and aesthetics.

A study of art and architecture from ancient Greece and Rome. Among other issues; the course addresses changing attitudes of style; function; and patronage during this period and investigates the influence of social and religious belief. The study of Greek art emphasizes the development of stylistic periods. Roman art study focuses on individual historical periods of various emperors as reflected in the patronage.

This course explores medieval art--architecture; painting; sculpture and the decorative arts--through the study of subject matter and the major stylistic developments from the religious and secular spheres of medieval society. Other topics include patronage; artistic production; and workshop practices.

This course surveys the role and development of illuminated manuscripts—hand-written; painted books—in Western Europe beginning with the seventh century and ending in the fifteenth century with the invention of the printing press.

This course explores how medieval art and architecture in Europe (ca. 500-1500) was shaped by the materials and techniques used to create it; and the status and working practices of its makers. Materials considered include: Ivory; parchment; was; clay; and glass. (Annually).

This course will survey European art and architecture of the eighteenth century focusing on selected cultural centers. It will study developments in painting; sculpture; prints; ceramics and architecture in the context of the formation of major institutions responsible for the development of the modern concepts of art and artist toward the inception of the modern art world.

This course is an in-depth study of the major stylistic forms; directions and iconography in Italian Renaissance art and architecture (14th through 16th centuries). We explore the systems of art-making and patronage in the major urban and court centers.

This course is an examination of Northern Renaissance art (France; Germany; the Netherlands and England) from the 1400s until about 1600. The period is marked by an increase in the materialism of religious faith; most notable observed in the extravagant artistic patronage by the royal courts and the Church.

This class is a survey of European art and architecture during the 17th century within cultural; religious; political and intellectual frameworks. Main themes include: the impact of the Counter Reformation on the visual arts; urban planning; art as propaganda; specialization of the art market; rise of art academies and art theory.

In this course we examine the history of ceramic art; craft and design according to its major global flows. Recent scholarship; primary texts; and the direct study of objects from the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum collection form the basis for discussion of the history of ceramics’ aesthetic values; praxis; patronage; and cultural identities.

This course surveys the concept of the primitive in Western art from the Enlightenment to the present. Students explore the shifting nature of primitivism; examine the relationship between art and colonial expansion; and critique the formal and thematic appropriation of non-Western artifacts by European and American artists.

Encompassing the movements of Symbolism to Surrealism; this course covers the developments in modern art during the first half of the 20th Century. Students explore such themes as modernity; primitivism; and utopian theory as well as the stylistic developments and formal innovations of this period.

This course investigates the facture of painting--the marking; process; and surface of work--through a series of case-studies from the late 19th century to the present. It is designed for graduate students enrolled in the Alfred-Dusseldorf MFA Program and advanced undergraduates.

Through the lenses of various themes—youth; sexuality; class; religion; politics; revolution; time; and space—this course explores how different cultures throughout the world understand and communicate their cultural values through cinema.

The history of product and graphic design; focusing primarily on Europe and North America from the Industrial Revolution to the present. Particular emphasis will be placed on design in response to changes in society; politics; and technology.

This course tracks the global turn in art history and within contemporary artistic practice since 1989 with a particular focus on social upheaval; political transformation; and diasporic identity.

Designed for graduate students to work with Art History faculty on an independent study basis. A written Plan of Study is required.

This course investigates the nature and place of craft in modern culture. We traverse a century of craft-based practices--from the artisan guilds of the Arts and Crafts Movement to the virtual guilds of today--focusing on recent strategies and practices

This interactive course focuses on and studies the projects of selected contemporary artists. These projects serve as platforms for investigating issues and problems related to various contemporary art forms and movements including; the embodiment of the viewer; play and reality; new technologies and consciousness; ironic modernism; and the critique of the post-medium condition.

In the aftermath of WWII. the Cold War tried to divide the world into two camps in a binary opposition. This course will investigate the profound and global impact it has had on contemporary art. in and beyond the Eastern and Western blocks; and the long shadow it has cast that reaches into our day.

A series of recent projects exploring contemporary issues in sculpture is the focus of this class. We look at an international array of artists; including: Matthew Barney (United States); Robert Irwin (United States); Juan Munoz (Spain); Doris Salcedo (Colombia); Thomas Schutte (Germany); and Rachel Whiteread (Britain). The work of these artists is examined in the context of larger post-war debates.

This course offers an in-depth study of Picasso in relation to other modern artists and movements. Special attention is paid to the nature of style. Students conduct research on the development of abstraction in the early twentieth century.

Histories and theories of ceramic art; craft and design from the late 19th century to the present in Europe and North America. with a particular focus on the Arts and Crafts movement; Modernism and Postmodernism. (Spring).

This writing-intensive seminar introduces students to research methods in art history and to a range of approaches of historical and current significance. Students identify art historical problems; formulate hypotheses; conduct research; read critically; build arguments; and present reports.

A close examination of the nature of sculptural viewing over the past 200 years. Sculptural theory is considered alongside contemporary artistic practice; ranging from Antonio Canova's neoclassical figures to Janet Cardiff's audio walks. Primary sources will be used for class discussion; along with Potts' The Sculptural Imagination. In addition to thinking critically about the phenomenon of viewing; we will investigate the changing attitudes toward sculpture and the broadening definitions of three-dimensional work in the modern period.

This course examines the relationship between making and writing in contemporary art. We will read; dissect; and discuss a spectrum of recent texts by artists; critics; and literary authors. In addition to these class conversations; students will be asked to regularly write short exercises and engage in weekly critiques. Over the span of the semester; students will improve their writing and produce a finished professional text in the form of a critical essay or artist proposal. This is a course that is geared to upper-division and graduate-level students and encourages enrollment from across all media and disciplines; including craft practices and performing arts.

This seminar focuses on how photography and its modern modes of vision were disseminated and adapted around the globe since its 1839 invention in Europe. The course is designed as a research lab: students develop both a short written report and related visual project.

This course takes a broad interpretation of “landscape” as the springboard for an examination of land; space; site; and place in the visual arts; across cultures; geographies; and time periods. We will view a wide variety of differing cultural understandings of landscape as a way of considering how we; as humans; inhabit; interpret; and impact our world. Generally offered once per year.

This course traces the material nature of experimental film and video art; including handmade cinema; avant-garde film; computer art; algorithmic media; etc.

This course examines 20th and 21st century art and media that engage with feminist and gender issues in a global context. The first few weeks are spent reviewing a concise history of first- and second-wave feminist thought; particularly its relation to art and visual culture. Thereafter; selected contemporary art from all regions of the globe are covered.

A round-table seminar based on extensive group discussions and in-depth research on recent innovations in technology and how that technology has impacted art production and theory.

Required for all first year MFA graduate students. This seminar brings together the students working in all three graduate programs to facilitate their participation in creating a framework for understanding the practice of art making in relation to the contemporary; global and cultural terrain.