This seminar investigates the diversity of global visual art practices through thematic topics such as activism, nature, identity, gender, memory, spirituality, colonialism, consumerism, beauty, participation, globalization, and science. Students will examine how practices, beliefs, systems and narratives have come under critique and are challenged by visual artists as well as how alternatives to these practices, beliefs, systems and narratives proposed by visual artists can lead to transformation. Emphasis is placed on contemporary art practices, but students are encouraged to consider artwork within larger historical and cultural contexts. Course discussions introduce students to aesthetic and theoretical developments, examine significant critical debates within the art world and explore various historical, stylistics and methodological questions raised within the visual arts and art history.
Prerequisite: ARH 1040FYW Survey Western Art History: Ancient to 21st Century or permission of the instructor.
ARH 1040FYW Survey Western Art History: Ancient to 21st Century (4 hours)
This course surveys western art chronologically from prehistory to the present day. Discussions center on understanding various civilizations through their visual arts, the cultural exchange between these civilizations, and how images are used for political, economic, religious and social purposes. Guiding themes within this course, such a patronage,gender, identity, political/religious turmoil, colonialism, and global trade, will introduce students to why certain types of art are created and how these works of art function within society. Students gain familiarity with movements, time periods, and individual works of art. Students learn to identify works of art, are introduced to art terminology, practice the fundamentals of visual analysis, and develop the ability to analyze the content and contexts of works of art.
Archway Curriculum: Integrative Core: Going Global Thread
Archway Curriculum: Essential Connections: Diversity Instructive: Global
Archway Curriculum: First-Year Curriculum: First-Year Writing