Art History Courses for Fall 2008

Undergraduate Courses

CAS AH 111 Introduction to Art History I: Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Prof. Kleiner/ Kahn: TR 11-12:30
An introduction to the history of art and the analysis of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other arts.  Study of masterpieces of Western art from prehistory to the dawn of the Renaissance.  Focus on the monuments of Greece, Rome, and the Middle Ages.

CAS AH 205 Introduction to Architecture
Prof. Scrivano: TR 12:30-2:00
Examination of the factors involved in architectural design including program, spatial composition, structure, technology, iconography, and the role of architecture in society. Discussion of major monuments of Western architecture and urbanism from ancient Egypt to the twenty-first century.

CAS AH 220 Islamic Art and Architecture
Prof. Fetvaci: MWF 1-2
Examines key monuments of Islamic art and architecture within their historical and cultural context, and emphasizes the diversity within the visual cultures of the Islamic world.

CAS AH 295 History of Photography
Prof. Sichel: TR 3:30-5

CAS AH 316 African Diasp Arts
Prof. Becker: MWF 3-4

CAS AH 322 Aztec
Prof. Coggins: TR 9:30-11

CAS AH 327 Arts of China
Prof. Bai: MWF 11:00-12:30

CAS AH 328 Modern Japanese Architecture
Prof. Tseng: MWF 9:00-10:00

CAS AH 331 Archaic Greece
Prof. Westervelt: TR 11:00-12:30

CAS AH 353 Renaissance Architecture
Prof. Cranston: TR 11:00-12:30

CAS AH 365 Northern Baroque
Prof. Zell: TR 2:00-3:30

CAS AH 367 Material Culture
Prof. Sewell: M/W/F 10-11
Introduction to the theory and practice of the study of material culture, the physical stuff that is part of human life.  Material culture includes everything we make and use, from food and clothing to art and buildings.  Lectures will introduce a wide range of contemporary scholarship on material culture from a range of disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, history, sociology, art and architectural history, and cultural studies.  Also offered as AM 367.

CAS AH 377 Furniture
Prof. Hall: TR 11:00-12:30

CAS AH 379 Visual Culture of 19th Century America
Prof. Hills: MWF 9:00-10:00

CAS AH 380 Romantisim
Prof. Ribner: MWF 8:00-9:00

CAS AH 382 19th Century Architecture
Prof. Morgan: TR 9:30-11:00

CAS AH 393 Contemporary Art
Prof. Williams: section A1 meets TR 12:30-2:00; section B1 meets T 6-9
Examines the terms of debate, the key figures and the primary sites for the production and reception of contemporary art on a global scale since 1980. Today’s art is more heterogeneous, contradictory and dispersed than ever before; there is no cohesive international “art world.” Yet, as we will explore, the separate scenes influence each other and enter into dialogue through the itinerant work habits of contemporary artists, curators and critics. Significant themes of the past three decades will be addressed: appropriation art, the “return” of painting, art and politics, new media, installation art, the art market, feminist art, neo-conceptualism, institutional critique, art as “relational” experience, and the recent proliferation of biennials and art fairs.

CAS AH 398 20th Century Architecture
Prof. Scrivano: T/R 3:30-5
An Introduction to major developments in architecture and urban planning from ca. 1900 to the present.  The course will present architectural problems and practices beginning with recent critiques of the modern movement.  We will trace the history of twentieth-century architecture in key projects and consider the ideology that led to their creation.

CAS AH 4xx Seminar: Islamic Art
Topic: TBD
Prof. Fetvaci: M 9-12

CAS AH 433 Seminar: Greek Art
Topic: TBD
Prof. Westervelt: R 2-5

CAS AH 451 Seminar: Renaissance Art
Topic: TBD
Prof. Cranston: W 9-12

CAS AH 451 Seminar: Baroque Art
Topic: TBD
Prof. Zell: R 9:30-12:30

CAS AH 482 Seminar: 19th Century Art
Topic: TBD
Prof. Ribner: M 9-12

CAS AH 497 Seminar: Contemporary Art
Topic: TBD
Prof. Williams: R 2-5

CAS AH 520 The Museum and Historical Agency
Prof. Hall: R 2-5
Prereq: permission of the instructor and stamped approval.
Grad Prereq: consent of the instructor and stamped approval.
The history, present realities, and future possibilities of museums and historical agencies. Emphasis on the collection, preservation, and use of objects, as well as on the interaction of artists, dealers, collectors, donors, scholars, trustees, and museum professionals.

CAS AH 532 Japanese Prints
Prof. Tseng: M 2-5

CAS AH 534 Roman Art
Prof. Kleiner: T 2-5

CAS AH 583 The English House
Prof. Redford: TR 12:30-2

CAS AH 585 Architecture and Urban
Prof. Scrivano: W 9-12

Graduate Courses

GRS AH 716 Colloquium in African Diasp Arts
Prof. Becker: W 1-3

GRS AH 767 Material Culture
Prof. Sewell: M 1-4
Introduction to the theory and practice of the interdisciplinary study of material culture, which includes everything we make and use, from food and clothing to art and buildings. Also offered as GRS AM 767.

GRS AH 779 Colloquium in Visual Culture of 19th Century America
Prof. Hills: M 11-1

GRS AH 786 Colloquium in Twentieth-Century American Painting
Prof. Hills: M 10-12
The colloquium, which accompanies the lecture course for AH 386, focuses on critical and theoretical readings that relate to 20th-century American painting, photography, sculpture, installation and performance art, and criticism.

GRS AH 798 Colloquium: Twentieth-Century Architecture
Prof. Scrivano: R 5-7

GRS AH 820 Seminar: Asian Art
Topic: Chinese Art and Culture in the 20th century
Prof. Bai: F 11-1
Critical examination of twentieth-century Chinese art and culture. Covers a variety of phenomena and issues: the meeting of East and West, the modern fate of traditional art under a totalitarian regime, avant-garde art, and the international market.

GRS AH 846 Seminar: Romanesque and Gothic Art
Topic: Early Medieval Art in England
Prof. Kahn: W 10-12
This seminar will begin with a broad overview of the art and architecture of
early medieval Europe. It will then focus on the art of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. Our central interest will be the meaning and
interpretation of imagery -- particularly imagery on the borders and margins
of sculpture, manuscripts, textiles and monumental painting.

GRS AH 863 Seminar: Baroque Art and Architecture
Topic: Rembrandt
Prof. Zell: W 2-4

GRS AH 891 Seminar: Photography
Prof. Sichel: F 10-12
A study of changing uses, definitions, and archives of documentary photography from 1839 to the present. Topics will include urban photography, war imagery, topographical and survey landscapes, architectural records, social reform photography, New Deal imagery, and digital documents.  We will concentrate on the rich archival resources available in the museums, university archives, and historical societies in the greater Boston area.