Spring 2013 Courses
Undergraduate Courses
| Introduction to Art History II: Renaissance to Today | Zell/Ribner | ||
| CAS AH112 | TR 11:00-12:30 | LAW AUD | Course Site |
| Major monuments and artists. Sequential development, from the Renaissance to the modern period, of major styles in architecture, sculpture, painting, graphic arts, and photography. Relationship of visual art to social and cultural trends. | |||
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Architecture: An Introduction |
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| CAS AH205 | MWF 11:00-12:00 | Course Site | |
| 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. | |||
Arts of Africa |
Becker |
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| CAS AH215 | TR 11:00-12:30 | Course Site | |
| Exploration of key themes in royal art and architecture from western central, eastern, and southern Africa. Topics include state cosmology, dynastic history, palace architecture, royal regalia and ceremonies, court women, and the importance of art in diplomacy and war. | |||
The Arts of Asia |
Bai |
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| CAS AH225 | MWF 10:00-11:00 | Course Site | |
| Surveys of the major artistic traditions of Asia. Important monuments are examined analytically in order to explain why certain forms and styles are characteristic of specific times and places, and how these monuments functioned in their cultural contexts. | |||
Archaeology of Ancient Egypt |
Bard |
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| CAS AH232 | TR 11:00-12:30 | ||
| The technology, economy, social life, political organization, religions, art, and architecture of Egypt from predynastic times through the Hellenistic period, based on archaeological and historical sources. Emphasis on the period of the pharaohs (ca. 3200-323 B.C.). | |||
Renaissance Art |
Cranston |
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| CAS AH257 | MWF 1:00-2:00 | Course Site | |
| Survey of the arts in the Renaissance in Italy from the communes of the early fifteenth century to the courts of the sixteenth century. | |||
Arts in America |
Morgan |
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| CAS AH284 | MWF 9:00-10:00 | Course Site | |
| Survey of American painting, architecture, sculpture, prints, and photography from the early settlement in 1630 to the present. | |||
History of Photography |
Sichel |
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| CAS AH295 | TR 11:00-12:30 | Course Site | |
| An introduction to the study of photographs. The history of the medium in Europe and America from its invention in 1839 to the present. After lectures on photographic theory and methodology, photographs are studied both as art objects and as historical artifacts. | |||
After Genghis Khan: Art & Architecture in Central Asia & Iran |
Fetvaci |
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| CAS AH314 | TR 2:00-3:30 | Course Site | |
| Examines the art and architecture in Iran and Central Asia of the Ilkhanids and Timurids (thirteenth-sixteenth centuries), two of the most innovative and dynamic artistic traditions of the Islamic world, and heirs to the traditions of Genghis Khan’s Mongol Empire. | |||
Ancient Aztec & Inca Civilizations |
Coggins | ||
| CAS AH322 | TR 9:30-11:00 | Course Site | |
| The conquests, trade, society, history, religion, art, and architecture of the Aztec and Inca Empires in Mexico and Peru, as revealed archaeologically and in the accounts of their Spanish conquerors. | |||
The Grand Tour |
Redford |
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| CAS AH368 | TR 3:30-5:00 | Course Site | |
| The culminating educational experience for the elite of Enlightenment Europe took the form of an extended trip to Italy, “The Grand Tour.” This course recreates the itinerary of the Tour and analyzes its impact on art, architecture, collecting, and connoisseurship. | |||
American Architecture |
Moore |
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| CAS AH385 | TR 12:30-2:00 | Course Site | |
| This class provides an introductory survey to the American built environment across centuries and spanning regions. Through lectures, readings, and discussion, students will examine how culture, technology, economics, and geography have shaped American buildings, spaces, and landscapes. Topics will range from houses, court houses, and churches to factories, cities, and resort communities. | |||
Twentieth-Century Art from 1940 to 1980 |
Williams |
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| CAS AH392 | MWF 1:00-2:00 | Course Site | |
| An exploration of the major currents in European and American art between 1940 and 1980. Examines abstract expressionism, pop art, minimalism, earthworks, and conceptual art in relation to major issues in postwar culture, politics, and art criticism. | |||
Painting & Calligraphy in Islam |
Fetvaci |
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| CAS AH428 | Tue 9:30-12:30 | Course Site | |
| This course will examine the manuscript traditions of the Islamic world, with particular attention to painting and calligraphy. We will look at books as well as albums, and consider different genres such as religious, historical, and literary manuscripts. Among the highlights will be the consideration of luxurious copies of the Persian epic Shahnama (Book of Kings), glittering Qurans, and royal albums made for Ottoman and Persian collectors. | |||
Photography & Africa: Race & Representation |
Becker |
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| CAS AH429 | Tue 2:00-5:00 | Course Site | |
| Photographs of Africa between 1890 and the 1930s are typically understood as a part of colonial discourse, reflecting European stereotypes and enacting imperialistic political agendas. This course considers the role images play in determining how the world views Africa. It also examines images created and published by contemporary African photographers in order to address how Africans have played an active role in confronting pejorative stereotypes and expressing their own self-image. | |||
Seminar in Greek Art |
Martin |
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| CAS AH433 | Thu 9:30-12:30 | Course Site | |
| Topic: AH433: Intolerance in antiquity: racism, ethnic hostility, and the representation of foreigners in the arts of Greece This class will consider the representation of foreigners in Greek art with the express goal of characterizing the roles played by imagery in various forms of intolerance. We will concentrate on specific non-Greek groups that were favorite subjects in the arts, including Ethiopians, Egyptians, Celts/Gauls, Scythians, Amazons, and, to a lesser extent, Persians, to determine what Greeks thought – or what they claimed to believe – about foreigners. We will compare Greek intolerance to modern ideas of racism and prejudice. Students from all fields are welcome. |
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Curatorship & Exhibition Development |
McNamara |
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| CAS AH521 | Tue 9:30-12:30 | ||
| Topic for Spring 2013: Contemporary Perspectives in Exhibition-Making Addresses contemporary curatorial strategies and the history of exhibition-making through readings, conversations, and practical exercises. Discusses developing an exhibition, building working relationships with artists, turning a concept into a project, and effectively communicating ideas. |
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Twentieth Century Chinese Art |
Bai |
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| CAS AH529 | Fri 12:00-3:00 | Course Site | |
| Critical examinations of twentieth-century Chinese art, including the fate of traditional art, art under a totalitarian regime, the problematic status of the artist in a socialist state, and avant-garde art in the international context. | |||
Imperial Rome |
Kleiner |
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| CAS AH534 | Thu 2:00-5:00 | Course Site | |
| An in-depth study of key monuments in the development of the art and architecture of the Eternal City from Augustus to Constantine, including temples and forums, theaters and amphitheaters, triumphal arches and honorary columns, houses and palaces, baths and tombs. Also offered as AR 534. | |||
The Female Nude in Italian Renaissance Art |
Cranston |
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| CAS AH557 | Mon 10:00-1:00 | Course Site | |
| This seminar will consider the origins and significance of the nude female figure in Italian Renaissance art. Topics will include the following: the influence of antiquity, the creative associations between the female nude and nature, the role of epithalamic and garden art, the development of the recumbent nude as an independent type, Renaissance practices of viewing and display, and the female nude as a site for critical aporia. | |||
Early American Architecture |
Dempsey |
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| CAS AH570 | Wed 2:00-5:00 | ||
| Lectures and field trips explore American architecture and buildings from initial European contact through the end of the Eighteenth Century. Emphasis on New England, with discussion of architectural forms from other regions. | |||
Architectural Technology & Materials |
Brown |
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| CAS AH580 | Thu 9:30-12:30 | Course Site | |
| An introduction to the history of architectural construction, technologies, and materials, and their consequences in the built environment. Students receive a practical understanding of the building process and of its social and cultural contexts. | |||
Transnationalism & Architecture |
Scrivano |
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| CAS AH585 | Wed 1:00-4:00 | Course Site | |
| In recent times, the field of history has been characterized by the growth of studies adopting a “transnational” perspective, a phenomenon that has touched on disciplines as diverse as the history of international relations, the history of social policies, cultural history, migration history, and intellectual history. The aim of the seminar is to start a discussion on the transnational character of modern architecture and to verify to which extent the paradigm of transnational history can be applied to modern architecture as a historical subject. In doing so, the seminar will consider a narrative that covers the 20th century but that, at times, includes events that took place during the 18th and 19th centuries. | |||
Green Design |
Morgan |
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| CAS AH587 | Mon 1:00-4:00 | Course Site | |
| This seminar will explore the historical context for the current issues of sustainability and green architecture from the eighteenth century to the present. The recent explosion of interest in sustainability and green architecture will be examined within its larger Western context, with a primary focus on the American situation. The engagement of architecture with nature will be charted through questions of landscape theory, public park making, suburbanization, adaptive re-use and new green materials and methods of construction, among other topics. The course will involve discussion of common readings, site visits, and independent research. | |||
European Romanticism |
Ribner |
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| CAS AH589 | Wed 9:00-12:00 | Course Site | |
| This course considers major currents in European art from the late eighteenth century to 1848. Works, rich in imagination and feeling, by Goya, Blake, Turner, Friedrich, Géricault, Delacroix, and others are viewed in relation to the politics, religion, poetry, and music of a creative, turbulent era. | |||
Documentaary Photography |
Sichel |
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| CAS AH591 | Thu 2:00-5:00 | Course Site | |
| 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. | |||
Graduate Courses
Seminar in Baroque Art & Architecture |
Zell |
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| GRS AH863 | Wed 2:00-4:00 | Course Site |
| Topic for Spring 2013: Johannes Vermeer One of the most celebrated Dutch artists of the seventeenth century, Johannes Vermeer was also one of the least prolific and most enigmatic painters of all time. This seminar explores Vermeer’s art and career through various perspectives and methods of art history, and attempts to situate his astonishingly small production of about 34 paintings within the cultural and social worlds for which they were created. |
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Seminar in Twentieth Century Art |
Williams |
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| GRS AH895 | Wed 10:00-12:00 | Course Site |
| Topic for Spring 2013: Art and Critical Theory This seminar explores how critical theorists associated with the Frankfurt School and French post-structuralism have influenced historians and critics of modern and contemporary art. Key figures include Adorno, Barthes, Benjamin, Deleuze, Derrida, Foucault, Irigaray, Kristeva and Lacan. |
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