Art History
Note: the courses on this page reflect Summer Term 2008 offerings.
Please check back on December 15 for a list of courses available during Summer Term 2009.
College of Arts and Sciences
CAS AH 111 Art History I: Antiquity to the Middle Ages
This art history course provides an introduction to art history and the analysis
of painting, sculpture, architecture, and other arts. Study of masterpieces
of Western Art from prehistoric to dawn of Renaissance. Focus on monuments of
Greece, Rome, and the Middle Ages, with a survey of Egyptian and Near Eastern
art. 4 cr.
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CAS AH 112 Art History II: Renaissance to Today
Major monuments and artists. Sequential development from the late 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. 4 cr.
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CAS AH 211 Boston Museums
An introduction to the fundamentals of visual analysis and the history
of art, focusing on outstanding works in the collections of Boston and Cambridge
museums. Current, temporary exhibitions are included. Also examines the curatorial
decision-making process determining the choice of works and the conditions
under which they are displayed. 4 cr.
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CAS AH 225 Arts of Asia
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. 4 cr.
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CAS AH 240 Medieval Art
This Art History course surveys European art and architecture from
the Fall of Rome through High Gothic. Covers media including sculpture, textiles,
stained glass, and precious metalwork. Monuments treated are Rome's great churches,
the Book of Kells, the Bayeux Tapestry, and Chartres and Rheims cathedrals.
4 cr.
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CAS AH 284 Arts in America
Survey of American painting, architecture, sculpture, prints, and photography
from the early settlement in 1630 to the present. 4 cr.
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CAS AH 295 History of Photography
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. 4 cr.
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CAS AH 333 The Art of Classical Greece
An in-depth examination
of the sculpture, painting, and architecture of the Classical Period, approximately
480-323 BCE. Emphasis placed on the developing
ideologies that shaped artistic production following the Persian wars, the
use of myth as "history" in social and political contexts, and the
emergence of the individual. 4 cr.
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CAS AH 497 Seminar: Contemporary Art
Prereq: CAS AH 111, AH 112. An Art History course that provides an in-depth
exploration of major currents in art since 1945, including Abstract Expressionism,
Pop Art, Minimalism, Earthworks, Photo-Realism, Conceptual Art, and Neo-Expressionism.
Among the artists to be considered are Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Eva Hesse,
Robert Smithson, Audrey Flack, Joseph Beuys, Kiki Smith, and Robert Gober. 4
cr.
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CAS AH 530 Chinese and Japanese Calligraphy: History, Theory, and
Practice
A hands-on introduction to the practice, history, and theory of the art of
Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. The related art of seal carving is also introduced.
Studio sessions in which students practice calligraphy are an integral part
of the course. 4 cr.
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Courses of Related Interest
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