History of Art & Architecture

• CAS AH 504: Topics in Religion and the Visual Arts
  In-depth discussion of special issues in the study of religion and art. May be repeated for credit as topics change. Also offered as CAS RN 504.
• CAS AH 520: The Museum and Historical Agency
  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 521: Curatorship: Exhibition Development
  Topic for Spring 2012: José Luís Sert at Boston University. Research and preparation for an exhibition dedicated to the George Sherman Union, the Mugar Memorial Library, and the School of Law at Boston University, three buildings designed and realized during the 1960s by Spanish architect José Luís Sert.
• CAS AH 525: New England Cultural Landscapes
  This seminar examines the historic forces that have shaped distinctive regional landscapes of New England. Focuses primarily on rural, small-town, and residential neighborhood landscapes in towns and cities over four centuries. Also offered as CAS AM 524.
• CAS AH 527: Topics in Art and Society
  May be repeated for credit as topics change. Two topics are offered Spring 2011. Students may take one or both for credit. Section A1: Impressionism through Symbolism. Major currents in nineteenth- century European art are examined in light of contemporary developments in politics, science, religion, literature, music, and the history of ideas. Section B1: Photography and Africa: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Representation. The role colonial-era photography played in determining how the world views Africa. Examines images by contemporary African photographers and looks at how they have confronted stereotypes in order to create their own self image.
• CAS AH 529: Seminar: Twentieth-Century Chinese Art
  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.
• CAS AH 530: Chinese and Japanese Calligraphy: History, Theory, and Practice
  Introduction to the history, theory, and practice of the art of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. The related art of seal carving is also introduced. No knowledge of Chinese or Japanese required.
• CAS AH 532: Japanese Print Culture
  Seminar on print culture of Japan from the eighteenth century to the present. Study of woodblock prints, photographic prints, book art, print advertisements, postcards, and manga. Focus on their function as both artistic expression and instruments of mass communication.
• CAS AH 533: Seminar: Greek Art and Architecture
  Topic for Fall 2012: The Greek Conception of the "Known World." Identity construction from cosmogony to afterlife, from race to culture, in hê oikoumenê gê -- the "known world" of ancient Greece. Juxtaposition of written and visual accounts exposes how Greeks perceived and shaped their environment. All fields welcome.
• CAS AH 534: Seminar in Roman Art
  In-depth examination of varying topics in the study of Roman art and architecture. Topics vary annually. Topic for Spring 2011: Pompeii. Also offered as CAS AR 534.
• CAS AH 539: Muslim Societies: An Interdisciplinary History
  Examines the states, empires, faiths, and ideologies of the Muslim world over a 1500-year period, including states from North and West Africa, through the Middle East, to Turkey, Iran, and then to Central and Southeast Asia. Also offered as CAS AN 548, HI 596, and RN 563.
• CAS AH 540: Europe and the Islamic World: Medieval and Early-Modern Cultural Exchange
  Cultural exchange between Europe and the Islamic world, and its impact on visual culture during the late medieval and early modern periods; the transmission of aesthetic concepts and visual traditions via specific patrons, artists, and works of art and architecture.
• CAS AH 541: Courtly Commissions: Ottoman Art and Architecture
  Explores the artistic patronage of the Ottoman court, fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. Questions of self-fashioning, artistic agency, courtly behavior, decorum, and the formation of an imperial style frame the discussion of specific works of art and architecture.
• CAS AH 553: Documenting Historic Buildings and Landscapes
  Seminar in architectural and landscape recording techniques involving readings, fieldwork, and writing; projects include research on individual buildings as well as groups of resources. Emphasis on research design and evaluation of evidence. Also offered as CAS AM 553.
• CAS AH 557: High Renaissance and Mannerist Art in Italy
  A study of High Renaissance and Mannerist art and architecture in Italy with special focus on the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Parmigianino, Rosso Fiorentino, and Pontormo. Attention to the role of literature and decorative arts in defining these period-styles.
• CAS AH 563: Alliance of Art and Power in the Baroque
  Explores the relationship between visual culture and political authority in seventeenth century Europe. Focus on painting, architecture, and sculpture by major artists of the period, including Rubens, Van Dyck, Velázquez, Rembrandt, and Bernini.
• CAS AH 570: Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century American Architecture
  Lectures and field trips explore American architecture and building from initial European contact through the end of the eighteenth century. Emphasis on New England, with discussion of architectural forms from other regions.
• CAS AH 571: African American Art
  Studies African American art and craft production from the early nineteenth century to the present against the background of the diaspora, reconstruction, and the modernist movements of the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Also offered as CAS AA 571.
• CAS AH 572: Gilded Age America: Visual Culture from 1865-1900
  
• CAS AH 580: Architectural Technology and Materials
  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.

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