Seminar Encountering the Other, Discovering the Self: Representation and Difference in the Americas or Mapping the Sacred: Image, Ritual and Pilgrimage from Europe to the Americas and Back
Seminar: The Practice of Religion in 15th-Century Netherlandish Devotional and Liturgical Art or Demonstrable Wonder: Practical Knowledge in Early-Modern Collections
The History of Art in China is a survey course that introduces the major traditions and monuments of Chinese art from Neolithic times to the modern (20th-21st centuries). The course generally follows a chronological trajectory but with a thematic matrix. The first part of the course, from Neolithic to Han (ca. 5000 BC - AD 220) concerns the formation of culture and civilization and covers early pottery and bronze traditions as well as the beginnings of pictorial art. Objects and pictures are placed into their historical, philosophical, and social contexts. The second part of the course focuses on the importation and development of Buddhist art, from ca. AD 200 - 1000. The third part of the course interweaves the painting, calligraphy, and ceramic traditions of imperial China, from the Song dynasty to the near contemporary. Garden design and imperial architecture are also introduced. One of the aspects of the course that will be emphasized is regional diversity and intercultural encounters (India and Central Asia in particular). The title, History of Art in China, as opposed to something like The Arts of China, is intended to convey awareness of the fact art is a conceptual and subjective term and that objects have histories that extend beyond national borders. GE: WRT, NWC, F
ENROLLMENT BY DISCUSSION SECTION
Painting, sculpture, and architecture in Greece from 336 to 30 B.C.E. considered in their social and cultural contexts. Emphasis on relations between Greek and other cultures of the ancient Mediterranean after Alexander and during the rise of Rome. Prerequisite: not open to freshman. GE: F
The architecture and urban image of Rome and the Empire from the Republic through the Constantinian era. Prerequisite: Art History 6A recommended. Not open to freshmen. GE: F
Study of recent artistic developments, from pop to contemporary movements
in painting, sculpture, photography, intermedia, and new media. Movements
studied include minimalism, conceptual art, earthworks, postmodernism,
feminism, the use of new media and technology (video, digital media) in
contemporary art, along with issues related to identity politics and
difference.
Examination of three centuries of African-American art in North America, the Caribbean, and Brazil, stressing the African Legacy. Colonial metalwork and pottery, folk or outsider genres, and mainstream nineteenth- and twentieth-century work are among traditions studied. Prerequisite: not open to freshmen. GE: F, ETH
Exploration of the arts of Maya-speaking cultures in southern Mesoamerica using archeological, epigraphic, and ethnographic data to help reconstruct Maya religion and civilization. Prerequisite: not open to freshmen. GE: F, NWC, WRT
Special Topics in Islamic Art: Women in Modern Islamic Art
Simonowitz
This course introduces students to the patronage and production of art
by women in modern and contemporary Islamic societies. Students will
also consider select ideas about women in Islam in pre-modern as well
as modern times and whether such ideas influence the production of
culture. Topics will include female Muslim artists in painting,
architecture, film/video, installation, performance, photography,
ritual, and more. Not open to freshmen.
The changing and entwined traditions of Japanese painting: those rooted in native concepts and practices, and those from China. Prerequisite: not open to freshmen. Recommended preparation: 6D. GE: F, NWC
F
1:00-3:50
ARTS 1241
135BB
Topics in Japanese Art: 20th Century Japanese Visual Culture
From Japan's role in world expositions, to Japanese painting academies, to
manga and anime this class will explore various topics in Japanese visual
culture during the past century. Active learning: Readings, discussions,
and student reports. Knowledge in Japan a help, but not required.
MW
2:00-3:15
TD 2600
136O
"It's Not Easy Building Green" - History and Aesthetics of Sustainable Architecture
Course examines history and theory of sustainable and "green" architecture since the early twentieth century. Emphasis is placed on the critical analysis of a distinct "green" architectural aesthetic; the scope is global. Prerequisite: Not open to freshmen.
The course will examine the technical, social/historical and aesthetic aspects of post-World War II photography. American, European, Asian and South American artists and/or subject matter will be examined. Exams will consist of slide identifications, comparison/contrasts and essays. Readings for the course include a text and suggested supplemental articles. A writing assignment is required. GE: F
Discussion of various aspects of museum work: management principles, the cataloguing and care of art objects, exhibitions and acquisitions, administrative procedures, museum architecture. Specialist lecturers and visits to museums and their facilities. Prerequisites: Not open to freshmen; consent of instructor.
Examination of both feminist critiques of Western representational practices and feminist interventions in art history. Topics to be determined by instructor. Prerequisite: not open to freshmen. GE: F
Seminar in Islamic Art and Architecture: The Written Word and Visual Culture in the Modern Islamic World
Simonowitz
This seminar examines the concept and the use of the written word in
the visual culture of modern Islamic societies. Both sacred and
profane applications will be considered. Topics covered will range
from traditional calligraphy, epigraphy, and talismans to hybrid
advertising, computer graphics, urban signage, graffiti, and the use
of Arabic scripts in contemporary figural representation.
No knowledge of a foreign language is required.
M
12:00-2:50
ARTS 2622
186Y
Seminar in Architecture and Environment: Santa
Barbara Architects
Advanced studies in architecture and environment. Topics will vary including active archival research. The course requires weekly readings and discussions, and the writing of a research seminar paper. GE: WRT
M
9:00-11:50
ARTS 2622
252B/253D
Seminar: Design and Construction in Roman and Romanesque Architecture
Special topics in Roman and Romanesque Architecture. Prerequisite: graduate standing.
F
10:00-12:50
ARTS 2622
254
Seminar Encountering the Other, Discovering the Self: Representation and Difference in the Americas or Mapping the Sacred: Image, Ritual and Pilgrimage from Europe to the Americas and Back
Special research in pre-Columbian and colonial Latin American art topics. Prerequisite: graduate standing
W
9:00-12:00
ARTS 2622
255D
Seminar: The Practice of Religion in 15 TH-Century Netherlandish Devotional and Liturgical Art or Demonstrable Wonder: Practical Knowledge in Early-Modern Collections
Understandings of the structure of time, of history, and of the associations attributed to change underwent radical transformation during the Early Modern period, affected by shifts in, in the mechanics of measuring time, and how historical documents were collected and interpreted. This seminar will address the issues of time, temporality, and history, taking into account one or more of the different pressures – from humanism, urbanization, mercantile capitalism, science, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation – that were brought to bear on individual and social conceptions of time, and how these changes and conflicts may have been registered – or ignored through nostalgic archaisms – in Netherlandish and German art, texts, and culture from the late fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Prerequisite: graduate standing.
This seminar will look closely at a select number of Chinese artists primarily active in the second half of the 20th century whose work explore the twin issues of modernity and identity. These artists, who were largely active outside of Mainland China, belong to a second-generation of Chinese modernism, in which fundamental problems regarding the merging of native and Western traditions were heightened by increased contacts between cultures and a growing awareness of distance, difference, and displacement in the post-war world. Centers of activity include Hong Kong (Lui Shou-kuan, Irene Chou, Wucius Wong, Van Lau), Taiwan (Liu Guosong, Chu Ko, Xia Yang, Xiao Qin, Zhu Ming), Paris (Zao Wou-Ki, Zhu Dechun, Zhao Chunxiang) and the States (Zhuang Zhe, Chen Qikuan). Among the topics we will explore are the widespread attraction of Paul Klee’s work to Chinese artists, the application of native signifiers in modern contexts, and the quest for syntheses. Prerequisite: graduate standing.
