What Is Art History?

What is History Today … ?, 1988

Art history is the study of all forms of art, architecture, and visual culture in their social and historical contexts. The History of Art major can serve either as a general program in the humanities or as the groundwork for more specialized training. Unless otherwise indicated, all courses in History of Art are open to all students in Yale College. Course Numbering 100-level courses are broad introductory surveys that address basic art history from a number of regional and thematic perspectives. Prospective majors are encouraged to take the surveys as early in their course of study as possible. Under certain circumstances, students who have taken the Advanced Placement test in art history may earn acceleration credit and, in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies (DUS), may place out of one required 100-level course. Intermediate and advanced courses, numbered above 200, encompass more specialized surveys and themes in art history. Requirements of the Major Twelve term courses are required to complete the major: two introductory courses at the 100 level; four intermediate and advanced courses at the 200 and 300 levels; two seminars at the 400 level; a methods seminar, HSAR 401; two electives; and the senior essay, HSAR 499. The major requires that the six intermediate and advanced courses must satisfy both a geographical and a chronological distribution requirement. These courses must be chosen from four geographical areas and four time periods. The geographical requirement is divided into five areas: Africa and the Pacific; the Americas; Asia and the Near East; Europe; and transregional. The chronological requirement is similarly divided into five segments: earliest times to 800; 800-1500; 1500-1800; 1800 to the present; and transchronological. A single course can fulfill both a geographical and a chronological requirement. Only classes originating in the History of Art department can fulfill the distribution requirements. Junior seminar The methods seminar HSAR 401, Critical Approaches to Art History, is a wide-ranging introduction to the practices of the art historian and the history of the discipline. It is to be taken during the fall or spring term of the junior year. Credit/D/Fail courses Courses taken Credit/D/Fail may not be counted toward the requirements of the major. Roadmap See the visual roadmap of the requirements. Senior Requirement The senior essay is a research paper written usually in one term in HSAR 499. Students choose their own topics, which may derive from research done in an earlier course. The essay is planned during the previous term in consultation with a qualified instructor and/or with the DUS. It is also possible to write a two-term senior essay; students wishing to do so must submit a petition to the DUS and the prospective adviser, normally by the first week aer spring break of the junior year. Advising Electives may include courses from other departments if they have direct relevance to the major program of study. Approval of the DUS is required. History of Art majors are urged to study foreign languages. Students considering graduate work should discuss with their advisers the appropriate language training for their field of interest. Graduate courses Courses in the Graduate School are open to undergraduates with permission of the instructor and of the director of graduate studies. Course descriptions are available in the History of Art office in the Jeffrey H. Loria Center, 190 York St. REQUIREMENTS OF THE MAJOR Prerequisites None Number of courses 12 term courses (incl senior req) Specific courses required HSAR 401 Distribution of courses 2 courses at 100 level; 6 courses numbered above 200, 2 of which must be 400-level seminars, fulfilling distribution requirements in 4 geographical and 4 chronological categories; 2 electives Substitution permitted With DUS permission, 2 electives from related depts Senior requirement Senior essay (HSAR 499) Art history is the study of all forms of art, architecture, and visual culture. The History of Art major can serve either as a general program in the humanities or as the groundwork for more specialized training. Courses in the department are organized into three levels. Courses at the 100 level are broad introductory surveys that cover basic art history from a number of regional and thematic perspectives. Majors are required to take two survey courses and should consider taking

Affirming the belief that a knowledge and understanding of the visual arts is an indispensable part of any higher education, the School of Art and Art History offers students a wide range of learning experiences designed to encourage independent thought and creativity, and to develop a deeper appreciation of important artistic achievements throughout world history. Goals The School of Art and Art History discerns the following five distinct goals for the teaching of art at JMU: To prepare future professional artists and designers. To educate future art historians and museum specialists with a global perspective on the visual arts. To develop and license future elementary and secondary art teachers. To enrich the general education of non-art majors. To supply professional instruction in the visual arts for students who wish to enrich their education by studying art as a second major or minor. To meet these goals, the School of Art and Art History offers three degrees, a choice of two majors, and a number of select areas of emphasis. Teaching licensure in art is available as part of all degree programs. Minors are offered in select areas. All degrees require a minimum of 120 credit hours. A full description of degree requirements is listed under "Degree Requirements" on Page 32. Currently available degrees, majors and areas of emphasis are as follows:

Objectives and course content: This course on art-historical method is designed to offer art history majors a historiographic overview of the discipline of art history, focusing on developments since the beginning of the twentieth century. The course will survey the most influential concepts of the discipline, the evolving tasks it has set itself, and the methods it has adopted for executing them. Its focus is therefore more theoretical than practical. Works of art will inevitably enter into our discussions, but the main objects of study will be texts about art, particularly texts about methods for a historical study of art. The majority will be theoretical or methodological texts offering models of interpretation and practice. A second, slightly smaller group of texts will be examples of concrete art-historical practice embodying a particular methodology. The most important part of the course is the assigned reading. The lectures, which will be held on Mondays, are intended to contextualize and explicate the readings. To get the most out of the lectures, it is imperative that you do all of the week's readings before the lecture. My expectation is that by the end of each week you will have acquired a detailed grasp of both the internal arguments and methodological significance of the required reading assignments. The reading packet also includes " short readings " on most of the weekly topics. These are excerpts taken from other texts— " appetizers " —that touch on the week's topic and are intended to provoke your own thinking as well as create a context for the longer readings. Discussion sections. Throughout the semester Thursdays will be devoted to discussion of the week's assigned readings. On one occasion during the semester, each of you will be assigned the task of speaking for approximately ten minutes at the beginning of the discussion section on at least one of the week's readings and why you found it provocative for thinking in new ways about an artist, an artwork, or related issues that interest you. You may meet with me in advance to discuss your presentation. Except for those giving a presentation in a given week, all students must post one question each for at least two different texts assigned that week. Folders for this purpose will be available on GLOW. All questions should be posted by 5:00 P.M. on the Wednesday prior to discussion. These questions will be addressed in the discussion section. Failure to post questions in any given week will reduce your overall course average by one percentage point. Required Papers. In order to foster your understanding of the readings and promote an engaged, focused, and productive discussion, each student is required to write a concise critical analysis, not to exceed 900 words, of the assigned reading every other week. Instructions for each paper will be posted on GLOW. One half of the class will submit papers on one week's readings; the other half will submit papers the following week on that week's readings. All short papers must be submitted to me as a Word document by e-mail attachment by 4:00 PM on the Friday of the

Art History, 2007

The Art History program introduces students to global culture through the lens of art and architecture. Art History embraces an interdisciplinary approach that draws on history, archaeology, anthropology, religion, literature, and other allied disciplines to understand and interpret visual culture. The curriculum cultivates skills in critical analysis, research, oral and written communication, and visual literacy that prepare students for careers and graduate/professional schools in diverse fields in and outside the arts. We are able to offer face-to-face instruction by permanent faculty who are actively engaged in international research.

New York, 1995

A teaching document for undergraduate students in art history and visual culture.

This course on art-historical method is designed to offer first-semester graduate students a historiographic overview of the discipline of art history, focusing on developments since the beginning of the 20 th century. The course will survey the most influential concepts of the discipline, the evolving tasks it has set itself, and the methods it has adopted for executing them. Its focus is therefore more theoretical than practical. Works of art will inevitably enter into our discussions, but the main objects of study will be texts about art, particularly texts about methods for a historical study of art. The majority will be theoretical or methodological texts offering models for interpretation and practice. A second, slightly smaller group of texts will be examples of concrete art-historical practice. Most of the readings for the course are included in the two reading packets; others, as noted on this syllabus, are available for purchase at Water Street Books.

The School of Art and Design offers bachelor of fine arts degrees in art education, crafts, graphic design, new media, the history of art, industrial design, painting, photography, and sculpture. All major's first-year experience will include courses in drawing, 2D, 3D, and 4D practices. Specialization begins in the second year.

Art History, 1995

The art-historical texts for the Open University course 'Modern Art: Practices and Debates' offer a decent synthesis for undergraduates of the sorts of questions and methodologies that have emerged in art history since the early 1980s. (For brevity's sake, their titles will be shortened throughout to MAM, PCA, RRS, MID, AIT and AIMC.) They incorporate explicitly the contributions made by Clark, Tucker, Herbert, Brettell, Pollock and others on Impressionism, Orton/Pollock on Gauguin, Gordon on Fauvism, Lloyd on Expressionism, Rosenblum, Leighten and Bois on Cubist collage, Lodder on Russian Constructivism, Krauss on Surrealism and desire, and Guilbaut on postwar American and European art, for example. They also include discussion of the arthistorical canon, gender politics, psychoanalytical theories of film, multicultural notions of the 'Other', semiotics and ideology. The two readers are for the same course. Art in Theory is mainly an enormous compendium of artists' texts designed to replace Herschell Chipp's Theories of Modern Art (1968) by benefiting from the expansion in Russian documents available and from recent debates around Surrealism, realism and modernism. It is divided, perhaps unnecessarily, into rather forced categories. (Only Abstract Expressionism, for example, warrants consideration from the point of view of the relation between 'the individual and the social'.) Perhaps the main oddity of AIT, although it makes it extremely useful, is the considerable inclusion of recent critical theory in the final sections, ranging through

2004

Survey course of historical periods of ancient to contemporary Western art including painting, sculpture, architecture and music. The life, artistic style and technique of influential artists are studied. By observing famous works and creating their own artworks, students learn the principles of organization of form.