5 courses with the subject ARTH, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
ARTH 1100Global Art History4
Goals: To gain a broader understanding and appreciation of intellectual and cultural activity; to develop knowledge and understanding of diverse perspectives, global awareness, and other cultures; to develop essential skills for success in art history and other fields, including reading texts and images carefully and critically, and crafting sophisticated and penetrating questions. Content: Through a series of case studies (units), students will examine the importance of art as cultural expression across time and from a global perspective. In each unit, students will analyze the style, subject, and patronage of works of art, and will explore art’s relationship to religion, ideology, society and economy, political change, gender roles, and the interaction of cultures. Each unit will focus on a different style of art through the lens of many cultures, varied continents, and various times in history. We will utilize readings and discussions to place the art in its historical context to truly understand its meaning in the present day. Students will be asked to engage in conversation and bring with them a curiosity for art and a thirst for questioning - why is art created, who is it for, and what can it accomplish?
Goals: Students will gain a greater understanding of the history of visual communication throughout time and around the world, as well as historical and cultural origins and connections shared by many. Students will explore what it means to write history, and methods to analyze not just historical content but the structures of power and privilege behind how (and by whom, and for whom) history gets written. Students will develop an understanding of the diverse historical contexts (including social, cultural, technological, political, and economic aspects) throughout the development of visual communication and graphic design. At all times we will strive to make connections between historical and contemporary practices. Students will demonstrate their ability to effectively communicate ideas in multiple modes, such as analytical essays, reflection writings, oral presentations, and hands-on physical projects. Content: This course offers an opportunity to explore the history of graphic design and visual communication, hands-on. Class activities will integrate reading, writing, observing, and making. The curriculum combines a traditional survey textbook with alternative modes of learning including collaborative research, object learning, and experiential projects inspired by key design philosophies, expressions, technologies, and social contexts throughout the ages. We will explore numerous different styles and modes of writing, including personal reflection writing, analytical writing, and public history writing.
This course explores the rich world of East Asian art. The primary objectives are to acquire a working knowledge of representative art from China, Japan, and Korea, analyze the historical and philosophical influences on this art, including Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and examine the key stylistic, aesthetic, and compositional qualities that define East Asian art. Throughout the course, students will also refine their skills in critical analysis, of both texts and images, and will learn to communicate their insights through clear and engaging writing. This course examines a variety of art forms, including painting, calligraphy, woodblock prints, tomb art, sculpture, and ceramics. It also explores the key artistic communities and institutions that shaped their production, such as scholar-elites, imperial courts, temples, and commercial enterprises. Across these topics, students will analyze the style, subject, and patronage of works of art, as well as their relationship to religion, society, politics, and culture. No prior knowledge of Asian art, language, or history is required. The course includes a field trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
ARTH 1500Modern and Contemporary Art History and Theory4
Goals: To explore artworks and artists of the late-20th and 21st centuries, and to study and analyze individual artists and artworks in light of their respective artistic influences and social, cultural, and political contexts. Content: This course will cover a wide variety of artistic practices and media: sculpture, painting, printmaking, photography, film/video, installation, performance, new media, and others. Course materials will focus on artists and artworks from the mid-20th century through the present. The course will center the voices, viewpoints, and lived experiences of artists in their multiple and intersecting personal identities; scrutinize relationships of power and privilege and how art and artists navigate those relationships; and explore the continuing impacts of colonialism and gatekeeping in the art market and the museums world. The course may explore contemporary art and artists through a thematic lens.
This interdisciplinary themed course focuses on visual images of gender in modern and contemporary western culture. From the “Fallen Woman” to the “Queer Eye”, our understanding of masculinity(ies) and femininity(ies) has been determined in part by the visual images we encounter in the media and the art world; these images reflect societal imperatives and anxieties regarding sex and gender relations, and simultaneously help to construct our ideas about them. Students explore such questions as: To what degree are these images artificially constructed and to what purposes? How do such constructions cross national/international borders? How do they relate to verbal and literary constructions of the period? Also explores literary and theoretical writings, and images from both art and the media. Taught: Alternate years
