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ARTH 101 The Visual Arts: An Introductory History, Part I Fall 2017

Boliou 161 MWF 3a


SYLLABUS
Instructor: Baird Jarman (office: Boliou 159; phone: 222-7025; e-mail: bjarman@carleton.edu)
Office Hours: Mondays following class & anytime by appointment
Course Description: An introduction to the art and architecture of various geographical areas
around the world from antiquity through the Middle Ages. The course will provide foundational
skills (tools of analysis and interpretation) as well as general, historical understanding. It will focus
on a select number of major developments in a range of media and cultures, emphasizing the way
that works of art function both as aesthetic and material objects and as cultural artifacts and forces.
Issues include, for example, sacred spaces, images of the gods, imperial portraiture, and domestic
decoration.
Course Readings: We will read approximately the first half of the textbook by Marilyn Stokstad &
Michael Cothren, Art History, 5th edition (Prentice-Hall). Note the helpful Glossary of terms.
There will be a few additional reading assignments, no more than one article per week, which will
be made available via our Moodle course website.
Paper Assignments: You are asked to write two papers (about 1000 words apiece). For each
assignment there will be more than one possible prompt to select. Details of the assignments will be
circulated separately, but the basic topics are as follows:
Paper #1: Identifying an Unknown Work of Art
Paper #2: Comparing and Contrasting Sacred Spaces
If you would prefer to write one longer research paper instead of writing in response to these
prompts, please speak to me early in the term. For every paper, extensions will only be granted in
the case of an emergency (confirmed by a Dean) or a serious excuse presented in advance. Late
papers will be marked down, as will instances of academic dishonesty. Papers should be proofread.
Please print on the front and back of pages (i.e. duplex) to save paper.
Tests: There will be a midterm exam on Wednesday, Oct. 18 (the first class after the mid-term
break). The final exam is scheduled for Saturday Nov. 18 from 3:30 to 6:00 pm.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Please be in touch with me as soon as possible
regarding disability accommodations. Carleton College is committed to providing equitable access
to learning opportunities for all students. If you have, or think you may have, a disability (e.g.,
mental health, attentional, learning, autism spectrum disorders, chronic health, traumatic brain
injury and concussions, sensory, or physical), please contact Chris Dallager, Director of Disability
Services, by calling 507-222-5250 or sending an email to cdallager@carleton.edu to arrange a
confidential discussion regarding equitable access and reasonable accommodations.
Images: Images for the papers and the exams will be made available on the class Moodle website,
as will the paper assignments. To reach this webpage go to https://moodle.carleton.edu and click on
the link for this course.
Additional Requirements: A required field trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is scheduled
for the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 4. If you are unable to participate, let me know as far ahead of
time as possible and I will try to arrange a van to the MIA for the following day.
Final Grades: Course grades will be calculated approximately as follows: papers 40% (each one
20%), midterm exam 15%, final exam 25%, class participation and other work 20%. In order to
pass the course, all assignments must be completed.
Projected Schedule of Lectures and Textbook Readings
(this will almost certainly evolve, so stay tuned)
Week 1 (Stokstad, chapters 1 & 2)
M Sep11 Introduction & Prehistoric Art: Culture, Technology, Image, Text
W Sep 13 Projecting Authority in the Ancient Near East
F Sep 15 No Class
Week 2 (Stokstad, chapters 3, 4 & 5)
M Sep 18 Stylistic Continuity in Ancient Egypt
W Sep 20 Stylistic Evolution in Ancient Greece
F Sep 22 The Acropolis & Cultural Patrimony Debates
Week 3 (Stokstad, chapter 6)
M Sep 25 The Hellenistic Era
W Sep 27 Funerary Art in Egypt, Greece, and Republican Rome
Th Sep 28 5:00 pm, Visiting Lecture, Karl Whittington, Christ the Surgeon: Science and
Spirituality in Medieval Medical Drawings, St. Olaf Center for Art & Dance, 305
F Sep 29 Civic Space in Imperial Rome
Week 4 (Stokstad, chapter 9 & Mughal Period section of 24)
M Oct 2 Islamic Art & Architecture
W Oct 4 Mughal Art & Architecture
Th Oct 5 12:00 noon, Lucas Conversation: Shahzia Sikander & Rafia Zakaria, Weitz Center
F Oct 6 No Class
F Oct 6 7:30 pm, 2107 Lucas Lecture: Shahzia Sikander, Kracum Hall in the Weitz Center
Week 5 (Stokstad, chapters 7, 8 & 10)
M Oct 9 Early Christian and Byzantine Churches
W Oct 11 Hindu Temple Architecture
F Oct 13 Early Buddhist Art & Architecture
Week 6 (Stokstad, chapter 11)
M Oct 16 No ClassMid-Term Break
W Oct 18 Mid-Term Exam
F Oct 20 Arts of China
Week 7 (Stokstad, chapters 12 & 13)
M Oct 23 Japanese Buddhist Temples
W Oct 25 Classicism in the New World: Olmec, Mayan, Aztec Art
F Oct 27 The Art of Narrative
Week 8 (Stokstad, chapters 14 & 15)
M Oct 30 Early African Art
W Nov 1 Abstraction and Medieval Art
F Nov 3 New Media: The Art of the Book
Sa Nov 4 Field Trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (depart Sayles at 1:30, return 6:00)
Week 9 (Stokstad, chapters 16 & 17)
M Nov 6 Romanesque Architecture and Pilgrimage
W Nov 8 Gothic Cathedrals and Urban Culture
F Nov 10 No Class
Week 10 (Stokstad, chapter 18)
M Nov 13 Religious Painting in Gothic Italy
W Nov 15 Last Day

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