Course Descriptions
Studio Art
Introductory Studio Art.
Introductory Studio Art Students interested in commencing studio work are encouraged to enroll in the introductory studio courses in their first year. These courses are designed for students with no previous background in the designated areas. Special emphasis is given to introducing media, exploring basic techniques, and problem solving. Studio courses require 138 hours of work per term for four credits. A studio fee may be required for studio courses to cover the expense of materials and equipment.
101. Drawing.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts, F5.
An introduction to drawing in various media.
103. Life Study.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts, F5.
Figure drawing from life.
105. Painting.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts, F5.
An introduction to the fundamentals of painting, including its formal and conceptual properties.
107. Sculpture.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts, F5.
Emphasis will be on the development of ideas as they relate to traditional and non-traditional approaches to making art. Students will develop skills in the use of metal working, wood working, casting, and alternative media. This course situates students within the contemporary art world and challenges them to articulate thoughts and concepts through the art making process.
111. Photography.
Fall. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts, F5.
An introduction to basic camera and darkroom techniques. (The student will provide camera, film, and supplies.)
113. Digital Arts.
Fall. Credits: 4, F5.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
An introduction to digital arts, focused on the exploration and production of still Images through electronic media.
166. Topics in Studio Art.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Topics will vary from year to year with the instructor. Course may be repeated as long as topics are different.
Intermediate Studio Art.
Students taking intermediate studio courses will explore issues concerning media and methods relevant to individually designated concepts and investigations. Students are expected to spend twelve hours per week on research and production. Students must have permission from the instructor before registration. Studio courses require 138 hours of work per term for four credits. A studio fee may be required for studio courses to cover the expense of materials and equipment.
301. Intermediate Drawing.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Prerequisites: Art 101, 103 or 105.
303. Life Study.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts, F5.
Figure drawing from life.
Prerequisites: Art 101, 103, or 105.
305. Intermediate Painting.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Prerequisites: Art 105.
307. Intermediate Sculpture.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Prerequisites: Art 107.
311. Intermediate Photography.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Prerequisites: Art 111.
313. Digital Art: Advanced Projects.
Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Advanced studio work in digital arts, focused on creating electronic media-based projects geared toward individual student interests.
366. Advanced Topics in Studio Art.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
A seminar, open to both majors and non-majors, on varying subjects. May be repeated for credit. Topics courses include landscape painting and figure painting.
385. Junior Seminar.
Fall. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Individually designed creative projects or research undertaken with the approval and guidance of the art faculty. Students are required to propose a fifteen-week program of research, develop a relevant body of work and artist statement, meet weekly for critiques with the instructor, and maintain a digital portfolio of their work. In addition each student will participate in one formal critique with art faculty and a peer group at the end of the semester.
Prerequisites: Junior standing, successful completion of all 100-level courses required for the major, and at least one 300-level studio course or permission of instructor. Required for all majors in the studio track.
Advanced Studio Art.
Students taking advanced studio courses will further explore issues concerning media and methods relevant to individually designated concepts and investigations. Students are expected to spend twelve hours per week on research and production. Directed Inquiries can be accommodated through any of the advanced studio offerings. Studio courses require 138 hours of work per term for four credits. A studio fee is required for every studio course to cover the expense of materials and equipment.
401. Drawing.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Prerequisites: Art 300, 301 or 305.
405. Painting.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Prerequisites: Art 305.
407. Sculpture.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Prerequisites: Art 307.
411. Photography.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Prerequisites: Art 311.
413. Digital Art: Advanced Projects II.
Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Advanced studio work in digital arts, focused on creating electronic media-based projects geared toward individual student interests
Prerequisites: Art 313.
460. Art / Architectural Internship.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 1-4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Students are placed with local artists and/or regional galleries, design firms or architectural firms.
Prerequisites: Art major with junior or senior standing; successful completion of all one-hundred level courses in the art department required for the appropriate track; and approval of the art department. May be repeated for a total of six credits. Students may apply a maximum of four credits towards the Art major or minor.
485. Senior Seminar.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Individually designed creative projects or research undertaken with the approval and guidance of the art faculty. Students are required to propose a fifteen-week program of research, develop a relevant body of work and artist statement, meet weekly for critiques with the instructor, and maintain a digital portfolio of their work. In addition each student will participate in one formal critique with art faculty and a peer group at the end of the semester.
Prerequisites: Senior standing and successful completion of all 100- and 200 -level courses required for the major. Required of all majors in the studio and track.
486. Senior Thesis.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
The continuation of the senior seminar in which students further develop and refine creative projects with the approval and guidance of the art faculty. This course culminates in a Thesis Gallery Exhibition.
Prerequisites: Art 485.
History of Art
220. Archaeological Methods.Fall. Credits: 4, F5.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
This class will expose students to a range of archaeological methods used in the field, laboratory and museum to find, record, date, preserve and contextualize physical materials. Basic methods of investigation and research will be discussed through the examination of site survey, excavation and the analysis of artifacts. Students will be introduced to various systems of archaeological classification and analytical techniques for understanding objects such as lithic artifacts, pottery, human skeletal remains, and other historic and prehistoric artifacts. Artifact illustration, photography, cataloguing and curating will also be discussed. (Course offered every third year; scheduled for 2009-2010.) 231. History of Western Art I.
Fall. Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts, F5, F3.
A survey of Western art from pre-history through the middle ages. Emphasis is placed on examining art within the producing cultures of ancient Egypt, the ancient near east, classical Greece and Rome, the Byzantine East, and medieval Europe. Students will be exposed to the basic methods of art historical analysis. 232. History of Western Art II.
Fall. Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts, F5, F3.
A survey of Western art from 1300 to the present. Special emphasis will be placed on the development and expansion of Renaissance ideals of art, and then the reassessment of these ideals in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Students will be exposed to the basic methods of art historical analysis. 265. Topics in Art History.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Topics will vary from year to year with the instructor. Course may be repeated as long as topics are different. 318. Greek Art and Architecture.
Fall. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
A chronological and thematic examination of the visual and material culture of ancient Greece from its Bronze Age (ca. 3rd millenium B.C.E.) to the end of the Hellenistic era (1st century B.C.E.). Special attention will be given to the historical and ideological context of cult buildings, monumental sculpture, and vase paintings as they might have been experienced by Greek viewers. (Course offered in alternate years; scheduled for 2008-2009.)
319. Roman Art and Architecture.
Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
This course traces the development of Roman art and architecture in its variable contexts with an eye to understanding the cultural and political institutions that created it, from Rome’s earliest Etruscan roots in the 8th century BCE to its relocation to Byzantium in Asia Minor in the 4th century CE. (Course offered in alternate years; scheduled for 2009-2010.)
Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
A chronological study of the material cultures of ancient Egypt and the Near East. Students will be introduced to current scholarship on the art and architecture of these cultures and emphasis will be placed on understanding these forms in their social and political contexts. (Course offered in alternate years; scheduled for 2008-2009.)
321. Art and Spirituality in the Middle Ages.
Fall. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
An examination of the visual arts in Europe during the period normally known as the Middle Ages, ca. 313-1348. Attention will also focus on the art emanating from the Byzantine east. Art works discussed will include both secular and religious objects, and topics covered will include issues of aesthetics, iconography, style, functionality, and spirituality. (Course offered in alternate years; scheduled for 2008-2009.)
Fall. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
This course examines Italian art and architecture, ca. 1260-1580, with emphasis on the historical and social context. Such themes as patronage, functions, theory, materials and techniques, style, and the profession of the artist will be discussed. Artists treated include Giotto, Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo, Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, and Palladio. (Course offered in alternate years; scheduled for 2009-2010.)
326. Northern Renaissance Art.
Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
An examination of painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts in the Netherlands, Germany, and France, from 1400 to 1600, with emphasis on the historical and social context. Such themes as the status of the artist, art and mysticism, art and the Reformation, theory, and the relationship of Northern European and Italian art and culture will be discussed. Artists include Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hieronymus Bosch, Albrecht Dürer, and Pieter Bruegel. (Course offered in alternate years; scheduled for 2008-2009.)
Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
The course investigates European art ca. 1580-1750. Students will be introduced to the major artists, subjects, and stylistic developments during this time period. Additional emphasis will be placed on issues such as patronage, collecting, technique, women artists, and recent discoveries. Artists covered include Caravaggio, Bernini, Gentileschi, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velasquez, and Rubens. (Course offered in alternate years; scheduled for 2009-2010.) 334. American Art.
Fall. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
A thematic examination of art produced in the United States from the colonial period to WWII with special emphasis on the place of art and artists within a democracy. Themes include the relationship between political and visual representation, landscape as metaphor, race and ethnicity in art, and the tension between private and public patronage. Artists include Thomas Jefferson, Stuart Davis, and Frank Lloyd Wright. (Course offered every sixth semester, next offered Fall, 2009.) 341. Modern Art I.
Fall. Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
A survey of the major European art movements from about 1760 to 1880. Special emphasis is given to the interplay between politics and the emergence of new styles and subject matter in painting. Artists covered include David, Goya, Constable, Delacroix, Friedrich, Courbet, Manet, and Monet. (Course offered every sixth semester; scheduled for Spring, 2011).
342. Modern Art II.
Fall. Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
A survey of European art from 1880 to 1960. Themes examined include “primitivism,” the tension between modern art and mass culture, the attempt to combine radical politics with formal innovation, and the development of non-objective styles of painting. Movements discussed include symbolism, fauvism, cubism, futurism, dada, surrealism, and abstract expressionism. (Course offered every third semester; scheduled for Fall, 2008).
Fall. Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
A comprehensive introduction to European and American art and art criticism since 1960. Themes examined include the revival of political art in the late sixties (and its resurgence in the late eighties), the emergence of feminist strategies in representation, the rejection of the art object and the culture industry, the ongoing dialogue between modern art and mass culture, the return of history painting in the early eighties, and the emergence of different voices in the art world in the past twenty years. (Course offered every third semester; scheduled for Spring, 2009). 356. Michelangelo.
Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
An examination of the life and art of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). Special attention will be paid to stylistic, interpretive, and methodological issues, as well as the many controversies that have surrounded his life and art from the Renaissance to the present. Works studied will include painting, sculpture, architecture, drawings, and poetry. Class will combine both lecture and seminar formats. (Course offered every third year; scheduled for 2010-2011.) 360. Gallery Management.
Spring. Credits: 4.
An internship involved with the various aspects of gallery management, such as selection, crating, shipping, publicity design, printing, computer entries, preparation and designing of exhibitions, hanging, lighting, receptions, security, etc. Open to juniors and seniors or with permission of instructor. May be repeated for general degree (non-major) credit. 365. Advanced Topics in Art History.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
A seminar, open to both majors and non-majors, on varying subjects. May be repeated for credit so long as topics are different. 399. Tutorial for Honors Candidates.
Spring. Credits: 1.
Students interested in reading for honors in the Department of Art are required to enroll in a preparatory tutorial in the spring semester of their junior year. Successful completion of the tutorial does not necessarily guarantee acceptance into the Honors Program. 461. Museum/ Gallery Internship.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 1-4.
An internship with a gallery or museum with a focus on the visual arts. Prerequisites: Approval of department Chair and offer of placement from an approved gallery or museum. Normally open only to art majors and minors with junior or senior standing. Students may apply a maximum of four credits towards the Art major or minor. 485. Senior Seminar.
Fall. Credits: 4.
Degree Requirements: Fine Arts.
Art History Track. Advanced seminar involving theory, methodology, and historiography. Students will submit a major research paper and conduct an oral presentation. Topics vary with instructor. Required of all majors in the art history track. Prerequisites: Art 231, 232 and any 300-level art history course. With the permission of the instructor, Juniors may take the seminar as Art 365. 495-496. Honors Tutorial.
Fall, Spring. Credits: 4, 4.
