ARTH 12001 ART AS A WORLD PHENOMENON (KFA) 3 Credit Hours
Course explore the essential qualities of art and the motivations for creating art in both Western and non-Western cultures through a thematic paradigm. By the end of the term, students have developed an enhanced ability to identify and describe various media and styles of artistic production, and have a basic knowledge of the major cultural periods and representative artworks in the history of world art. This course is designed for non-art majors, and will not fulfill requirements for School of Art majors.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Kent Core Fine Arts, Transfer Module Fine Arts
ARTH 22006 ART HISTORY: ANCIENT TO MEDIEVAL ART (KFA) 3 Credit Hours
Examination and interpretation of the major monuments of art and architecture from Paleolithic art to c. 1300 CE. The course addresses global traditions, including regions in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Kent Core Fine Arts, TAG Arts and Humanities, Transfer Module Fine Arts
ARTH 22007 ART HISTORY: RENAISSANCE TO MODERN ART (KFA) 3 Credit Hours
Examination and interpretation of the major art movements and artists from the early Renaissance through recent decades. The course addresses global history, including art and artists active in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Kent Core Fine Arts, TAG Arts and Humanities, Transfer Module Fine Arts
ARTH 22010 INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN ART (DIVG) 3 Credit Hours
The survey introduces arts of pre-modern Asia (with the exception of West Asia and Islamic art in general). Select artistic traditions in South, Southeast and East Asia are considered against their religious, socio-political and other cultural contexts. Major themes include (1) the rise of civilizations, (2) developments of various artistic forms and media, (3) the spread of Buddhism and other religions across the region and (4) trans-cultural relations.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global
ARTH 22021 ART HISTORY: AFRICAN ART (DIVG) (KFA) 3 Credit Hours
An introduction to the arts of Africa with an emphasis on the historical traditions of major kingdoms. Covering a spectrum of regions, students examine primarily sculptural traditions (figural and masquerade) in both royal and ritual contexts. These arts are examined within their social and cultural contexts in the service of politics, as objects of ritual and religious practice, and as evidence of aesthetic choices and achievements. The final segment of the course will address the legacy of these traditions through the colonial period and into modern times.
Prerequisite: None.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global, Kent Core Fine Arts
ARTH 32000 RESEARCH AND WRITING IN ART HISTORY (WIC) 3 Credit Hours
Introduction to writing styles, methodologies and academic resources for art history research. The course will focus on improving skills in writing about the visual arts through the study of formal analysis, historic context, and modern and contemporary theories and philosophies.
Prerequisite: School of Art major or minor.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Writing Intensive Course
ARTH 32066 ART AND THEORY SINCE 1940 3 Credit Hours
Visual arts in a global context with emphasis on European and American artists and theory from 1940 to the present.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42001 ART HISTORY METHODOLOGIES 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52001) This course is designed to introduce participants to the study of art history as a discipline increasingly marked by its diversity of approaches and emphasis on methodology and theory. This seminar will review the representative range of traditional art historical analyses and will study more recent theories of meaning and culture. The course will also examine art historical knowledge in relation to theoretical developments in other disciplines in the humanities.
Prerequisite: ARTH 32000.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42025 ART OF WEST AFRICA (DIVG) 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52025) Beginning with the art and architecture from major West African kingdoms, the course follows cultural production from the region through the colonial period and into modernism. The artists of newly-independent West African nations pioneered new visions for how Africans would participate in developing global networks.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global
ARTH 42028 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART: 1980-PRESENT (DIVG) 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52028) An in-depth study of African art since the late twentieth century. Focused on artists from the continent and the Diaspora, the course begins by examining the impact that colonialism, with its appropriation, exploitation and reshaping of Africa, had on the arts in Africa (1960-1980). It then analyzes a broad spectrum of modern and contemporary African art forms (painting, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, photography, performance and film) and related art history, exhibition and critical texts from the 1980s to the present, with an emphasis on such issues as patronage, the commodification of art, urbanism, national consciousness, identity formation, new media and the effects of globalization.
Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Global
ARTH 42036 MEDIEVAL ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52036) Emphasis on major periods of Medieval art (Early Christian, Byzantine, Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque and Gothic), treating iconographic themes and styles in a variety of media. Works studied include architecture, manuscript painting, ivory carving, and goldsmith work, most of which were produced by or for members of the clergy, royalty, or the lay aristocracy. The course, therefore, involves significant material relating to political, economic and religious issues. It investigates problems in patronage, function, reception and censorship. A strong emphasis is given to reading primary and secondary sources.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42041 ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52041) Study of development of major themes in Italian art from 1200 until about 1450, emphasizing achievements of the masters and analyzing major ideas and theories of the period.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42043 THE HIGH RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM IN ITALY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52043) Covers late 15th century and 16th century painting, sculpture and architecture in Italy. Following discussion of the High Renaissance masters, students examine the works collectively known as the Mannerists. Course gives students a firm grounding in the manifold artistic activity of the 16th century.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42044 VENETIAN RENAISSANCE ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52044) Course provides a survey of Venetian painting, sculpture and architecture from the late 1300s to the late 1500s. Upon completion students have a comprehension of the interrelationship of Venetian art with its unique environment and society.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42045 ITALIAN ART FROM GIOTTO TO BERNINI 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52045) Course explores the development of art and architecture in Italy from the late Middle Ages to the High Renaissance period. Through an in-depth analysis of the art and history of these periods, students develop an understanding of Italy's role in the overall development of Western civilization. Particular emphasis is given to Florentine Art.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42046 BAROQUE ART OF THE 17TH CENTURY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52046) Study of the origins of Baroque art in Italy and its spread throughout Flanders, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42050 ART AND REVOLT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52050) The nineteenth century is one of the most dramatic time periods in Euro-American art history. Artists and viewers experienced a number of revolutions that profoundly changed the landscape of art and politics. More specifically, nineteenth-century art was created during a violent sweep of colonial expansion, a rise in industrialization, and a revolt against the French Salon. This course considers how artists responded to these social changes by exploring art movements in France and beyond across a wide range of artistic media—including spirit photographs, Moulin Rouge posters, and cemetery sculpture. Students will examine the most canonical nineteenth-century artists while also challenging their placement in the art history canon, which was established at the expense of women and people of color.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42056 AMERICAN ART I: INDIAN WARS TO CIVIL WAR 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52056) In this first section of American art history, students will explore the evolution of American art from European conquest through the American Revolution, and stretching to the Civil War. This time period in American history is characterized by waves of social unrest followed by periods of peace that American artists reflected and shaped in their work. The American-Indian Wars and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade also profoundly impacted the art and politics of the early United States, inspiring artists to support or protest conflicts in society with their art. Exchanges with African, Indigenous, as well as Asian and European peoples pervaded every aspect of art in the United States. In looking widely at objects such as paintings, clothing, food advertisements, and furniture, this class will examine debates about nationhood in early American art that exploded by the Civil War.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42057 AMERICAN ART II: CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL RIGHTS 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52057) In this second section and in-depth study of American art history, students will explore shifts and advancements in American art since the closing of the Civil War. New styles in abstraction and technological innovations in photography, lithography, and cinema dramatically altered the trajectory of American art and resulted in an expansion of art museums and patronage. As the United States gained economic power and expanded its borders, American art was also profoundly influenced by movements such as French Impressionism and Mexican muralism, and shaped by artists as close as Canada and as far as Australia. While American artists were debating whether to welcome “foreign” influences in their work, debates over racial segregation and women’s suffrage permeated art and politics on the homefront. In looking widely at objects such as paintings, photographs, silverware, and public monuments, this class will examine the art and visual culture of the United States from the Civil War to Civil Rights movement.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42059 AFRICAN AMERICAN ART AND VISUAL CULTURE (DIVD) 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52059) This course contextualizes American artists of African descent within the wider framework of U.S. art and visual culture. In looking at a wide range of media—across painting, photography, fashion and food—students study African American visual culture and its profound impact on American art at large. Students also explore the contested concept of “race” as it intersects with the production and patronage of African American art. Furthermore, students consider the benefits and pitfalls of the field and the ways in which art historians, critics and curators have treated African American art in U.S. museums. By the end of this course, students will have a deeper understanding of African American art and its tangled identity politics.
Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Domestic
ARTH 42060 RUSSIAN ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52060) This course explores the history of Russian art starting with the legacy of Byzantium and continuing up through the end of the Soviet era, from about 1000 CE to the present. Russia’s artistic movements have borrowed from a wide variety of cultures, both from groups that have attacked and conquered Russian territories as well as from groups that Russians themselves have conquered and attacked. We will focus on art that was produced in Russia as well as the cross-cultural influences that shaped and changed this art. Painting will be a dominant focus, coupled with a broad study including decorative arts like porcelain and embroidery as well as architecture, performance and illustration.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42061 EARLY 20TH-CENTURY ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52061) This course explores the history of Early 20th-Century Modern Art up to the Second World War. Painting, sculpture, and architecture will be the dominant focus, coupled with alternative media that may include printmaking, photography, cinema, performance, and textile arts.
Prerequisite: ARTH 22007.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42064 DADA AND SURREALISM 3 Credit Hours
Using a roughly chronological approach, students examine the profound and lasting contributions made by the Dadaists and Surrealists, as well as other revolutionary modernists of the early 20th century who sought to escape the traditional and rational in art and thought with sincerity in spite of the often superficially simple or even sometimes nihilistic appearance of their efforts. Through an analysis of selected works from this period and their relevant precursors, an attempt will be made to define the progressive ideas which led to the dismantling of previous standards and the rise of an anti-art spirit which continues today in various guises. Primary documents are considered regularly to provide students with a wider appreciation for the variety of media (e.g., film, theater, typography) and the issues and characters involved.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42065 FEMINIST AND QUEER ART AND CULTURAL THEORY (DIVD) 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52065) This advanced and interdisciplinary art history course explores feminist and queer visual histories, with particular attention to related cultural theories. In addition to paradigmatic ideologies of difference and language, this course is based on indispensable and sometimes peripheral postmodern milieux such as politicized identities, economies and the body, the importance of feeling and the everyday, feminist-Marxist critiques of community and the state and notions of lived histories/narratives. In regard to structure, this is a reading intensive course designed to empower students with ‘influential’ visual and textual languages, as well as knowledge of critical race, gender and sexuality studies. Readings, discussions, projects and knowledges-at-large are applicable in the artist’s studio and more broadly, in humanities scholarship.
Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Diversity Domestic
ARTH 42069 NATIONS AND BORDERS 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52069) Emphasizing art and visual culture since World War II, this course considers the phenomenon of the nation-state in the context of embodied borders and diasporas. From the historically charged U.S.-Mexico borderlands to the Berlin Wall that divided East and West Germany, modernity is characterized by the development of nations and subsequent nationalisms as well as the delineation of borders and boundaries—and, once unpacked, theoretical and physical embodiments become legible. Taking a historically-grounded and global approach to state production and displacement, critical texts—many of which are grounded in feminist and queer theories—will address various interpretations of boundaries, especially national and corporeal. We will explore the intellectual history of nation-building and subsequent textual analyses of geographic and embodied borders. We will also study specific art historical moments, such as the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico frontera, Israel’s occupation of Palestine, treating East and West Berlin as metaphor and allegory, the borderlands of queer and black identities in the United States and present-day Euro-American imperialism. The course format consists of rigorous class discussions guided by readings and illustrated presentations.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42073 EPHEMERAL EXHIBITIONS: WORLD FAIRS, FESTIVALS AND BIENNIALS 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52073) Revisiting a variety of time-based exhibition formats throughout recent history. From Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace to the Venice Biennale, students examine a globally-oriented history of landmark exhibitions that were designed to dazzle audiences for a few months before being dismantled. Sponsored by governments, the corporate sector, grassroots movements, or cultural actors, the motivations for these exhibitions are as varied as the actual format the exhibition takes. We discuss not only the framework and ideologies behind such projects, but also the legacies they have had on more permanent arts institutions, as well as criticisms levied against them by artists.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42076 HISTORIES AND THEORIES OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND VISUAL CULTURE 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52076) Photography is embedded in every aspect of visual culture. As such, this course is a socio-political and socio-cultural study of photography. This course focuses on major developments in the field, including photography’s advent, 19th-century commodity, scientific manipulations, 20th century Modernism and postwar aesthetics. Course also sketches political, cultural and theoretical developments and pertinent debates regarding emergence, significance, interpretation, perception and resonance. In addition to manifold moments in histories and theories of photography, course examines critical approaches to the history of art, including ecocriticism, feminism, critical race studies, queer studies and borderlands studies. While effort will be made to survey photography’s history, this is not taxonomy of related movements and moments.
Prerequisite: ARTH 32066.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42079 CONTEMPORARY CRAFT: HISTORY AND THEORY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52079) This course is designed to provide an overview of the history, theory, and practice of modern and contemporary studio craft, with an emphasis on North America. Students will develop an enhanced ability to identify and describe various media and styles of artistic production normally associated with “craft” genres: ceramics, textiles/fibers, jewelry/metals, glass and wood/furniture. Concurrently, an introduction to basic philosophies, pedagogical styles, and controversial issues that have shaped this unique cultural, social and artistic history will provide a framework for understanding the intersection of art, craft and design in the 21st-century.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42089 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE: ART HISTORY (ELR) 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 52089) Travel-based international experience in art history. The primary benefit will be the observation and study of works of art, firsthand, in addition to the presentation and discussion of historical and contextual factors. Time is made available for individual investigation of specific works sites.
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: International Experience
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
ARTH 42090 STUDY AWAY: ART HISTORY (ELR) 1-3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 52090)(Repeatable for credit) Travel-based study away in art history to and at a site or sites away from Kent State University. The primary benefit is the observation and study of works of art firsthand, in addition to the presentation and discussion of historical and contextual factors. Time is made available for individual investigation of specific work sites.
Prerequisite: School of Art major.
Schedule Type: Study Away
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
ARTH 42091 ART HISTORY SEMINAR 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Open format course with topics announced in advance. Designed to allow detailed examination of selected topics.
Prerequisite: Junior standing; and special approval of instructor.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42092 MUSEUM INTERNSHIP (ELR) 1-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 52092) A supervised internship in a regional museum emphasizing the practical application of museological principles and practices.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 3-18 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
ARTH 42095 SPECIAL TOPICS: ART HISTORY 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 52095) Topics vary in accordance with the interest and competence of faculty.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 42096 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION:ART HISTORY 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 52096) Directed independent study with art history faculty.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
ARTH 42098 RESEARCH IN ART HISTORY (ELR) 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 52098) Independent research open only to undergraduate students in art history or related fields (by special permission only).
Prerequisite: Special approval.
Schedule Type: Research
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Attributes: Experiential Learning Requirement
ARTH 52001 ART HISTORY METHODOLOGIES 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42001) This course is designed to introduce participants to the study of art history as a discipline increasingly marked by its diversity of approaches and emphasis on methodology and theory. This seminar will review the representative range of traditional art historical analyses and will study more recent theories of meaning and culture. The course will also examine art historical knowledge in relation to theoretical developments in other disciplines in the humanities.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52025 ART OF WEST AFRICA 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42025) Beginning with the art and architecture from major West African kingdoms, the course follows cultural production from the region through the colonial period and into modernism. The artists of newly-independent West African nations pioneered new visions for how Africans would participate in developing global networks.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52028 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART: 1980-PRESENT 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42028) An in-depth study of African art since the late twentieth century. Focused on artists from the continent and the Diaspora, the course begins by examining the impact that colonialism, with its appropriation, exploitation and reshaping of Africa, had on the arts in Africa (1960-1980). It then analyzes a broad spectrum of modern and contemporary African art forms (painting, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, photography, performance and film) and related art history, exhibition and critical texts from the 1980s to the present, with an emphasis on such issues as patronage, the commodification of art, urbanism, national consciousness, identity formation, new media and the effects of globalization.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52036 MEDIEVAL ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42036) Emphasis on major periods of Medieval art (Early Christian, Byzantine, Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque and Gothic), treating iconographic themes and styles in a variety of media. Works studied include architecture, manuscript painting, ivory carving, and goldsmith work, most of which were produced by or for members of the clergy, royalty, or the lay aristocracy. The course, therefore, involves significant material relating to political, economic, and religious issues. It investigates problems in patronage, function, reception, and censorship. A strong emphasis is given to reading primary and secondary sources.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52038 HAND MADE BOOKS AND ART 3 Credit Hours
Course examines the history of (predominantly Western) books and reading; of books as locus of several types of visual art (decoration, illustration, vision, commentary); and of visual strategies for a range of communication tasks in selected books from the Middle Ages onward. Students are prepared to understand the variety and efficacy of approaches that have been used by those producing books by hand in the past and at present.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52041 ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42041) Study of development of major themes in Italian art from 1200 until about 1450, emphasizing achievements of the masters and analyzing major ideas and theories of the period.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52043 THE HIGH RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM IN ITALY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42043) Covers late 15th century and 16th century painting, sculpture and architecture in Italy. Following discussion of the High Renaissance masters students examine the works collectively known as the Mannerists. Course gives students a firm grounding in the manifold artistic activity of the 16th century.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52044 VENETIAN RENAISSANCE ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42044) Course provides a survey of Venetian painting, sculpture and architecture from the late 1300s to the late 1500s. Upon completion students will have a comprehension of Venetian art with its unique environment and society.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52045 ITALIAN ART FROM GIOTTO TO BERNINI 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42045) Course explores the development of art and architecture in Italy from the late Middle Ages to the High Renaissance period. Through an in-depth analysis of the art and history of these periods, students develop an understanding of Italy's role in the overall development of Western civilization. Particular emphasis is given to Florentine Art.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52046 BAROQUE ART OF THE 17TH CENTURY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42046) A study of the origins of Baroque art in Italy and its spread throughout Flanders, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52050 ART AND REVOLT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42050) The nineteenth century is one of the most dramatic time periods in Euro-American art history. Artists and viewers experienced a number of revolutions that profoundly changed the landscape of art and politics. More specifically, nineteenth-century art was created during a violent sweep and architecture within the broader context of colonial expansion, a rise in industrialization and a revolt against the French Salon. Western culture and ideas. This course considers how artists responded to these social changes by exploring art movements in France and beyond across a wide range of artistic media—including spirit photographs, Moulin Rouge posters and cemetery sculpture. Students will examine the most canonical nineteenth-century artists while also challenging their placement in the art history canon, which was established at the expense of women and people of color.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52056 AMERICAN ART I: INDIAN WARS TO CIVIL WAR 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42056) In this first section of American art history, students will explore the evolution of American art from European conquest through the American Revolution, and stretching to the Civil War. This time period in American history is characterized by waves of social unrest followed by periods of peace that American artists reflected and shaped in their work. The American-Indian Wars and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade also profoundly impacted the art and politics of the early United States, inspiring artists to support or protest conflicts in society with their art. Exchanges with African, Indigenous, as well as Asian and European peoples pervaded every aspect of art in the United States. In looking widely at objects such as paintings, clothing, food advertisements, and furniture, this class will examine debates about nationhood in early American art that exploded by the Civil War.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52057 AMERICAN ART II: CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL RIGHTS 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42057) In this second section and in-depth study of American art history, students will explore shifts and advancements in American art since the closing of the Civil War. New styles in abstraction and technological innovations in photography, lithography and cinema dramatically altered the trajectory of American art and resulted in an expansion of art museums and patronage. As the United States gained economic power and expanded its borders, American art was also profoundly influenced by movements such as French Impressionism and Mexican muralism and shaped by artists as close as Canada and as far as Australia. While American artists were debating whether to welcome “foreign” influences in their work, debates over racial segregation and women’s suffrage permeated art and politics on the homefront. In looking widely at objects such as paintings, photographs, silverware and public monuments, this class will examine the art and visual culture of the United States from the Civil War to Civil Rights movement.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52059 AFRICAN AMERICAN ART AND VISUAL CULTURE 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42059) This course contextualizes American artists of African descent within the wider framework of U.S. art and visual culture. In looking at a wide range of media—across painting, photography, fashion and food—students study African American visual culture and its profound impact on American art at large. Students also explore the contested concept of “race” as it intersects with the production and patronage of African American art. Furthermore, students consider the benefits and pitfalls of the field and the ways in which art historians, critics and curators have treated African American art in U.S. museums. By the end of this course, students will have a deeper understanding of African American art and its tangled identity politics.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52060 RUSSIAN ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42060)This course explores the history of Russian art starting with the legacy of Byzantium and continuing up through the end of the Soviet era, from about 1000 CE to the present. Russia’s artistic movements have borrowed from a wide variety of cultures, both from groups that have attacked and conquered Russian territories as well as from groups that Russians themselves have conquered and attacked. We will focus on art that was produced in Russia as well as the cross-cultural influences that shaped and changed this art. Painting will be a dominant focus, coupled with a broad study including decorative arts like porcelain and embroidery as well as architecture, performance and illustration.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52061 EARLY 20TH-CENTURY ART 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42061) This course explores the history of Early 20th-Century Modern Art up to the Second World War. Painting, sculpture, and architecture will be the dominant focus, coupled with alternative media that may include printmaking, photography, cinema, performance and textile arts.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52064 DADA AND SURREALISM 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42064) Using a roughly chronological approach, students examine the profound and lasting contributions made by the Dadaists and Surrealists, as well as other revolutionary modernists of the early 20th century who sought to escape the traditional and rational in art and thought with sincerity in spite of the often superficially simple or even sometimes nihilistic appearance of their efforts. Through an analysis of selected works from this period and their relevant precursors, an attempt will be made to define the progressive ideas which led to the dismantling of previous standards and the rise of an anti-art spirit which continues today in various guises. Primary documents are considered regularly to provide students with a wider appreciation for the variety of media (e.g., film, theater, typography) and the issues and characters involved.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52065 FEMINIST AND QUEER ART AND CULTURAL THEORY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42065) This advanced and interdisciplinary art history course explores feminist and queer visual histories, with particular attention to related cultural theories. In addition to paradigmatic ideologies of difference and language, this course is based on indispensable and sometimes peripheral postmodern milieux such as politicized identities, economies and the body, the importance of feeling and the everyday, feminist-Marxist critiques of community and the state and notions of lived histories/narratives. In regard to structure, this is a reading intensive course designed to empower students with ‘influential’ visual and textual languages, as well as knowledge of critical race, gender and sexuality studies. Readings, discussions, projects and knowledges-at-large are applicable in the artist’s studio and more broadly, in humanities scholarship.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52069 NATIONS AND BORDERS 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42069) Emphasizing art and visual culture since World War II, this course considers the phenomenon of the nation-state in the context of embodied borders and diasporas. From the historically charged U.S.-Mexico borderlands to the Berlin Wall that divided East and West Germany, modernity is characterized by the development of nations and subsequent nationalisms as well as the delineation of borders and boundaries—and, once unpacked, theoretical and physical embodiments become legible. Taking a historically-grounded and global approach to state production and displacement, critical texts—many of which are grounded in feminist and queer theories—will address various interpretations of boundaries, especially national and corporeal. We will explore the intellectual history of nation-building and subsequent textual analyses of geographic and embodied borders. We will also study specific art historical moments, such as the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico frontera, Israel’s occupation of Palestine, treating East and West Berlin as metaphor and allegory, the borderlands of queer and black identities in the United States and present-day Euro-American imperialism. The course format consists of rigorous class discussions guided by readings and illustrated presentations.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52073 EPHEMERAL EXHIBITIONS: WORLD FAIRS, FESTIVALS AND BIENNIALS 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42073) Revisiting a variety of time-based exhibition formats throughout recent history. From Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace to the Venice Biennale, students examine a globally-oriented history of landmark exhibitions that were designed to dazzle audiences for a few months before being dismantled. Sponsored by governments, the corporate sector, grassroots movements, or cultural actors, the motivations for these exhibitions are as varied as the actual format the exhibition takes. We discuss not only the framework and ideologies behind such projects, but also the legacies they have had on more permanent arts institutions, as well as criticisms levied against them by artists.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52076 HISTORIES AND THEORIES OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND VISUAL CULTURE 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42076) Photography is embedded in every aspect of visual culture. As such, this course is a socio-political and socio-cultural study of photography. This course focuses on major developments in the field, including photography’s advent, 19th-century commodity, scientific manipulations, 20th century Modernism and postwar aesthetics. Course also sketches political, cultural and theoretical developments and pertinent debates regarding emergence, significance, interpretation, perception and resonance. In addition to manifold moments in histories and theories of photography, course examines critical approaches to the history of art, including ecocriticism, feminism, critical race studies, queer studies and borderlands studies. While effort will be made to survey photography’s history, this is not taxonomy of related movements and moments.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52079 CONTEMPORARY CRAFT: HISTORY AND THEORY 3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42079) This course is designed to provide an overview of the history, theory, and practice of modern and contemporary studio craft, with an emphasis on North America. Students will develop an enhanced ability to identify and describe various media and styles of artistic production normally associated with “craft” genres: ceramics, textiles/fibers, jewelry/metals, glass, and wood/furniture. Concurrently, an introduction to basic philosophies, pedagogical styles and controversial issues that have shaped this unique cultural, social and artistic history will provide a framework for understanding the intersection of art, craft and design in the 21st-century.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52089 INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE: ART HISTORY 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 42089) Travel-based international experience in art history. The primary benefit will be the observation and study of works of art firsthand, first hand, in addition to the presentation and discussion of historical and contextual factors. Time is made available for individual investigation of specific works sites.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: International Experience
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
ARTH 52090 STUDY AWAY: ART HISTORY 1-3 Credit Hours
(Slashed with ARTH 42090)(Repeatable for credit) Travel-based study away in art history to and at a site or sites away from Kent State University. The primary benefit is the observation and study of works of art firsthand, in addition to the presentation and discussion of historical and contextual factors. Time is made available for individual investigation of specific work sites.
Prerequisite: School of Art major; and graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Study Away
Contact Hours: 1-3 other
Grade Mode: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
ARTH 52092 MUSEUM INTERNSHIP 1-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 42092) A supervised internship in a regional museum emphasizing the practical application of museological principles and curatorial practices.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Practical Experience
Contact Hours: 3-18 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
ARTH 52095 SPECIAL TOPICS:ART HISTORY 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 42095) Topics vary in accordance with the interest and competence of faculty.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 1-3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 52096 INDIVIDUAL INVESTIGATION:ART HISTORY 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 42096) Directed independent study with art history faculty.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
ARTH 52098 RESEARCH IN ART HISTORY 1-3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) (Slashed with ARTH 42098) Independent research open only to graduate students in art history or related fields.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Research
Contact Hours: 3-9 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
ARTH 52166 HISTORIES AND THEORIES OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART 3 Credit Hours
This course examines both the visual and textual. As such we travel through contemporary moments such as Abstract Expressionism, Post-Painterly Abstraction, Nouveau Réalisme, Pop, Minimalism, Conceptual art and participatory art—to name a few. So too, this course entails a broad overview of critical and theoretical approaches often engaged by contemporary artists such as existentialism, psychoanalysis, structuralism, semiotics, feminist and queer theories, theories of modern sculpture, and theories of photography. When art and theory are taken together, modern and contemporary art underscores the cultural, sociopolitical and economic developments characteristic of the last half of the twentieth century. While time constraints restrict a consideration of every artist, a selection of practitioners will be addressed. That said, this course affirms the importance of questions rather than finite answers, celebrates ambiguity and neglects any attempt at surveying and summarizing the field of modern and contemporary art.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 62000 ART HISTORY RESEARCH METHODS AND RESOURCES 2 Credit Hours
This course is designed to support research and writing at the graduate level in art history. Class time is customized to provide students with assistance in strategies required for graduate research papers and thesis preparation. Significant emphasis will be placed on becoming familiar with different methods and theories of art history research.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 2 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter-IP
ARTH 62091 ART HISTORY SEMINAR 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Open format course with topics announced in advance. Designed to allow in-depth examination of selected topics.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Seminar
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 62095 SPECIAL TOPICS: ART HISTORY 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Discussion and lecture course whose topic changes in accordance with the interest and competence of the faculty. Special focus on problems and issues in the different areas of the discipline.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Contact Hours: 3 lecture
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 62096 SELECTED PROBLEMS: ART HISTORY 3 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for maximum 9 credit hours) Course content changes each semester according to the topic, entailing discussion and lectures on specific problems issues and areas in art history.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing; and special approval.
Schedule Type: Individual Investigation
Contact Hours: 3 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
ARTH 62098 ART HISTORY: GRADUATE RESEARCH 1-6 Credit Hours
(Repeatable for credit) Independent research.
Prerequisite: Art History major; and graduate standing.
Schedule Type: Research
Contact Hours: 3-18 other
Grade Mode: Standard Letter