This class introduces students to the history and methodologies of art history. As such, it examines the historical foundations of the discipline through readings of its formative texts from Vasari to the present, covering models and approaches of different periods. Students will become familiar with some of the key methodologies within the discipline and be able to develop an awareness of their own practice as art historians.

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This course is an introduction to the artistic achievements of the world’s cultures and to the ways in which they can be viewed. It provides students with a sound understanding of major art works from all ages and corners of the world, and the theoretical concepts and historical circumstances to which they owe their existence. We ask questions such as: What is art? What is an artist? How has their perception changed over time? What is an image? Why does art exist? What is ‘world art’? Why do we study art history?

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THERE ARE NO INNOCENT IMAGES OF THE BODY.
Photography, as the most widespread means of visual communication of the past 150 years, has been a central player in the shaping of selfhood and cultural difference. This course introduces students to ways of reading, writing and thinking about photographs through the theme of the body, and in turn, thinking critically about body politics, through photo- graphs Through a combination of lectures and analytical exercises, we will examine the myriad ways the human body has been represented in art, documentary, commercial and scientific photographs, historically and in the present. No prerequisites! Students of all levels and majors are welcome!

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By examining a wide variety of objets d’art, from illuminated manuscripts, to frescoes, to cathedrals, this course will cover formal, theoretical, material, and pragmatic aspects of European art and architecture produced between the 6th and 16th centuries CE. Overarching questions that will guide our studies include: How have humans strived to express their faith through art and architecture? What examples of change, continuity, and cross-cultural connections can be found throughout medieval and renaissance art and architecture? Through close analysis, we will be able to understand some of the functions and significance of objects of visual culture within their historical contexts. This course will emphasize several main themes, including innovation, materials and technology, the concept of beauty, and the shifting meaning of “art.”

This course is an introduction to the art and architecture of Muslim dynasties in South Asia from the eighth century conquest of Sindh by the Umayyads to the eighteenth century when the Mughal Empire was significantly diminished and other, smaller polities were coming to power. Moving across the Indian Subcontinent, this course maps the movement and settlement of religious, political, and intellectual elites through this vast region. The buildings they commissioned — immense forts, monumental tombs, highly ornate mosques — and the artistic objects they produced — illustrated manuscripts, metalwork, ceramics, textile — illustrate the different motivations that underpinned artistic production in South Asia.

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