Preliminary course list for History of Art and Visual Culture Academic Year 2008-2009.  All courses are subject to change.

Fall Quarter:

10G – Introduction to Visual Culture: Europe

An introduction to the European tradition in visual culture, from Antiquity to the present, but not in chronological order. All media, including the fine arts, architecture, film, video, and installation and performance work are incorporated. Presents the major visual regimes of representation while it probes the meanings and limits of Europe and the European tradition in the context of the visual. (IH, A) Catherine M. Soussloff

80T – The Art of the Body in the Pacific Islands

This course examines reversible and irreversible, permanent and ephemeral, forms of body art practiced in Oceania.  Forms of body art include : tattoo, scarification, body constructions, textiles, and ornamentation.  We will explore why and how people adorn themselves and/or alter their bodies.  Social meanings, religious functions, and world views will be examined. (T5, A, E) Stacy Kamehiro

105E – Ritual in Asian Religious Arts CANCELLED

Examination of interaction between image and ritual in Asian religious art. Case-studies from different historical periods and geographical locations (e.g., China, Tibet, Japan, Indonesia, India). Examples to include mandalas, ritual bronzes, tankas, sacred caves, temples, tea ceremony, calligraphy. (A) Staff

107A – Topics in African Visual Culture: Central Africa

Examination of visual cultures of Central Africa within a historical sequence from the Sanga archaeological expeditions to contemporary easel painting. Prerequisite: HAVC10E suggested. (A) Elisabeth Cameron

114 – Buddhist Visual Worlds 

Introduction to the study of Buddhist visual traditions, from their beginnings to the present day.  Case studies examined with careful attention to historical, social and cultural contexts; particular emphasis on the relation of visual traditions to Buddhist practices.  Enrollment restricted to sophomore, junior and senior students. (A) Raoul Birnbaum

138 – Modern Architecture, 1880 to 1968 

An examination of the rise of international modernism in the 20th century and the complex political and social motivations behind its ideologies and movements. Topics will include the legacy of the Beaux-Arts tradition, Expressionism, Constructivism, the primacy of Le Corbusier, Weimar Germany, Fascist architecture, Corporate Modernism, Socialist Realism, and Post-Modernism, among others. (A) Jeffrey Lieber

150A – Advanced Studies in Pre-Hispanic Visual Culture: The Maya

The art and architecture of the Maya of southern Mesoamerica from the first century A.D. to ca. 1500. Prerequisite: Art History 10E or equivalent. (A) Carolyn Dean

174C – Constructing Memory and Place in Post-War Architecture

How have architects engaged memory and place in architectural projects and built landscapes since WWII? This course will examine memorializing, memory, and erasure of place in the reconstruction of cities, the creation of memorials, and the design of buildings.  (A, E) Jeffrey Lieber

189Z – Time-Based Media and the Body, 1980 to Present

This course addresses relations between video, film and digital-based media to the body, examining performance and embodiment as formulative elements of these works. Works are primarily from the 1980s to the present, looking back as necessary to understand contemporary practice. (A) Soraya Murray

19IP – Art and Identity in the Pacific: Creating and Challenging Ethnic and National Identities 

This upper division seminar will engage theoretical discussions & Pacific Basin case studies on 1) definitions of cultural, ethnic and national identities; 2) the relationship between art, museums, and the construction of historical and cultural narratives; 3) the ways "tradition" has been defined in art practices and used by groups to assert an identity in their present. Participants will first develop a theoretical framework and vocabulary for analyzing artistic production in a variety of cultures. Through specific case studies, we will then explore how art, architecture, and museums have actively contributed to defining and challenging ethnic and national identities. (A, E) Stacy Kamehiro

191X – The Cult of Mary in Byzantine Art

Why did the cult of the Virgin Mary become so important in Byzantine culture? We will examine a number of historical, cultural, theological, political and social reasons for this development, seen through the interaction of Byzantine visual culture and literature.(A, E) Maria Evangelatou

Winter Quarter:

10E – Introduction to Visual Culture: Africa, Oceania and the Americas 

A comparative study of the arts of selected cultures which developed outside the spheres of influence of the major European and Asian civilizations.  Emphasis is on the function of the arts in these disparate geographic regions. (IH, A, E) Carolyn Dean

80H – Video Games as Visual Culture  

Through the aesthetic and theoretical introduction to electronic games, students are introduced to the histories, ideas and debates that inform game studies. Topics of study include narratology/ludology debates, interactivity, serious games and alternative games. (T5, A) Soraya Murray

100A – Methods in History of Art and Visual Culture 

Introduction to the major issues of method and critique in the study of art and visual culture.  This course focuses on understanding the disciplinary and critical modes of scholarly inquiry in the visual arts, including the role of historical research.  Course emphasizes intensive reading, discussion and writing. (W, A) Elisabeth Cameron, Boreth Ly

105P – Visual Cultures of the Pacific Islands

This interdisciplinary course examines the visual cultures of Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia, from the archaeological past through contemporary periods. (A) Stacy Kamehiro

106I - Myth In Greek And Roman Art 

An investigation of how ancient Greek and Roman artists re-presented myths and legends.  Will include painted pottery, sculpture, mural painting, and minor arts.  Readings will include primary Greek and Latin texts as well as modern and post-modern works on methodology and critical interpretation. (A) Maria Evangelatou

115 – Italian Renaissance Representation and Institution  

Lives of Italian Renaissance people from birth to death, examining the nature and roles of the institutions which defined human existence in this period. The visual arts will be used both illustrateively and to study how institutions fashioned their images through art and architecture. (A) Staff

140 – Surrealism to Post-modernism, Paris to New York

From Paris to New York, WWII to Vietnam, consumerism to conceptualism, an introduction to visual arts and theories of representation produced in the United States and Western Europe between 1930 and 1990, with attention to the social and political role of the art market, criticism and censorship. Jennifer González

142 – Activist Art Since 1960 

An examination of art produced for social change in the United States since 1960 focusing on five cases: the Vietnam war, Chicano civil rights, the women's movement, environmental protection, and AIDS activism. (A) Soraya Murray

153 – History of the Book  

History of book production and use in the West from antiquity to modern times. Development from roll to codex and from script to print. Emphasis on relationship between text and image. Class conducted in Special Collections at McHenry. Exhibition as class project. Enrollment limited to 25. (A) Staff

154F – Chinese Painting  

Description to follow. Staff

163B – Arts and Politics in Theravada Traditions

A consideration of the arts and architecture in Theravada Buddhist Traditions in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Topics and themes include ritual, relics, visual narrative, mural paintings, contemporary art, mass meditation movement and political protest. (A) Boreth Ly

186B – Baroque Art and Architecture

This course examines central figures in European art and architecture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Topics include: the legacy of the Renaissance, transformations of classical mythology and the erotic ideal, the role of the female hero and martyr, changes in the nature of religious experience, and the role of the spectator in the encounter with art.(A) Jeffrey Lieber

189V – Art of the Venetian Renaissance

A consideration of Venetian art in the 15th and 16th centuries. Topics include major artists (the Bellini, Carpaccio, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Palladio) and the relationship of the city to outside forces (Byzantine Empire, Turkish Empire) and other Italian cities. (A) Staff

190A – Theories in Architecture

How do we construct architecture in words? Which discourses do we use and what do they tell us about how we understand architecture? How are technology and the techniques of architectural representation understood? (A) Jeffrey Lieber

191F – Play & Ritual

Compares how play and ritual construct worlds and regulate visual cultures—from dolls to "ritual" objects and performances. Attention will be given to areas where play and ritual overlap and the visual cultures that result. (A) Elisabeth Cameron

191Z – Buddhist Wisdom Traditions

Careful study of Mahayana Buddhist perfection of wisdom traditions – texts and related material culture, including visual imagery and illustrated books - with focus on the particular vision of reality that they aim to produce or reveal. (A) Raoul Birnbaum

Spring Quarter:

10D – Presence and Power in the Visual Cultures of Asia  

Art and architecture of East Asia, including China, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan.  In order to achieve a fuller understanding of the arts of these countries a historical, cultural, and religious context is provided.  (IH, A) Boreth Ly

10G – Introduction to Visual Culture: Europe

An introduction to the European tradition in visual culture, from Antiquity to the present, but not in chronological order. All media, including the fine arts, architecture, film, video, and installation and performance work are incorporated. Presents the major visual regimes of representation while it probes the meanings and limits of Europe and the European tradition in the context of the visual. (IH, A) Staff

100A – Methods in History of Art and Visual Culture 

Introduction to the major issues of method and critique in the study of art and visual culture.  This course focuses on understanding the disciplinary and critical modes of scholarly inquiry in the visual arts, including the role of historical research.  Course emphasizes intensive reading, discussion and writing. (W, A) Staff

110B - Pre-Hispanic Andes

The art of selected pre-Hispanic cultures of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia including the Nazca, Moche, Chimu and Inca.  (A) Carolyn Dean

121E – Chinese Painting  

Description to follow.  Staff

124 – Contemporary Architecture, 1968-Present

Examination of practitioners, projects, issues, and theories in contemporary architecture from 1968 to the present.  Topics include pop culture and architecture, deconstructive architecture, and questions of place and identity in recent architecture. (A) Jeffrey Lieber

139 – The Art and Architecture of Islam

This course will study Islam as a religious and political entity and will analyze how the Islamic world defined itself in the realm of cultural production.  Students will study a variety of Islamic artistic media from different historical periods and geographic areas in order to receive a general overview of artistic production in diverse Islamic lands. (A, E)   Maria Evangelatou

155 – Constructing Lives in China: Biographies and Portraits

Consideration of biographies and portraits in China as representations as models for constructing lives.  Attention to historical and social contexts, early times to present.  Special focus on Chinese Buddhist traditions. (A, E)   Raoul Birnbaum

185D – African Contemporary Arts

Description to follow. (A, E) Elisabeth Cameron

186D - Visual Approaches to Tibetan Buddhism

Description to follow.  Staff

187A - Textile Traditions of Oceania

Course investigates how textiles contribute to the cultural fabric of Oceania.  Explores women’s roles in socio-economic exchanges and cultural production; gender issues regarding the production and function of Oceanic textiles; and the history of processes, functions, and aesthetics. (W, A, E)   Stacy Kamehiro

189D - Modernity and Nationalism in the Arts of India

This course will deal with artistic responses to the forces of modernity, colonialism, industrialization and globalization in India during the 19th and 20th centuries. It will address the complex and often painful climb towards re-establishing a truly Indian artistic identity. (A, E)   Kirtana Thangavelu

190U – Representations of Women in Indian Arts

This seminar will deal with representations of the female divinity in Indian religious imagery, with depictions of women in secular and courtly paintings.  It will also examine the roles that women have played in the production of art in the Indian sub-continent. (A, E)  Kirtana Thangavlu