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Art
History courses provide opportunities for students to practice
speaking, reading and writing about art, to hone critical thinking
and research skills, and to develop personal and cultural identities
in relation to prior art movements, artists, and artworks. The
courses have been grouped into freshmen, sophomore, and junior
levels. Each new level requires the student to demonstrate increasingly
sophisticated historical knowledge as well as analytical, research,
and writing skills.
The
freshman Foundations classes help students master the fundamentals
needed for discussing and investigating
works of art. Students
are asked to develop their art vocabularies, to demonstrate library
skills, and to explore the relationship between meaning and context.
Students are presented with an overview of art history through
an exploration of Western architecture. The class includes a
tour of the Toledo Museum of Art and an architectural walk through
Adrian's
historic State Street/Dennis Street neighborhood.
Three
surveys of Western Art (Ancient to Medieval, Renaissance to Modern,
and
American Art), allow sophomores and juniors to
examine art produced during relatively large periods in history.
Students
acquire historical perspective as they apply the vocabulary,
analytical skills, and research skills presented in the Language
of Art.
Upper-level
courses focus on relatively narrow topics, including Nineteenth-Century
Art, Early Twentieth-Century Art,
Late Twentieth-Century
Art, Visual Culture and the History of Photography. Aimed
at juniors and seniors, these courses require students to tackle
more difficult
reading assignments, and to undertake independent research
projects.
Art
History Outcomes:
Students pursuing a Minor in Art History or
a BFA in Art History should be able to demonstrate
the
following by the time they complete all course requirements:
Communication:
- Ability to outline and present orally information found
in selected art historical literature.
- Mastery of art and art history vocabulary, including
the language of:
- visual
elements (color, light, line, form, etc.);
- design
and composition (balance, symmetry, style, focal point, emphasis,
etc.);
- media,
such as photography, painting, sculpture, ceramics, etc.;
- visual
culture studies.
- Ability
to write effectively in a variety of formats, including:
- comparison/contrast
essays;
- description/analysis
papers; and
- Research
papers focused on:
- objects
in an art museums;
- contemporary
art, artists and/or art practices;
- architecture.
- Ability
to create proper bibliographies and references
(footnotes and endnotes)
using the Chicago Style.
- Reading
knowledge of at least
one foreign language, preferably German
and French.
Content:
- Recognition
of the visual
characteristics of period
and regional styles
of major monuments
for a variety
of cultures including:
- Non-western,
Ancient,
European,
American, and Contemporary.
- Knowledge
of the
history
of two or
more art media
such
as
- Painting,
sculpture,
architecture,
printmaking,
photography,
design
and visual
culture
media.
Research
- Ability
to
find
information
about
art,
artists
and
cultures
in a
variety
of
places
and
formats,
including:
- Public
art
venues,
such
as
museums,
galleries,
theaters,
etc.;
- Traditional
library
media,
including
books,
articles
and
videos
found
through
catalogues
and
indexes,
such
as
Art
Index;
- Digital
library
media,
including
books
and
articles
found
through
the
use
of
computer
search
engines,
such
as
Infotrac,
and
First
Search;
- Non-library
sources,
such
as
the
World
Wide
Web
and
its
search
engines,
such
as
Google.com.
Critical
Thinking
- Ability
to
analyze
the
meaning(s)
of
works
of
art
based
on:
- subject
matter,
techniques
and
materials;
- the
biography
of
the
artist;
- other
works
of
art
by
the
same
artist;
- related
works
of
art
by
other
artists;
- the
artwork’s
original
context,
including
social,
political
and
economic
contexts;
and
- subsequent
contexts
- Ability
to
synthesize
information
(especially
thesis
statements
and
topic
sentences);
- Ability
to
develop
ideas
through
the
process
of
research,
prewriting,
writing
and
rewriting;
- Ability
to
evaluate
assertions
and
assumptions
found
in
the
writing
and
oral
presentations.
Methodology
and
Theory
- Awareness
of
the
interrelationships
between
art
and
ideas
related
to:
- Politics,
including
propaganda,
nationalism
and
the
avant-garde
- Gender
and
age
- Geography
and
region
- Ethnicity
- Economics,
including
issues
of
class,
patronage
and
market
forces
- Technology
and
science
- Social
institutions,
including
education,
religion,
government,
entertainment,
etc.
- Awareness
of
different
approaches
and
methods
available
to
art
historians
as
they
interpret
art
and
culture,
such
as:
o
Marxist
(political
and
economic)
o
Feminist
(gender
and
age)
o
Formalist
(non-contextual)
o
Biographical
o
Psychoanalytic
(Freudian,
etc)
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