'Albrecht Drer's engraving Melancolia I, in the collection of the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, will serve as the centerpiece of our study of artistic identity in the Renaissance. How did artists define themselves, and how can we understand their changing roles in the societies in which they worked?

'The course treats the themes, techniques, and contexts of painting and mosaic in the ancient Mediterranean. From Bronze Age palaces to early Byzantine churches, surfaces were embellished with frescoes, pebbles, glass, and jewels. These might be rendered in complex geometric shapes or with mythological scenes. Portable vases displayed elegantly drawn figures. We will examine the unique effects of each medium and how they influenced and interacted with each other.'

'This course will survey arts of China from the neolithic period to the twentieth century. Class lectures will analyze ceramics, bronze vessels, sculpture, architecture, calligraphy, and painting in relation to various religious ideas and political formations that took place in Chinas long history.'

'A survey of painting and sculpture, this course introduces students to the work of individual artists. Classes also develop ways of looking at and thinking about art as the material expression of American social, political, and cultural ideas. Copley, Stuart, Cole, Church, Eakins, Homer, Sargent, Whistler, and Cassatt are some of the artists discussed.'

'This course examines the great ruptures in European art that today we call modernist. It relates aspects of that art to the equally great transformations in European society: revolutionary ferment, the rise and consolidation of industrial capitalism, colonization and its discontents, and world war. Among the major figures to be studied are Duchamp, Matisse, Malevich, Picasso, Seurat, and van Gogh.'

'Some of the best feature-length films of the past century have commanded our attention and imagination because of their compelling artistry and the imaginative ways they tell stories visually and verbally. This course closely studies narrative films from around the world, from the silent era to the present, and in the process it introduces students to the basic elements of film form, style, and narration.

'True, pictures are worth a thousand words, but how do we know which thousand words to use? In this seminar, we will read a range of art criticism, art history, and fiction in order to examine the work of language in relation to pictures. We will explore a basic question: Why do pictures compel us to use words? We will learn to distinguish among different kinds of writing, visit the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum regularly, and learn to craft thoughtful words of our own about original works of art.

'This course provides a broad overview of Western art and architecture from the sixth through the seventeenth centuries. We will begin with the heritage of the Roman empire in Byzantine art, continue into the Western medieval tradition including Romanesque and Gothic, then conclude with the Renaissance and Baroque periods. We will consider a wide range of objects and media--including mosaics, manuscripts, paintings, sculptures, and prints--as well as building types ranging from churches to palaces and villas.

'This course explores ways in which urban landscapes can be shaped within an environmentalist agenda and how healthy living can be achieved in the context of rising population, climate change, and global economies. By developing methods of investigation pertinent to sustainability, students will formulate strategic planning and design proposals related to community revitalization, the public realm in cities, affordable housing, and environmental stewardship.

'This hybrid studio addresses human comfort with lectures and problem work sessions integrated with design projects. We start with an in-depth study of the world's climate regions, the sun, and the earth's tilt and spin. Primary methods of heat transfer are investigated as students research two architectural solutions (vernacular and contemporary) within each climate. Using daylight, the sun's movement, and sun-path diagrams students will design, draw and build a functioning solar clock. Issues in day-lighting and thermal comfort will then drive an extended design problem.