This course historicizes identity politics in art from the 1960s to today, examining what social identity means and why it has been a contentious topic in contemporary art history. Students will consider the problem of discussing intersectional identities when they are shifting, open-ended, and complex constructions. We will study artists whose work raises personal and political questions about social experience and authenticity in ways that break down stereotypes.

In this seminar we will explore ancient Roman funerary monuments and attitudes about death, memory and commemoration. Our primary focus will be the rich artistic tradition of Roman tombs, their architectural layout and sculptural decoration of portraits, sarcophagi, funerary altars and ash urns, but we will also explore potent images such as the skeleton and the ancestor mask.

Beginning in the period of Transatlantic Slavery and continuing into the twenty-first century, this course explores popular culture representations of black subjects with attention to issues of representation, production, and circulation across different genres, media, and materials. (Gen. Ed. AT, DU)

Changing treatment of central themes, issues, and problems in art history.

Course projects which give practice in different types of art historical writing (catalogue entry, book or exhibition review, interpretative essay, technical report) combined with in-class exercises in the writing of analytical and explanatory prose. Topic focuses from semester to semester on a period, culture and/or individual artist. Required of all art history majors in their junior year. (Planned for Fall)

This course begins with an examination of gendered, architectural spaces and how and why they were structured for women in the 19th century in both Britain and America. Looking at primary and secondary sources, students will gain insight into societal norms and how they conditioned architecture generally associated with women, such as houses, asylums, and early women's colleges. This study will serve as a platform from which to understand the pressures upon women and the pioneers who rejected such norms and pursued architecture as a profession.

This course takes a new and interactive look at 20th Century art, from the move toward total abstraction around 1913 to the development of Postmodernism in the 1980s. We examine the impact on art of social and political events such as World War I, the Russian Revolution, the rise of Fascism, the Mexican Revolution, the New Woman in the 1920s, World War II, the Cold War, and the rise of consumer culture. We will investigate the origins and complex meanings of movements such as Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Mexican Muralism, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop Art.

The development of the visual arts in the major artistic centers of Italy during the 16th century, including Florence, Rome, Venice, Mantua, Ferrara, Parma, and Bologna. The lives and works of specific artists, such as Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, and Michelangelo.

Designed as an introduction for undergraduate and graduate students, the aim of this course is to provide a comprehensive survey of early medieval art and architecture from the third trough the tenth centuries.

Contact department for description.