Survey of Western Art

Professor:	Dr. Perette Michelli, Ext 3098, .
Class:	Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 2.00-2.50 p.m., Flaten Hall lecture room
Office Hours:	Prof Michelli By appointment; Katie Elliott 3.00-5.00 pm Wed, Studio
Required set book:	M Stokstad, Art History, Prentice Hall, Abrams, 1995

This course covers Western art from the year dot to the middle/late Gothic period. It may be the only Art History course you ever take. Or it may be the foundation of your major. Either way, you want to leave it with a good grasp of the range of ideas, styles and periods, and a personal "take" on the field. If it turns out to be the foundation of your major, you really want to keep it all from slipping out of your mind. This course is intended to achieve that.

Survey courses can be a grind because of the sheer quantity of material to be learned. This course is different: you do not have to learn any identifications, but you do have to learn how to analyse and "read" art. There will be TWO terminology and analysis tests during the semester, and the Final. What you are trying to do is track the main changes in the way people thought about art over the ages: whether they approached it as an intellectual or emotional medium, how the composition of an image or building contributes to its meaning and affects our reactions, how many different ways there are of expressing "truth" (e.g. illusionistically, schematically, evocatively), how art and architecture can come together to create impossible, magical effects, and how the most ordinary realism can be used to challenge orthodoxy. We will track most of this through prepared readings and class discussions. Come prepared to use your imagination and to think on your feet, and come prepared to talk.

Requirements

• Attendance at every class. If you have to miss a class, FOR ANY REASON, submit a 500 word summary of the assigned reading for the missed day(s). This (these) should be word processed and is (are) due on the day you return to class. This way, you will stay on top of the course, even if you have to miss some classes.

• Two prepared discussions. One will be just before Fall Break; the second will be in lieu of the Final Exam. Study questions will be supplied. Use the internet and the library.

• Learn the terminology of art history. In your set book, some words are set in bold type. Learn ALL those, as you come to them. You will be tested orally in the next class for the spelling and the definition. Also, learn ALL the words you personally don't understand, either in the text or in class. Ask me for clarification at any time in class or later.

• Two terminology and analysis tests during the semester.

• Final Exam, consisting of (3rd) terminology and analysis test and prepared discussion.

• Class contribution is required. It is tracked and graded through name tags: one tag per contribution, whether this is a question, a comment, or an answer. Apart from terminology, which you are expected to learn and to use accurately, there are few "facts" and many opinions in this field. Be prepared to speculate, and to have (courteous!) disagreements with other students and with the professor.

• Prepare for class discussion by reading the text. In class you will be asked to (a) DESCRIBE the work shown, (b) EXPLAIN what the book had to say about it, (c) ANALYSE the artist's approach, (d) DEFINE any terms.

Grading

Average of three tests = 90% of course grade
Attendance = 5% of course grade
Participation = 5% of course grade