All Art History Courses

Undergraduate Courses

ARH 201 Survey of World Art I (A,O)

Provides an integrated chronological study of world art from prehistory to the 14th century. Covers western art along with the ancient arts of Asia, Islamic arts, and pre Columbian arts. Teaches students to identify cross-cultural influences and regional stylistic features. 3 Cr. Fall.

ARH 202 Survey of World Art II (A,O)

Examines major developments in world art from the 1400s to the present. Students will gain a broad understanding of the history of art making during the modern era, including the European Renaissance, as well as art making in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. Issues of artistic techniques and practices, patronage, power, religion, and aesthetics, as well as societal and cross-cultural influences will be addressed during each time period and with respect to each culture. 3 Cr.

ARH 215 Art in the Making (A,F)

Studies the elements of art, the artists' process, and selected works of painting and sculpture to give an appreciation of diverse art creativity throughout the world. Also discusses and uses artists and artworks of selected non-western cultures to illustrate elements of art. 3 Cr.

ARH 310 Women in Art (A,W)

Examines the contributions and creations of women to the visual arts throughout history, with an emphasis on the women artists of the last two centuries. Students will gain an understanding of artistic techniques and movements and become familiar with the social and political history of women, in order to understand how such conditions affect artistic production. 3 Cr.

ARH 315 The History of Graphic Design (A)

This course follows the changes in graphic communications, from its origin with the birth of written language through its evolution into modern mass visual communications. The course surveys important graphic arts movements and individuals. We explore how design theory, technology and seminal works have transformed our visual language and the world in which we live. Students will examine the continuities and interrelationships of graphic communications as it has evolved and expanded, and demonstrate learning through exams and written assignments. 3 Cr. Every Semester.

ARH 391 Seminar in Art History (A)

Explores a specific art historical theme or research topic. Students will be expected to write an in-depth research paper and participate in seminar style discussions. May be repeated for credit (with change of topic). 3 Cr.

ARH 410 Contemporary Art Criticism (A,I,W)

Examines art of made throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, while simultaneously exploring how the "art world" both reflects and resists societal influences. 3 Cr.

ARH 418 Women in Art (B)

Examines the contributions and creations of women to the visual arts throughout history, with an emphasis on the women artists of the last two centuries. Students will gain an understanding of artistic techniques and movements and become familiar with the social and political history of women, in order to understand how such conditions affect artistic production. 3 Cr.

ARH 419 Nineteenth Century Art (A)

Covers the fine and minor arts of 19th-century Europe and America, with emphasis on patronage and the artistic movements that dominated the century. 3 Cr.

ARH 420 Twentieth Century Art (A)

Examines the major trends and developments of the 20th century, primarily in Europe and the United States. Students will learn how biographical, social, cultural, and political forces influenced various artists. Helps students understand how art making is not a practice in isolation, but an expression of how creators respond to their interior and exterior worlds. 3 Cr. 3 Cr.

ARH 423 Feminist Performance Art, Film and Video (A)

This course examines performance art, film, and video that was created during and in the wake of the second-wave feminist revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s. After reading a number of critical texts, exploring the historical period, and watching myriad films and videos, students will be able to analyze how these art forms were implicit and explicit political acts that expressed women’s discontent with the socio-political status quo, and were attempts to speak back to the hegemonic imagery produced by the mainstream media, Hollywood, and advertising industries. 3 Cr.

ARH 424 Medieval Art (A)

Covers the art and architecture of Europe from the early Christian period to the Fall of Constantinople. Includes an overview of Byzantine Art. 3 Cr.

ARH 425 Italian Renaissance Art (A)

Examines works of art and architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy. 3 Cr.

ARH 431 American Art (A)

Students will gain a broad comprehension of the painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, and popular arts made in the United States from the Colonial period to the present. Throughout the semester, thematic lectures will chart the history of our nation and simultaneously illustrate how the visual arts and visual culture influenced and were influenced by the notion of a distinctly “American” identity. 3 Cr.

ARH 441 Art in Europe: Field Study in Selected Topics (A)

Entails field trips abroad focusing on selected topics in art history. May be repeated for credit. 3-6 Cr.

ARH 450 Egyptian Art (A)

Studies the art and civilizations of pharaonic Egypt and the ancient Near East from the late fourth millennium BC to the conquest of Alexander the Great, with emphasis on pharaonic Egypt, Phoenicia, and Mesopotamia. 3 Cr.

ARH 451 Art of the Classical World (A)

Traces the development of Minon, Mycenean, Greek and Roman art and architecture from the second millennium BCE to the fourth century CE. 3 Cr.

ARH 461 History of Photography (A)

Note: taught at Visual Studies Workshop. Surveys the development of photographic processes and the movements and artists that have influenced photography. 3 Cr.

ARH 465 Alternative Perspectives on Art and Culture (A)

Examines and explores art and culture from radically different points of view. Attempts to expand awareness of the multiplicity of world cultures by including subjects, voices and imagery that are often subordinated by traditional institutions of the West such as museums and mainstream commercial media. Uses strategies and disciplines including anthropology, women's studies, subculture, cyborg theory, political activism and liberation pedagogy to see Western art in a different light. Encourses the development of different means of practice in addition to expanded theoretical frameworks for looking at art. 3 Cr.

ARH 470 Asian Art (A)

Prerequisities: ARH 201 and ARH 202. Studies Indian, Chinese and Japanese arts from prehistory to the 19th century, with emphasis on painting, sculpture, and the minor arts. 3 Cr.

ARH 474 Islamic Art (A)

Explores Islamic art, architecture, filmmaking, and culture from the origin of the faith to the contemporary period. Considers art making around the globe in both a religious and cultural context. 3 Cr.

ARH 490 Topics in Art History (A)

Reserved for different topics not listed in this catalog. May be repeated for credit. 3 Cr.

ARH 491 Seminar in Art History (A)

Examines in detail selected topics in art history with the emphasis on the exploration of research methodologies in fine arts, and writing papers and sharing them in the class. 3 Cr.

ARH 499 Independent Study in Art History (A)

Special project in art history arranged in consultation with the instructor-sponsor in accordance with the procedures of the Office of Academic Advisement before registration. May be repeated for credit. 3-6 Cr.

Graduate Courses

ARH 510 Contemporary Art Criticism (A)

Examines art of made throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, while simultaneously exploring how the "art world" both reflects and resists societal influences. 3 Cr.

ARH 518 Women in Art (B)

Examines the contributions and creations of women to the visual arts throughout history, with an emphasis on the women artists of the last two centuries. Students will gain an understanding of artistic techniques and movements and become familiar with the social and political history of women, in order to understand how such conditions affect artistic production. 3 Cr.

ARH 519 Nineteenth Century Art (A)

Covers the art of 19th Century Europe and America, with emphasis on patronage and the artistic movements that dominated the century. 3 Cr.

ARH 520 Twentieth Century Art (A)

Examines the major trends and developments of the 20thcentury, primarily in Europe and the United States. Explores how biographical, social, cultural, and political forces influenced various artists. Helps students to understand how are making is not a practice in isolation, but an expression of how creators respond to their interior and exterior worlds. 3 Cr.

ARH 525 Renaissance Art (A)

Examines art and architecture from 15th-and 16th-centuries in Western Europe. 3 Cr.

ARH 531 American Art (A)

Surveys art, architecture, and popular culture from colonial era to the present. 3 Cr.

ARH 541 Art Abroad (A)

Field trips overseas focusing on selected topics in art history. Could be repeated for credit. 3-6 Cr.

ARH 561 History of Photography (A)

(Taught at Visual Studies Workshop.) Surveys the development of photographic processes and the movements and artists that have influenced photography. 3 Cr.

ARH 563 Contemporary Photography and Imaging Survey (A)

Surveys the visual and media arts since World War II, with primary emphasis on photography and secondary emphasis on the mass media, the book arts, the time-based arts, installation art, etc. 3 Cr.

ARH 565 Alternative Views of Art (A)

Examines and explores art and culture from radically different points of view. Attempts to expand awareness of the multiplicity of world cultures by including subjects, voices and imagery that are often subordinated by traditional institutions of the West such as museums and mainstream commercial media. Uses strategies and disciplines including anthropology, women's studies, subculture, cyborg theory, political activism and liberation pedagogy to see western art in a different light. Encourages the development of different means of practice in addition to expanded theoretical frameworks for looking at art. 3 Cr.

ARH 566 Curatorial Outlooks (B)

Curators play a key role in mappying the ever-shifting boarders of the art world. From the traditional role of a keeper of collections to the more recent interpretation as one who selects and interprets a particular exhibit, the position of curator is a powerful one. This course will identify the role of curators and examine the work of curators who have been influential in their respective fields. *elective 3 Cr.

ARH 570 Asian Art (A)

Studies Indian, Chinese, and Japanese arts from their origins to the 19th Century, with emphasis on Buddhist art, and Chinese influences on the arts of Japan. 3 Cr.

ARH 590 Topics in Art History (A)

Reserved for topics unlisted in this catalog. May be repeated for credit. 1-3 Cr.

ARH 599 Independent Study in Art History (A)

Designed individually through consultation between student and instructor to suit the needs and interests of the student, and the special competence of the instructor. Additional requirements may be established by the department. Variable Credit. 3-6 Cr.

ARH 661 History of Photography II (A)

This course provides a survey of the medium's history from early experiments to present. It provides an overview of photography's development and its impact on society as both an artistic, cultural and sociological phenomenon. It also familiarizes students with existing histories of photography, and addresses some of the problems of defining a visual history through photographic collections. 3 Cr.

ARH 664 Media Culture (A)

Explores the culture of media through image production and dissemination, sequence and montage and the media environment. Through readings, archival research and direct observations of contemporary life, explores how individuals and groups respond to and manipulate images to make sense of their lives. Examines how images work as a language and how images and words function together. Considers how images construct our environment and social world. Analyzes the practices of mass and alternative media in relation to emerging systems of information. 3 Cr.

ARH 691 Research Topics in Photographic History (A)

Students in this seminar will form small research teams; with each team, under guidance, developing a specific project from the resources and materials available from the visual collections at the Visual Studies Workshop or in Rochester. The students will research the background history and specific information relative to their chosen topic, then produce an "exhibition" of those materials either in a computer-generated exhibition catalog, or on-line, or as a physical show in the small gallery spaces at VSW. Each student will keep a written journal of their experiences and progress throughout the course of the project. 3 Cr.