Courses

The various sections of Art History Topics focus on different and more narrowly defined themes, rather than a broad historical survey. Topics may include the Art of Egypt, the meeting of Eastern and Western Art, 20th-Century American and European Art, and others. Periodically, a visiting scholar may teach a section on the art, architecture, and archeology of cultures such as those of pre-Columbian Central and South America; the indigenous peoples of North America; and the various societies of Africa, Asia, or the Middle East. The focus of these special sections would include the material artifacts and the interpretations, debates, and methodological approaches to these objects within the literature of the field. All sections of this course present individual topics. Individual course descriptions are available to registering students at http://www.berklee.edu/liberal-arts/courses/liberal-arts-topics-courses.

This course covers the prehistoric to the Gothic period. It is a survey of painting, sculpture, and architecture from prehistory, the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Byzantium, the early Middle Ages, and the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Slide lectures are supplemented by works viewed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

This course covers the late Gothic period to the early 20th century. It is a survey of European art from the end of the Middle Ages through the Renaissance, mannerism, the baroque, rococo, neoclassicism, romanticism, realism, impressionism, postimpressionism, and early abstraction; also American art from the colonial period to the early 20th century. Slide lectures are supplemented by works viewed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

This course is designed to introduce students to a comprehensive study of the principal thoughts, concepts of beauty, and aesthetics in the art of Japan. The articulation of Japanese art reveals the relevance of the philosophies of Buddhism, Zen tradition, and Daoism. Students explore a sociohistorical approach to the understanding of Japanese art and culture. Students also examine brief histories of Eastern civilizations as frameworks for the understanding of their aesthetic and philosophical concepts as presented in works of art. Students will also compare Japanese works with the Western tradition. In addition, students will relate Japanese art to their own creative practice.

Binaries, wage gaps, intersectionality, affirming care, (cyber)feminism — these are just some of the terms circulating in the contemporary discourse around gender. In this course, students will discuss these and other topics in the study of changing sociocultural attitudes toward gender, with a focus on modern and contemporary visual art.

Students will consider issues of identity, representation, performance, and exhibition and their shifting meanings through history. How relevant is gender to personal identity? Does gender affect artistic production and creativity? Who gets to write the history of art? By addressing these questions, students will develop a greater understanding of the ways in which artists create, viewers interpret, and history is written. Throughout the course, students will improve their visual analysis and communication skills and their knowledge of modern and contemporary art. 

The course is divided into 3 major themes that will help navigate the relationship between gender and visual art:

1. Identities
2. Sociality and Community
3. Media

This course exposes students to the dynamic world of theft, forgery, destruction, and the restoration of works of art. Through readings and museum visits, students engage questions of authenticity, ownership, commercialism, and the cultural role of works of art in the world today and throughout history. Students learn how works of art are forged; they also learn the history and theories of museum collection building. In addition, they explore concepts of artistic expression and authenticity. When is a work of art real? What does it mean for art to be forged? Does restoration of art works affect authenticity? Students also explore concepts of and the complex history of art ownership.

This course is a global study of contemporary art from the 1970s through today. Through in-class discussions, readings, and the visual and written analysis of artworks, students will examine the unique character and experience of global contemporary life, paying close attention to its social, cultural, and political contexts. Key frameworks to this study will be issues of gender and sexuality, race and identity, trauma and exile, the environment, dissent and activism, authorship and originality, memory, space, and the body. After taking this course, students will be able to identify strategies of artistic decision-making as well as evaluate the function of artistic expression by reflecting on the ways in which art may affirm, challenge, or alter a viewer’s perspective. Boston’s museums will be primary spaces of learning for this course.

The course is divided into 3 major themes that relate contemporary art to institutional contexts and sociopolitical developments around the world:
1. Postmodernism
2. Globalization — global markets and biennials, migration, global climate change
3. Media Culture and the Digital World

In this course we will study the art, patrimony and culture of the beautiful city of Valencia. The course is as much an investigation into the politics, history, theology, economics, and cultural identity of Valencia and Spain as it is an investigation of Valencia's patrimonial visual arts. One of the primary objectives of the course will be to experience the city up close and personal; that is, through real life experiences. The student will be expected and required to conduct both group and individual field work in Valencia. 

This course provides a close look at the artistic responses to popular festivities and how their visual language offers unique insight into the way culture and societies are shaped. Spanish fairs and festivals (events such as Las Fallas, El Corpus, El Miracle, the correfocs, and the muixerangas) have become examples of the visual language of the community, their specific aesthetics and narratives, and how these representations have changed throughout history. The influence these events still have on current societies is being addressed in the global conversation by the creation of UNESCO’s "Oral and Intangible Heritage" category. In order to study these phenomena, we will examine the creation and sustainability of fairs and festivals, their work as a social cohesive tool, and their link to history, identity and community. Following this objective, we will be looking at costumes, ephemeral constructions, floats, theater representations and even the presentation of traditional holiday foods.

This course explores the critical and theoretical approaches to understanding the meanings we make of images, icons, and visual representations. Visual culture refers to what has traditionally been thought of as the fine arts as well as more popular forms of visible media such as comics, advertising, television, film, decorative arts, video, installations, performance art, and digital and new media art. Assignments will be both analytical and creative, incorporating writing, drawing, and collage. Readings and classroom discussions will be supplemented by viewings of Boston art collections. Note: LVIS-231 or LVIS-232 are also recommended as prerequisites but are not required.