ART 2 HONORS ART HISTORY: RENAISSANCE THROUGH CONTEMPORARY ART Instructor: Dr. R. Taube Spring 2017, Monday/Wednesday 11:10-12:35 Classroom: QD 216 Office: ART 201a Phone: 222-8144 : [email protected]
Class Website: www.rhondataube.com
REQUIRED TEXT (available in bookstore): Kleiner and Mamiya’s Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective, Volume II In addition, there are a number of required readings available on the class web site. These will form the core of class discussions and quizzes.
This handout contains all the basic information you need for this course – details on aims, policies, workload, grading and resources. You should consult this document and any addenda throughout the course, and speak to me promptly if you are unclear about requirements.
Course Description: This course will cover a survey of western art from the early Renaissance to contemporary 20th century art. Students will be introduced to a variety of media, including: painting, sculpture, and architecture. We will discuss specific works of art in light of their historic, political, social, and religious context in order to distinguish individual significance and contributions. This class will present the objectives and methods of art history through the unique theme of “the body.” Works of art that illustrate how the body has been presented, represented, construed, and socially constructed since the late Middle Ages until now will be the central focus. We will explore a variety of objects and spaces in order to familiarize you with numerous examples of visual material that conform to the theme of the semester, such as depictions of saintly martyrdoms and torture, reclining nudes, the rise of portraiture, and academic studies of autopsies and anatomical drawings. An emphasis will be placed on critical texts of art history, theory, and philosophy that explore the body as sinful, sacred, sacrificial, corrupt, moral, pure, innocent, and heroic. Basic terminology will be covered in order to provide you with the necessary tools to understand, discuss, and write about art. Additionally, you will be required to apply this knowledge in independent research that demonstrates your ability to identify and describe various periods in art history, placing specific works within a contextual and theoretical framework.
Student Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
Identify, describe, and discuss art in its historical context. Critique, compare, and contrast various artists, artworks, and styles. Describe, analyze, and discuss the styles of various cultures, historical periods, media, techniques, artworks, and artists and formulate these observations into written form. Articulate their ideas concerning art through the use of appropriate art terminology in both written form and class discussions.
Policies and Requirements Below are instructions relating to attendance, classroom behavior, out-of-class study, in-class participation and submission of written work. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are familiar with these; reminders will not be issued.
A: ATTENDANCE AND RELATED MATTERS I. Absence and lateness
Take careful note that: You may be absent from class up to 3 times without grade penalty, and explanations (illness, sporting events, oversleeping, car breakdown etc.) do not need to be offered; If absent more than 3 times, whatever the reasons, it will affect your grade as it will greatly impair your ability to fully participate in class If you are not present for attendance, you will be marked absent. For every 3 late arrivals your overall class grade will be marked down a half a letter. For example if you are late 6 times, this will lower your final grade a whole letter. Leaving during class FOR ANY REASON or leaving early will affect your grade, as well and may cause you to be marked absent. DO NOT email me with your reasons or excuses for missing class, as there are no excused or unexcused absences. All absences above your allotted 3 will affect your grade If you miss class it is YOUR responsibility to obtain notes from a classmate. I do not provide lecture notes!
If you find it necessary to drop, it is your responsibility to drop via Webadvisor. A student may be dropped by the instructor after numerous absences, late arrivals, or leaving during class. If you stop attending, and have not officially withdrawn by the last drop date, you will receive an F.
II. Library and Study Hours You are required to spend at least 3 hours studying for this class outside our twice-weekly meetings.
*NOTE: Your success in this course will depend on your ability to read college level texts and comprehend their content. Further, your language and writing skills must be adequate to successfully complete written essays.
III. Respect for the Classroom Environment A grade penalty of one whole letter grade will be applied, without prior warning, to anyone who does not comply fully with the following stipulations, and repeat non-compliance will result in a ‘Fail’ grade for the course:
Cell phones must be turned off during class. Text messaging and the use of electronic devices is not permitted!! If you are texting than you are not participating and may be marked absent for the day. Carrying on private conversations or exchanging notes during class time is not acceptable. Sleeping in class is not acceptable. Reading matter that is not being discussed in class must not be in evidence. IF I EVEN SEE YOU USING ANY ELECTRONIC DEVICE DURING CLASS TIME, INCLUDING A LAPTOP, THERE WILL BE A REQUIRED POP QUIZ.
B: ACTIVITIES AND EXAMS
ACTIVITIES AND ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE COURSE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
I. CLASS DISCUSSION
Discussion based on the assigned readings will form a central core to this course and it is expected that you will participate fully. Moreover, you should read the articles thoroughly, in order to comprehend, think imaginatively, and critically understand the text. In order to receive points for full participation you must exhibit a strong grasp or awareness of the articles under discussion and be willing to share your insights orally. **Please be prepared each class period with two good comments/contributions. These may be expressed in the form of a question or critique. We will spend time hearing these qustions from all members of the class
Art 2H Helpful Guidelines for Reading Articles:
Many students find difficulty in reading academic articles. They tend to complain that: "it's too difficult" "I lose track of what the author is saying" "I get so far (1 or 2 pages) then find I can't make any sense of it" "I find I have to keep going back over stuff I've just read because I can't see what the author is saying" "After a couple of pages I lose interest"
One major reason for such problems is that students attempt to read the article in the wrong way. They try to read it as if it were a short story, or novel or newspaper report (e.g. on sports or entertainment). That is, they start at the beginning and try to read through to the end. With academic articles, this is not necessarily the most productive way to grasp the information. Instead, be sure to use the following tactics and you will maximize your efforts and reduce your reading time. But bear in mind, reading is hard work, and the more effort you use, the more education you earn.
1. Try to absorb not just what the author is saying, but what is their meaning. This involves your interpretation of the author’s underlying purpose for writing this article in the first place.
2. Engage in active reading—take notes, make a flowchart, map the concepts—whatever you need to do to keep yourself involved in the assigned reading. You will also find your notes/mappings extremely helpful when you want to refer back to this article later or prepare for an exam.
3. If there is one section or passage that is difficult or troubling for you, don’t get too hung up on it. Jot down what you think the author is saying and move on. It is often more important for you to grasp the entire work than spend a lot of extra effort on one sentence or paragraph.
4. Sometimes a particularly difficult article or chapter simply requires more than one reading, the concepts cannot be grasped in a single reading. Try engaging with it several times and approach it in different ways. Conceptualize it as you would a city or neighborhood you’ve never been to before. Your first time there is confusing or bewildering, but the more time you spend there the more familiar you become and the more at ease you will feel with it. Journal articles are much the same. Most academics have had years to ponder what the meaning is of a particular article and have developed their mastery of the subject. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel you’ve “gotten it” on the first try.
Questions you should consider and be prepared to discuss from the articles for each class meeting: What is the author’s main point or argument? (Scoop out the center, be succinct and pithy--no long winded rambling descriptions) How did the author construct his or her argument? What type of art historical evidence did he or she provide? What particular approach or bias did he or she exhibit? What are the strengths or weaknesses of the article? Do you agree with them? Why? or Why not?
This will help you synthesize and organize your ideas. HOWEVER, do not read your notes to the class (yawn!). Be somewhat extemporaneous yet organized in your discussion.
**Please note participation forms 25% your grade, a significant portion.
II. QUIZZES Throughout the semester there will be approximately 10 quizzes that will cover specific periods in art history and will often require students to identify the name, date, period style, and defining characteristics of items presented in class OR will cover specific ideas from the assigned articles.
III. CLASS WORK AND HOMEWORK From time to time there will be informal class work (e.g. freewriting, group work) and homework assignments (e.g. abstracts for larger writing projects). These assignments count towards your grade. Please take note that these writing assignments are required: 1. Writing Assignment 1 due March 8. Details to be provided in class. 2. Research Paper abstracts due April 5th. 3. Second Writing Assignment Due April 24th.
IV. ART MUSEUM FIELD TRIP The instructor may ask you to participate in a group field trip or visit an art museum on your own time. Please be prepared for such an event.
V. MAJOR EXAMS AND RESEARCH PROJECT
In addition, your grade for the semester will be based on 3 exams and a written research assignment
1. The first Mid Term exam will be held on Wednesday, March 22, the purpose of which is primarily to help you distill the ideas you have encountered to date. Part 1 will be slide-based, and will require you to answer a number of questions relating to what you see. For Part 2 you will be asked to write an essay. The second Mid Term will be Wednesday, May 3 and will consist of an in-class slide identification and a take-home essay format. The essay will be approximately 1250 words, or 5 pages. It is recommended that this paper be a draft or early version of your research paper and MUST include an interaction with the class readings
2. The Final Exam will be a summary or cumulative examination of all of the readings from the entire semester and will be in essay format. It will be held Monday, June 5th at 11 a.m.
3. Finally, you will produce a written paper (of approximately 2500 words, or ten pages) based around a work or works of art and outlining a particular approach discussed in class. You will also give a ten- minute presentation based on your research on May 24th or 31st (students will present in alphabetical order, by surname).
The research paper is due in final form on Monday June 5. The purpose of the paper is to allow you to explore the issues we have examined in class in relation to a particular object or objects, and you should aim to reference ideas drawn from reading and discussion as much as possible. Proper citations (footnotes and bibliography), following the Chicago Manual of Style or the MLA Handbook are required throughout. Failure to comply with these standards will result in a grade penalty. Part of the class on will be devoted to preparing for this paper on April 23rd, but feel free to talk to me about it earlier in the semester.
All Research Paper Topics MUST be approved by the instructor!
***LATE PAPER POLICY: Late written homework assignments will not accepted by the instructor, but will constitute a lowering of the grade assigned a letter for each extra day.
***ALL QUIZZES AND EXAMS ARE MANDATORY, so clear your schedule NOW. Having to work, go out of town, or even a doctor’s appointment is not a valid excuse for missing a quiz or exam.
The exams will cover both lecture material and readings from the text. The exams may include slide identification, slide comparisons, objective questions, and essays. Essay question themes, not the actual questions, will be provided in advance. Essays must be completed in class during exam time.
NO MAKE-UP EXAMS WILL BE ALLOWED. If you miss an exam you will receive a zero for that grade. Due to the nature of the exams (slide identification), if you arrive late you will not be allowed to enter the exam.
Final grades are available through Webadvisor.
Incompletes: Incompletes will only be given according to RCC policy and only for students who are in good standing (i.e., student does not have excessive absences and all work submitted has received passing grades). Disabilities Please let me know by the end of the second class at the latest if you have a learning or physical disability which will require accommodation. If you have some physical, emotional, or psychiatric disability or limitation that may affect your academic performance, please contact the Disabled Student Services office (222-8060 @ Riverside Campus). They will make an assessment, and offer support, alternatives, accommodations, and options. You may also want to keep me informed of your situation.
**A Note on Plagiarism As you should be aware, Riverside Community College enforces strict standards as regards to academic honesty, and students may fail the course or be dismissed from the College for breaches of these standards. Plagiarism is an offence to offer as one’s own work the words, ideas, or arguments of another person without appropriate attribution by quotation, reference, or footnote. Plagiarism is further defined as occurring when the words of another are reproduced without acknowledgment or when the ideas or arguments of another are paraphrased and presented in such a way as to lead the reader to believe that they originated with the writer. In light of this, please note that: blatantly intentional plagiarism – i.e. piecemeal or wholesale appropriation of text from one or more printed or internet source – will result in a ‘Fail’ grade for the course and prosecution to the full extent of RCC policy. plagiarism by default – i.e. uncredited adoption of ideas from source texts due to carelessness in referencing – will result in a ‘Fail’ grade for the project in question and, if not rectified, a ‘Fail’ grade for the course.
**All information subject to change at the instructor's discretion
CLASS CALENDAR:
Week 1, Feb 13, 15: Introduction to course and history of art. Chapter 14: Late Medieval Italy
Week 2, Feb 22: Chapters 14 and 15: Late Medieval Italy and Later Medieval and Early Renaissance Northern Europe *Read: Pinkus “Guido da Siena and the Four Modes of Violence” and excerpts from de Voragine’s “The Golden Legends” about St. Erasmus on the Saint Wiki: http://saintwiki.com/index.php? title=Golden_Legend,_Life_of_St._Erasmus **NO CLASS MONDAY
Week 3, Feb 27, Mar 1: Chapter 16, The Renaissance in Quattrocento Italy *Read: Guzik “Visual Forms, Visceral Themes: Understanding Bodies, Pain, and Torture in Renaissance Art” and Baxandall “Painting and Experience: The Body and Its Language”
Week 4, Mar 6, 8: Chapters 16 and 17, The Renaissance in Quattrocento Italy and Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy *Read: Clifton “Gender and Shame in Masaccio’s Expulsion from the Garden of Eden” and Martin: “The Nude Figure in Renaissance Art” **Writing Assignment 1 Due March 8
Week 5, Mar 13, 15: Chapters 16 and 17, The Renaissance in Quattrocento Italy and Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy *Read: Woods-Marsden “The Meaning of the European Painted Portrait, 1400-1650” and Clark “The Nude”
Week 6, Mar 20, 22: Chapter 18, High Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain *Read: H. Perry Chapman “Self-Portraiture 1400-1700”
**EXAM 1 Wednesday March 22
Week 7, Mar 27, 29: Chapters 18 and 19, High Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain and The Baroque in Italy and Spain *Read: Magill “Reviving Martyrdom: Interpretations of the Catacombs in Cesare Baronio’s Patronage”
Week 8, April 3, 5: Chapters 19, The Baroque in Italy and Spain *Read: Foucault “Las Meninas”, and Searle “Las Meninas and the Paradoxes of Pictorial Representation” **Research Paper Abstracts Due April 5**
**SPRING BREAK APRIL 10-12**
Week 9, April 17, 19: Chapter 20, The Baroque in Northern Europe *Read: De Clippel “Defining Beauty: Rubens’s Female Nudes” **Preparing Research Paper Discussion, April 19
Week 10, April 24, 26: Chapter 21, Rococo and Neoclassicism: The 18th Century in Europe and America *Read: Palin: “Women, Art, and Revolution: Feminine Symbolism and Democracy in Revolution Era France” *2nd Writing Assignment Due April 24
Week 11, May 1, 3: Chapter 22 Romanticism, Realism, Photography: Europe and America, 1800-1870 *Read: Berger “Ways of Seeing” and Mulvey “Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema” **EXAM II Wednesday May 3
Week 12, May 8, 10: Chapter 23 Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism: Europe and America 1870-1900 *Read: Butler “Bodies that Matter” and Fahey “A Taste for the Transgressive: Pushing Body Limits in Contemporary Performance Art
Week 13, May 15, 17: Chapter 24 Modernism in Europe and America 1900-1945 *Read: Hernandez “ The Tortured Body, the Photograph, and the U.S. War on Terror”
Week 14, May 22, 24: Chapter 25 Modernism and Postmodernism in Europe and America 1945-1980 and **Student Presentations on the 24th
Week 15, May 31: Student Presentations
Week 16, FINAL EXAM MONDAY JUNE 5 @ 11:00 AM