_______________________________________________________________ -Developing A Creative Thinking Culture In The Visual Arts- AP Art History Syllabus ILLINOIS FINE ARTS STATE GOAL 27: Understand the role of the arts in civilizations, past and present. INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION NAME: Craig R. West Course Title: AP Art History Course Number: P80/81 Prerequisite: Sophomore or Junior Status, Teacher Recommendation, Intro to World Civilizations or World History and Literature Level: College Prep Department: District 227 Visual Arts Instructor Email: [email protected] Course Description Advanced Placement Art History is a college level course that studies the history of art from 8000 B.C.E to the present, and is intended to prepare students for the AP Art History Exam. This course involves intensive study in how art has impacted society and world history. The central and key enduring questions that are addressed in this course include the following: What is art and how is it made? Why and how does art change? How do we describe our thinking about art? Through these essential questions, students uniquely explore the big ideas of AP Art History, effectively and precisely articulating an artwork’s meaning and function, it’s maker’s methodology, and the ways it reflects and affects its historical and cultural context. With these enduring questions as the foundation, the AP Art History course is organized into ten cultural and chronological units, emphasizing daily practice of questioning techniques, methods of discussion, analytical paradigms, guided discovery, and independent learning. These strategies and techniques enable students to develop critical thinking and visual literacy skills with which they can deeply extract meaning from any artwork they encounter throughout their lives. Students who take the AP Art History exam in May will have the opportunity to earn college credit for this class. Course Objectives The AP Art History course will enable students to: *Understand the nature of art, art making, and our responses to it *Develop and in-depth understanding of individual works of art from diverse cultures. *Think critically about both history and art. *Understand the concept of context and contextual analysis as it relates to both European and non-European visual works of art across cultures and throughout history. *Learn to identify common characteristics among diverse artworks based on periods/styles and themes. *Cultivate an appreciation for all styles of art. *Synthesize the interrelationship of the elements and principles of design in visual images. *Convey knowledge of techniques, media, and processes of the three major art forms. *Relate works of art to their proper cultural and historical origins. Required Textbook Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages. 14th ed. Boston, MA: Thomson-Wadsworth, 2009. Supplemental Readings excerpted from: *Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about Art. Harper Collins, 2008. *Khan Academy and Smart History websites *Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Cothren. Art History. 3rded. Pearson. 2007 *Various museum websites *Various articles & other handouts Course Curriculum Framework: The Advanced Placement Art History course is constructed around a set of 3 guiding concepts (Big Ideas and attendant Essential Questions), 12 learning objectives, a set of 4 themes (and subthemes), and a specific set of 250 works of art. *Big Idea 1: Artists manipulate materials and ideas to create an aesthetic object, act, or event. What is art and how is it made? 1.1: Students differentiate the components of form, function, content, and/or context of a work of art 1.2: Students explain how artistic decisions about art making shape a work of art 1.3: Students describe how context influences artistic decisions about creating a work of art 1.4: Students analyze form, function, content, and/or context to infer or explain the possible Intentions for creating a specific work of art. *Big Idea 2: Art making is shaped by tradition and change. Why and how does art change? 2.1: Students describe features of tradition and /or change in a single work of art or in a group of related works. 2.2: Students explain how and why specific traditions and/ or changes are demonstrated in a Single work or in a group of related works. 2.3: Students analyze the influence of a single work of art or a group of related works on other Artistic production. *Big Idea 3: Interpretations of art are variable. How do we describe our thinking about art? 3.1: Students identify a work of art 3.2: Students analyze how formal qualities and/ or content of a work of art elicit/s a response. 3.3: Students analyze how contextual variables lead to different interpretations of a work of art 3.4: Students justify attribution of an unknown work of art 3.5: Students analyze relationships between works of art based on their similarities and Differences *Themes Natural World Human Body Individual and Society Knowledge and Belief *Subthemes Conflict/Harmony Life Cycles (Birth,Death/Mourning) Converging Cultures Inner Visions/States of Mind/Emotions Display Private/Public Domestic Life Text and Image History/Memory Performance (includes ritual and ceremony) Identity (race, class, gender) Urban Experience Power Pilgrimage *Works of art (the 250 image list): At the minimum, students are required to understand 250 works of art from 10 content areas. Each of the content areas was designed upon specific foundational knowledge. Many more works of art will be discussed in class in order to provide a full context for the required 250 works. *AP Art History Ten Content Unit Areas: The ten content areas that are covered by the 250 required works of art are: 1. Global Prehistory from 30,000 to 500 BCE (11 works, 4%) 2. Ancient Mediterranean from 3,500 BCE to 300 CE (36 works, 15%) 3. Early Europe & Colonial Americas from 200 CE to 1750 CE (51 works, 20%) 4. Late Europe & Americas from 1750 to 1980 CE (54 works, 22%) 5. Indigenous Americas from 1000 BCE to 1980 CE (14 works, 6%) 6. Africa from 1100 to 1980 CE (14 works, 6%) 7. West & Central Asia from 500 BCE to 1980 CE (11 works, 4%) 8. South, East, & Southeast Asia from 300 BCE to 1980 CE (21 works, 8%) 9. The Pacific from 700 to 1980 CE (11 works, 4%) 10. Global Contemporary from 1980 to present (27 works, 11%) Assignments & Projects: Daily/Weekly * Students are required to read approximately one chapter per week from their primary textbook as well as complete supplemental readings from Web sites, articles, and other texts. *Videos are shown to supplement and reinforce textbook knowledge and the three big ideas covered in the course framework. Students are required to take textbook, reading, and video notes to prepare for short quizzes. *Students will complete an analysis graphic organizer for 4-6 artworks per chapter. The graphic organizers will include the following information for each artwork: identification, period/culture, subject/iconography, style/technique, and significance/function/purpose (includes social, political, and religious values of the culture; patronage; art historical/historical significance). *Students will also create comparative graphic organizers to make connections between artworks of the same period/culture as well as to other periods/cultures. *Students should be prepared to answer questions in discussions based on reading assignments. Students will often work in small groups to come up with solutions to problems posed by the teacher, or participate in a game/activity to reiterate learning. *Students will be given a study guide to complete prior to each unit’s test. *Students will be given pop quizzes on reading assignments, as well as an extensive test at the end of each chapter/unit (these will include multiple-choice, short-answer, slide questions, and essays). Other Assignments/Projects *Students will complete several essays based on themes that connect a Western/European artwork with an artwork from outside the European artistic tradition. *Students will work in groups to present artworks from different non-Western cultures based on a common theme that the students choose themselves. Experiencing Art Field Trips & Assigned Chicago Art Scavenger Hunts *Scheduled field trips to local museums and institutions of higher learning are very important for a comprehensive understanding of the AP Art History content. We will assign scavenger hunts, and schedule field trips to the following places: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Historical Museum, DuSable Art Museum, South Side Community Art Center, Elliot Donnelley Youth Center, Smart Museum of Art University of Chicago, National Museum of Mexican Art, Navy Pier. *Students will complete several Chicago Art Scavenger Hunt Activities that will require students to seek out and explore numerous community art treasures that are housed in the Chicago-land area. Chicago has a rich tradition of artworks that were created to encourage and promote cultural pride and visual representation. As a result of going on these field trips and completing assigned Chicago Art Scavenger Hunt Activities, students are provided opportunities to analyze relationships between works of art across cultures and from different content areas. Students are also provided opportunities to experience and appreciate Chicago Architecture. Required Supplies: Students will need to bring the following items to class weekly: A 3-Ring Binder Flash Cards 4” x 6” blank index cards Lined Paper/Notebooks Highlighters Pens, pencils, erasers Binder dividers (4) Student Evaluation/Grades: 50% Formative Assessments-Quizzes, Class Work, Notes, Visuals for group work, and Binder organization 40% Summative Assessments-Tests, Exams, Projects, and Presentations, Journal 10% Homework-Readings (highlighted, outlined, handouts for class discussions, etc.) Make-Up Tests The student is required to take the make-up test within (2) two days of the original test date. Should the student miss the make-up test (which is the same one given in class), a different test will be assigned. The reason or purpose behind this is so that tests and quizzes may be discussed in class promptly.