Course Descriptions

Art and Art History

ART 105: Art History I (AH) (1)
Surveys painting, sculpture and architecture with emphasis on the Western world from their origins in prehistory through the Middle Ages. While the focus of the course is on Western traditions, issues and works from non-Western cultures are also treated. The course aims to develop a sense of visual literacy and an iconographic knowledge of art while examining key works in various historical, religious, political, philosophical and socio-cultural contexts.SLindquist

ART 106: Art History II (AH) (1)
Surveys the painting, sculpture and architecture of the Western world from the Renaissance to the present. While the focus of the course is on Western traditions, issues and works from non-Western cultures are also treated. The course aims to develop a sense of visual literacy and an iconographic knowledge of art while examining key works in various historical, religious, political, philosophical and socio-cultural contexts.SLindquist

ART 110: Drawing I (AS) (1)
Drawing is the probity of art, said Ingres. Since drawing is the basis for constructing visual form, ART 110, 210, 310, and 312 constitute an ongoing drawing workshop available to all students every term. Focusing on close observation from nature and working primarily from the life model, issues of composition, proportion, space and volume are addressed as well as issues of the gaze. A variety of media including charcoal, ink wash and collage are explored. ARTSStaff

ART 113: Painting I (AS) (1)
Explores a variety of approaches and attitudes. Fundamentals of color harmony, shape, and space; two and three-dimensional organization of a painted surface. Projects in still life, figure, landscape, and non-objective painting. Grade is based on work presented at weekly group critiques.ARTSStaff

ART 114: Photography I (AS) (1)
Includes fundamentals of exposing, developing, printing, and displaying black and white photographs. Group critiques of class work. Students supply camera, film, printing paper, and mounting supplies. Darkroom facilities and processing chemicals are supplied with a lab fee applied. This course focuses on both technical competence and conceptual creativity.ARTSMGodsil

ART 115: Printmaking I (AS) (1)
Projects in intaglio (etching and drypoint)relief printing techniques, monotypes, mixed media prints, book art and collographs. ARTSTGant

ART 116: Ceramics I (AS) (1)
An introduction to the material and visual foundations of clay art. The course exposes students to several distinct creative uses of clay, including pottery traditions, sculptural and altered vessels, and hand-building. Emphasis is placed equally on developing material skill and visual understanding. Students produce a portfolio of work reflecting their progress over the term. ARTSMHolmes

ART 117: Sculpture I (AS) (1)
An introductory creative exploration of the ideas and practices of contemporary sculpture. The course broadly exposes students to the material, visual, and conceptual foundations of modern and recent sculpture. Students complete four directed and one independent project with the goal of developing specific understandings and creative interests. ARTSMHolmes

ART 118: Graphic Design I (AS) (1)
This course surveys the history, theory, and techniques of graphic design and electronic publishing, with particular focus on print media. Through use of real-world projects, students learn the principles and techniques of publication design and photo editing techniques, using Mac and PC platforms with QuarkXPress, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator.ARTSCCirone

ART 119: Digital Photography I (AS) (1)
Includes fundamentals of composition, proper exposure, and image editing processes. Students may provide a suitable digital camera, or the college will have a limited number of digital cameras for check out. PhotoShop software is used to edit photos, but this is not primarily a course to learn PhotoShop. Weekly group critiques of class work. This course focuses on both technical competence and conceptual creativity. ARTSMGodsil

ART 123: History of Architecture (AH) (1)
Surveys world architecture from the Neolithic to the present. Singles out key monuments and architects for special emphasis, e.g., the Parthenon, Alhambra, Chartres Cathedral, Palladio, Borromini, Frank Lloyd Wright. Staff

ART 163: Landscape Painting (AS) (1)
This is a beginning painting course with a specific emphasis on working from the landscape. We will investigate a variety of approaches when working directly from the landscape or working from memory of a place. Central to the course is Gaston Bachelard's Poetic's of Space, a philosophical study of place - rooms, forests, shells - in the poetic imagination. In conjunction with visual issues such as space color and composition the course will focus on poetic historical and psychological experience of place.ARTSLLombard

ART 202: Greek Art and Architecture (AH) (1)
Greek vase-painting, sculpture, and temple-architecture are surveyed with attention to style and chronology as well as to the political, social, and intellectual contexts in which the works were created. HUMSFineberg

ART 210: Drawing II (AS) (1)
ARTSStaff

ART 213: Painting II (AS) (1)
ARTSLLombard

ART 214: Photography II/Digital Photography II (AS) (1)
Students select one or two photographic projects and explore those in depth. Weekly group critiques of work, and class discussions of assigned readings. Students who have only completed ART 114 will be required to work only in analog black and white film. Students who have only completed ART 119 or JOUR 119 will be required to work only in digital images. Students who have completed both 114 and 119 may work in black and white film or digital or both.ARTSMGodsil

ART 215: Printmaking II (AS) (1)
ARTSTGant

ART 216: Ceramics II (AS) (1)
ARTSMHolmes

ART 217: Sculpture II (AS) (1)
ARTSMHolmes

ART 218: Graphic Design II (1)
This course will further develop graphic design skills with a focus on magazine production. The history of magazines and current trends will be studied. Students will develop a concept and produce a 24-page publication as their final project.CCirone

ART 219: Sculpture From The Figure (AS) (1)
This course will introduce students to making clay sculpture directly from the life model. Students will work on clay sketches, portraits, and sculptures of the entire figure. The practical aspects of armature construction and plaster casting will be explored. Fundamentally, the course will emphasize how principles of rhythm, proportion, volume, gravity, tension and mass create expressive and dynamic form. TGant

ART 221: Native Arts of the Americas: Their History and Cultural Legacy (AH) (1)
Surveys the art of the native peoples of the Americas with a focus on the ancient art of Mesoamerica and the Andes, as well as cultural artifacts of native American Indian peoples. Considers methodological and cultural issues of studying non-Western artistic traditions in conjunction with a critical examination of the cultural legacy of native arts to more recent artistic developments. HUMGGilbert

ART 222: Medieval Art and Architecture (AH) (1)
Early Christian, Byzantine, Carolingian, Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture. Shows how Western art emerged and developed under the influence of classical, near eastern and barbarian traditions. HUMGGilbert

ART 223: Renaissance Art and Architecture (AH) (1)
European architecture, sculpture, and painting of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Emphasis on such major figures as Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Michelangelo, Van Eyck, Durer, Titian, Gentileschi, and Giotto in the context of pictorial and sculptural form and religious, philosophical and cultural beliefs.HUMLLombard

ART 224: Baroque Art and Architecture (AH) (1)
Seventeenth century European painting, sculpture, and architecture. Special attention is given to major artists such as Bernini, Gentileschi, Poussin, Rubens, and Rembrandt in the context of social, political, cultural and religious trends. Particular emphasis is given to such topics as artistic identity, gender, Baroque theories of visuality, and the role of art in relation to Absolutism.HUMGGilbert

ART 225: Nineteenth Century European and American Art and Architecture (AH) (1)
Treats major movements from Neoclassicism to Post-Impressionism and examines artists such as David, Turner, Delacroix, Monet, Cezanne, Rodin, and Van Gogh in the context of political, social, and philosophical trends. HUMGGilbert

ART 226: Twentieth Century European and American Art and Architecture (AH) (1)
Emphasis is primarily on European painting, sculpture, and architecture from 1900 to World War II. Special attention is given to major artists such as Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky and Mondrian with an emphasis on examining modern aesthetic movements in relation to issues of radical and utopian politics, philosophy, spiritualism, psychological theory, and gender. HUMGGilbert

ART 231: African Art History (AH) (1)
Traces the history of African art from ancient Nubia to contemporary work from the Ivory Coast. Encompasses as well the study of ritual, African and western aesthetics and the influences of African art on the art of the West. HUMTGant

ART 232: Japan: Art and Idea (AH) (1)
This course provides a general introduction to Japanese art from the prehistoric period through the present day. The development of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography and print media will be examined in light of various socio-political and historical contexts. Select topical themes include: Shinto and Buddhist art and architecture; imperial and feudal court patronage of the arts; the changing status and role of the artist in Japanese society; the utilization of art to construct national identity and the shifting policies and opinions regarding the values of cross-cultural exchange.HUMStaff

ART 246: Contemporary American and European Art (AH) (1)
Examines key formal and critical developments from the 1940s to the present within a social context. Considers the relation of late modernism and postmodernism to issues of philosophy, cultural history and politics. HUMGGilbert

ART 247: Knox in New York (ASAH) (1)
Knox in New York is a unique course that combines Studio Art and Art History. It is a Fall Term course that extends into Winter Break. At Knox, students participate in a seminar course that focuses on European and New York artists and art movements from the early 20th century to the present. Students should also take a drawing course in preparation for the intensive drawing classes at the New York Studio School. In New York, students visit galleries and museum collections, present a research project, and attend classes and lectures at the Studio School. In the last week, students return to Knox to resolve a body of work based on their experiences in New York. LLombard

ART 248: Teaching Assistant (1/2 or 1)
Staff

ART 250: Independent Study (1/2 or 1)
Staff

ART 258: Studio Seminar (AS) (1)
This studio course will explore the complexities of becoming an artist. As students develop a body of work, issues of form and how we understand meaning will be addressed. Fundamentally, this course defines models and establishes standards for the role of discourse and critical analysis.Staff

ART 261: American Art, Architecture and Culture (AH) (1)
This course is a selected overview of the history of American art from the late eighteenth century through the mid-twentieth century with an emphasis on art as part of a larger material culture related to political, socio-economic and intellectual trends. A major concern is the contribution of visual culture to the conceptualization of American national identity in light of changing views associated with nature, labor, race, gender and sexuality. A special topical issue is the influence of American Transcendental and Pragmatist philosophy on the development of artistic styles and themes. GGilbert

ART 262: Site-Specific Art (AS) (1)
Questions the traditional role of art by taking works outside the studio context and placing them in a public arena. Incorporates performance art, 2-D and 3-D work and installations. Temporary work is installed around campus. Students learn to build preliminary scale models of their proposed projects, as well as procedures necessary for the installation of public works of art. ARTSTGant

ART 295: Special Topics (1/2 or 1)
Courses offered occasionally to students in special areas of Art not covered in the usual curriculum.Staff

ART 310: Drawing III (1)
ART 310-ART 317 Continuing investigations of the methods, concepts and materials of the 200-level courses. Individual development and experimentation are encouraged. ARTSStaff

ART 312: Continuing Life Drawing (AS) (1/2)
LLombard

ART 313: Advanced Painting (AS) (1)
LLombard

ART 314: Advanced Photography/Advanced Digital Photography (AS) (1)
ARTSStaff

ART 315: Advanced Printmaking (AS) (1)
TGant

ART 316: Advanced Ceramics (AS) (1)
MHolmes

ART 317: Advanced Sculpture (AS) (1)
Staff

ART 323: Visual Culture Theory (1)
This course examines the emerging interdisciplinary field of Visual Culture Theory and will introduce students to a study of modern and post-modern discourses on vision and visuality. Drawing from art history, sociology, psychology, film and media studies, Marxism, feminist and post-colonial theory, Visual Culture Theory analyzes the role of visual images in shaping philosophical, cultural, political, racial and sexual notions of identity. The course also investigates the meaning of images in relation to such popular media as photography, film, television, video, animation, advertising, pornography and the digital culture of the web.GGilbert

ART 326: Curriculum Development and Teaching in Art (K-12) (AS) (1)
An independent study course for Art (K-12) specialists. Students examine art materials, activities and instructional methods appropriate for the K-12 classroom, with an emphasis on elementary. Projects are determined through consultation with art teachers in public schools. Staff

ART 342: Interpreting Works of Art (AH) (1)
An overview of the historiography and methodology of art history. Through comparative analysis of interpretive strategies such as formalism, iconography, Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, and semiotics, the benefits and limitations of various methodological and theoretical perspectives are considered and debated. HUMGGilbert

ART 348: Teaching Assistant (1/2 or 1)
Staff

ART 350: Independent Study (1/2 or 1)
Staff

ART 351: Advanced Inter-Media Studio Workshop (1/2 or 1)
Combined studio for advanced students in all media. Emphasizes tools and critical dialogue in a creative context.Staff

ART 390: Open Studio (1 to 3)
Independent study with a faculty mentor. Forty hours a week of studio work. To be taken in the term before student's Senior Show. Required of all studio art majors. Staff

ART 395: Special Topics (1/2 or 1)
Courses offered occasionally to students in special areas of Art not covered in the usual curriculum.Staff

ART 399A: Senior Research in Art History (1)
Independent study of a selected topic with a faculty mentor and production of a research paper. The research paper is also presented in the form of a conference talk at a departmental symposium, in which students answer questions from the audience.Staff

ART 400: Advanced Studies (1/2 or 1)
See College Honors Program. Staff