A Journey Through Time and Cultures: An Art History College Course Syllabus

This one-semester world art history course embarks on a fascinating exploration of art across diverse time periods and continents, with a central focus on artworks that narrate stories of cross-cultural exchange. By delving into art’s history, we cultivate empathy for both past populations and cultures distinct from our own. The course investigates the power of art in historical perspective. It focuses on Euro-American traditions of art, the social and cultural practices that defined them, and the analytic tools available to help us interpret the diverse meanings and functions of art works in the past and at present.

Course Overview

This course framework provides a clear and detailed description of the course requirements necessary for student success. The framework specifies what students must know, be able to do, and understand, with a focus on the big ideas that encompass core principles, theories, and processes of the discipline. The AP Art History framework is organized into 10 commonly taught units of study that provide one possible sequence for the course.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

Demonstrate a broad understanding of art history from a global perspective.
Analyze works of art from various cultures and time periods, considering their historical and cultural contexts.
Identify and discuss key artistic movements, styles, and techniques.
Articulate the role of art in shaping societies, cultures, and individual identities.
Develop critical thinking and analytical skills for interpreting art.
Improve written and oral communication skills through assignments and class discussions.

Unit 1: Prehistoric Art and the Dawn of Civilization

This unit commences with an image of a woman created on a rock wall from around 6000 B.C.E. in Northern Africa. In ancient Egypt, between 5000-3000 B.C.E. When a culture didn’t have written language, or used a language we have not been able to translate, interpreting the meaning of a work of art or a site can be difficult.

Unit 2: Ancient Greece and Rome: Ideals of Beauty and Power

What do Polykleitos’s Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer) and the Parthenon have in common? Mummy of Herakleides, 120-140 C.E.

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Unit 3: Art of Asia: Belief Systems and Cultural Exchange

This unit begins by exploring the cosmology of Han China and ends with the Kaaba and the Dome of the Rock, the most sacred structures in the Muslim faith. Mirror with game board design and animals of the four directions, 1st-2nd century C.E.

Unit 4: Art of Africa: Diversity and Tradition

The diversity of societies, languages, and cultures in Africa is unique in the world and the continent’s art responds to both ancient traditions and modern urban life. Double Egg Pendant from Igbo-Ukwu, Nigeria, c.

Unit 5: Art of the Americas: Indigenous Cultures and Colonial Encounters

The Indigenous peoples of the Americas created works of art and architecture that both built on and diverged from the traditions established by their ancestors. In the 16th century, Europeans began colonizing, enslaving people, and extracting resources in the Americas. Terraces visible at left, Machu Picchu, Peru, c. Yoke, c. 1-900 C.E.

Unit 6: Art of Oceania: Connecting Cultures Across the Pacific

Although the Pacific is the largest ocean in the world, it’s seen as a connector rather than a separator by Oceania’s varied cultures.

Unit 7: Medieval Art in Europe: Faith and Patronage

Unit 8: Renaissance and Baroque Art: Humanism and Grandeur

Unit 9: Art from the Enlightenment to the Early 20th Century: Revolution and Modernity

Engaging selected works-from paintings to prints to other kinds of crafted objects-and artistic developments from the fourteenth to the twentieth-first century, we will examine changing conceptions of the artist, the work of art, and the discipline of art history. Throughout, we will attend to questions of gender and representation, patronage and politics, the meanings of materials, as well as the impact of new technologies and of historical interactions between Europe, America, and the wider world: How did devotional practices, science, colonialism, and global trade shape Euro-American conceptions of art and artists? How do institutions such as the art market, the art museum and the temporary exhibition define what is and isn’t art?

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Unit 10: Global Contemporary, 1980 C.E.

Course Structure

The course will consist of lectures, readings, discussions, and writing assignments. Lectures will provide an overview of key concepts and historical periods, while readings will offer more in-depth analysis of specific artworks and artistic movements. Class discussions will provide an opportunity for students to share their ideas and engage with the material in a more interactive way.

In addition to lectures, the course includes weekly recitation meetings that are designed specifically for you to discuss readings and images, and to exchange ideas with fellow students.

Required Readings

There is no textbook for this course. If you think one would be helpful to you (which some students do), any recent edition of Hugh Honour and John F. Fleming’s The Visual Arts: A History is recommended. Hugh Honour and John F. Fleming, The Visual Arts: A History. Laurence King Publishing, 2009.

Readings are assigned for each lecture. All assigned readings are mandatory and will be discussed and debated in class and in recitation meetings.

Course Requirements and Grading

Regular attendance at lectures and recitations is required and engagement in class discussion is expected. In calculating your participation grade, your preparedness for discussion and the quality of your contributions will be taken into account, as will your punctuality, your civility and your attendance.

The course requirements include three double-spaced writing assignments varying in length from c. 4-8 pages depending on the topic (15% each). Please note: Late papers may be penalized. Exceptions will only be made in special circumstances and after consultation with the professor.

There will be two exams in this class, a midterm (15%) and a final exam (25%). If you miss an exam for a non-medical reason, you will receive a grade of zero for the test in question. You will not be permitted to retake the exam.

Class Participation (10%): Active engagement in class discussions and recitation meetings.
Writing Assignments (45%): Three analytical papers on selected topics.
Midterm Exam (15%): An in-class exam covering the first half of the course material.
Final Exam (25%): A comprehensive exam covering the entire course material.

Course Policies

Academic Integrity: Plagiarism-the use of another’s intellectual work without acknowledgement-is a serious offense. Students who plagiarize or hand in work completed by another will receive an automatic grade of “F” for the course. You will also be referred to the appropriate Institute committees.

Technology in the Classroom: Smartphones may not be used at any time for any reason during class. Students may not use laptop computers or tablets during class without the express permission of the instructor. Permission will be granted only for the purpose of note-taking if other means constitute a burden to an individual student.

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