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The Minor in Art History

Laptop Requirement

To complete this program, the student must have the use of a laptop computer. Please consult with the department for current hardware and software requirements. Students qualify to receive special education discounts on computers and software sold through the Associated Students Bookstore (an Apple authorized campus store). For some programs, in an effort to lower student expenses, bundles consisting of a specially priced Apple laptop computer with the program's required software will be made available at the beginning of each academic year through the Associated Students Bookstore. This laptop computer package is expected to serve the student for the entire length of the program.

Course Requirements for the Minor: 21 units

The following courses, or their approved transfer equivalents, are required of all candidates for this minor.

1 course required:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
ARTH 110 Art History Survey   3.0 FS  GE
Survey of the major visual arts of the Ancient World through the Middle Ages. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. (000705)

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
ARTH 120 Art History Survey: Renaissance to 1800   3.0 FS  GE
Survey of the major visual arts of Europe and the U.S. from the Renaissance to 1800. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. (021083)
ARTH 130 Art History Survey: 1800 to the Present   3.0 FS  GE  USD
Survey of the major visual arts of Europe and the U.S. from 1800 to the Present. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. This is an approved US Diversity course. (021084)

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
ARTH 140 Far Eastern Art Survey   3.0 FS  GC
Survey of the major visual arts of India, China, and Japan from the prehistoric to the nineteenth-century period. An emphasis on the traditional Buddhist, Taoist, and Shinto arts. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved Global Cultures course. Formerly ARTH 103. (000707)
ARTH 150 Survey of Arts of the Americas, Oceania, and Africa   3.0 FS  GE  GC
A survey of visual arts, including Pre-Columbian, Post-Columbian, Native American, Islamic, and African. These arts will be placed in their historical, social, and religious contexts. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. This is an approved Global Cultures course. Formerly ARTH 104. (000709)

4 courses selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
ARTH 400 Art History Issues   3.0 FS  
In-depth investigation of certain special areas of interest in art history based upon particular faculty competencies and student interest. 3 hours lecture. You may take this course more than once for a maximum of 9.0 units. (000856)
ARTH 411 Greek Art   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 110.
In-depth study of the art and architecture of the Greek world during the Bronze Age, Aegean, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods. An emphasis will be placed upon understanding the development of the Greek artistic concepts, such as idealism and realism, within their cultural and political context. 3 hours lecture. (000858)
ARTH 412 Roman Art   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 110.
In-depth study of the art and architecture of the Roman world covering the Etruscan, Republican, Early and Late Imperial periods. An emphasis will be placed upon understanding the Roman character of Roman art and architecture, as well as domestic life through the arts as found at Pompeii, Herculaneus, etc. 3 hours lecture. (000860)
ARTH 413 Medieval Art   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 110.
In-depth study of the art and architecture of the Middle Ages, with an emphasis on the Romanesque and Gothic periods in France and England. The course will cover great cathedrals, such as Notre Dame of Paris, Chartres, Amiens, etc., and their sculpture and stained glass decorations. The course will also provide an understanding of the nature of style change and development from the Classical to the Medieval periods. 3 hours lecture. (000843)
ARTH 421 Northern Renaissance and Mannerist Art   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 120.
An investigation of the arts of Northern Europe and Spain during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, with emphasis upon the Netherlands' development of oil painting. The scriptoria and illuminations of the International Style, the Limbourg Brothers, the Master of Flemale, Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, Van der Goes, Bosch, Schongauer, Grunewald, Durer, Cranach, Charoton, Fouques, Berruguete, Bruegel, Holbein, and the Tutor Mannerist Style; reciprocal influences with the Italian Renaissance of Italy will be covered. 3 hours lecture. (000845)
ARTH 423 Baroque and Rococo Art   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 120.
An investigation of form and content in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European painting, printmaking, sculpture, architecture, gardens, and decorative arts. Protestant and Catholic visual languages and patronage will be compared. The impact on art of exploration and colonial expansion, war, and revolution, as well as developments in education and technology, will be explored, along with influences on European art from the Orient. Some of the artists to be covered are Caravaggio, Bernini, Leyster, Gentileschi, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velazques, Hogarth, and Vigee-Lebrun. 3 hours lecture. (000849)
ARTH 431 Nineteenth-Century European Art: 1800-1850   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 130.
An investigation of form and content in European painting, printmaking, sculpture, and architecture during the first half of the nineteenth century. Attitudes toward observation versus invention, and originality versus eclecticism, common to Romantic, Neoclassical, and Realistic artists will be examined. Writings by philosophers, artists, and critics such as Burke and Runge will be analyzed, as well as the effect on art of the industrial revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and progress in the fields of education and science. Issues related to gender and to Non-Western peoples will be discussed. Some of the artists to be covered are Bonheur, Delacroix, Friedrich, Goya, Ingres, and Turner. 3 hours lecture. (000774)
ARTH 432 Nineteenth-Century European Art: 1850-1900   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 130.
An investigation of form and content in European painting, printmaking, sculpture, architecture, and decorative arts during the second half of the nineteenth century. Attitudes toward observation versus invention, and originality versus eclecticism, common to Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Symbolist, and Expressionist artists will be examined. Writings by philosophers, artists, and critics, such as Ruskin and Van Gogh, will be analyzed. Issues related to gender and to Non-Western peoples will be discussed, as well as the effect on art of the Industrial Revolution, wars, and progress in the fields of education and science. Some of the artists to be covered are Cassatt, Cezanne, Gaugin, Manet, Monet, Marisot, Modersohn-Becker, Seurat, and Munch. 3 hours lecture. (000776)
ARTH 433 European Art: Twentieth Century   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH130.
An investigation of the European Avant-Garde of the first half of the century: Modernism, Cubism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Futurism, Constructivism, Dada, Neue Sachlichkeit, the Bauhaus, and Surrealism in painting, sculpture, architecture, and performance art. These movements will be related to music, dance, literature, theater, and to the European social, intellectual, and political ambience of the period up to and including World War II, when key European artist refugees arrived in the United States. Such artists as Marcel Duchamp, Kathe Kodwitz, and Pablo Picasso will be considered. 3 hours lecture. (000777)
ARTH 441 Contemporary Art: 1980-present   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 130.
An investigation of artists and issues that have occupied the global contemporary art world since 1980. 3 hours lecture. (000838)
ARTH 451 American Art   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 130.
This course investigates the development of American art from the Colonial period to World War II. It concentrates on painting, but also considers sculpture, architecture, photography, as well as decorative and folk arts. Artists to be explored at some depth include Benton, Cole, Henri, Homer, Krasner, Lawrence, O'Keefe, Pollack, Rivers, and West. Art will be presented in its social and historical contexts. The roles played by museums, galleries, and art schools, and the influence of collectors and dealers will be examined. Mutual influences between American and European, Non-Western, and Ethnic cultures will be discussed. 3 hours lecture. (000835)
ARTH 471 Ancient Mexican Art   3.0 INQ  
A survey of ancient Mexican art and culture of formative, classic, conquest, including the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Mxtec, Classic Gulf Coast, Toltec, and Aztec. Sites discussed include El Tajin, La Venta, Monte Alban, Milta, Tula, and Tenochtitlan 3 hours lecture. (000841)
ARTH 472 Maya Art   3.0 INQ  
An investigation of the art of the ancient Maya of Mexico and Central America prior to European contact, from the Preclassic to Postclassic periods. The relationship of art to religious beliefs and practices will be explored, as well as the development of local styles associated with royal courts. Sites discussed include Tikal, Palenque, Copan, Uxmal, and Chichen Itza 3 hours lecture. (020618)
ARTH 473 Meso-American/Colonial Art   3.0 INQ  
Prerequisites: ARTH 120.
 This course is also offered as CHST 473.
A survey of Mexican art and culture from the Cortesian Conquest, the Colonial Period of monastery- and church-building, the Revolution of 1810, the Revolution of 1910, and the painters of the great revolutionary mural movement that followed, Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueriros, to contemporary artists who have tended toward international pluralism. Attention is given to the process of acculturation that produced the modern Mexican peoples, their national character, and their contemporary art. 3 hours lecture. (000842)
ARTH 474 Ancient Andean Art   3.0 INQ  
An investigation of the art of Peru and adjacent regions prior to European contact. The relationship of art to religious beliefs and practices, political ideologies, and the significance of styles and technologies are examined. Cultures surveyed include Chavin, Paracas, Nasca, Moche, Tiwanaku, and Inka, as well as the Northern Andean civilizations such as San Agustin. 3 hours lecture. (020619)
ARTH 475 American Indian Art   3.0 INQ  
Investigation of the traditional and contemporary arts and cultures of the Amerindian and Eskimo of the continental United States, Canada, and Alaska. Six major culture areas will be examined: the Arctic, Pacific Northwest, California, the Southwest, and Eastern Woodlands, and the florescent cultures of the Plains and Intermontane. Such problems as a definition of Indian Art, transoceanic contact, acculturation, and the moral and ethical questions posed by Indian Rights will be considered. 3 hours lecture. (000852)
ARTH 476 African Art   3.0 INQ  
An investigation of the arts and cultures of the African continent, with major emphasis upon the Negroid peoples south of the Sahara, the medieval kingdoms of the Sudan and the rain forest cultures and great civilizations of Ife, Benin, and the Congo, the sculpture, painting, body art, architecture, music, dance, belief systems, aural tradition of folklore, and reciprocal influences with other continents will be considered. 3 hours lecture. (000853)
ARTH 480 Early History of Interiors, Furnishings, and Architecture   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 110, ARTH 120.
This survey acquaints students with the language of form and space and stylistic vocabularies related to interiors, furnishings, and architecture from the Egyptians through 18th century European. Some aspects of Asian and Islamic furnishings and decorative arts will be included as influences on European design. 3 hours lecture. (000775)
ARTH 481 Modern History of Interiors, Furnishings, and Architecture   3.0 FS  
Prerequisites: ARTH 130.
Survey of the language of form and space and stylistic vocabularies related to interiors, furnishings, and architecture for 19th and 20th century European and American art from the Colonial period. Styles such as Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Bauhaus, Memphis, and Post Modern will be addressed, and architects and designers such as William Morris, Frank Lloyd Wright, Eileen Gray, and LeCorbusier will be included. 3 hours lecture. (000778)
ARTH 482 Film as Visual Art   3.0 FS  
The visual aspect of film (without which there would be no film), a history of film imagery, analysis of aesthetic aspects of montage, examination of relationships between film and major nineteenth and twentieth century art movements, avant-garde and underground film, recent developments, including experiments in video and computer-generated imagery. Innovative filmmakers such as Maya Deren and Hans Richter will be studied. 3 hours lecture. (000780)
ARTH 484 History of Photography   3.0 FS  
The development of photography from roots in classical and medieval discoveries to the present, its role in historical documentation, its reciprocal influence upon the arts, its contribution to science, and its importance as an extension of human vision. Non-silver processes and fusion of photography with computer and other media will be examined. Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Alfred Stieglitz, and Edward Weston are among the photographers to be considered. 3 hours lecture. (000773)
Catalog Cycle:13