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JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AH 144"
COURSE NAME: "World Art IV: Visual Culture of the Modern and Contemporary World"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2020
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Carolyn Smyth
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: MW 1:30-2:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This survey course focuses on the art of Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania from the 1700s to the present. The course investigates all media, including photography, and considers the impact of globalization and new technologies on contemporary art and evidence of cross-cultural influences. Special attention will be given to the new aesthetic languages, traditional cultural sources, and philosophical background of contemporary art, as well as to the broader cultural-historical contexts of their creation. The course will also assist students in cultivating basic art-historical skills, in particular description, stylistic analysis, and iconographic and iconological analysis.
SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
This survey course focuses on the art of Europe and the Americas from the industrial and political revolutions of 1700s to the present. The course investigates all media, including photography, but focuses on painting and sculpture until the post-modern period. It considers the impact of globalization and new technologies on contemporary art and evidence of cross-cultural influences since the 1700s. Special attention will be given to the new aesthetic languages, traditional cultural sources, and philosophical background of modern and contemporary art, as well as to the broader cultural-historical contexts of their creation. The course will also assist students in cultivating basic art-historical skills, such as visual analysis, and basic methods in art history.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

-Recognize key works and issues in modern and contemporary art.

-Develop an understanding of the chronology and development of art since the 18th-century.

- Recognize and reason about the contributions of influential artists and art historians 

-Exercise critical thinking while looking, reading, writing and speaking about modern and contemporary art.

-Identify, analyze and interpret significant aspects and themes in the history of art within different social and historical contexts.

-Evaluate the ways that art as is shaped by dynamic social and cultural interactions.

-Develop technical vocabulary appropriate to the field of art history, communication and, more generally, to our image-based culture.

-Learn to visually analyze works in relation to other genres and other bodies of knowledge — scientific, political, economic, intellectual

-Formulate and develop critical and rigorous arguments, especially in essays and presentations; find and evaluate pertinent, high-quality sources and information.

-Structure and effectively communicate ideas and information orally and in writing; understand how to convey ideas and information visually.

-Develop an aptitude at visual analysis and the contextualization of works in different histories.

-Formulate an interpretative argument and draw out observations on the cultural outlook, norms and histories that influenced the production, creation and reception of the works under discussion.

TEXTBOOK:
NONE
REQUIRED RESERVED READING:
NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:
NONE
GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:
AssignmentGuidelinesWeight
Midterm examinationThree short answer questions concerning the material discussed in the first half of the course. Three image identifications. Three slide comparisons (for which the images are pre-identified).The midterm exam is designed to assess understanding of the historical development of modern art, knowledge of key individuals and works. Details, guidelines and a mock midterm will be provided at midterm review. 30%
EssayA 7-page paper (Times 12 point font, double spaced, formatted for A4 paper) submitted via Moodle. Choose, in accordance with the professor, one work from the GNAM (during our museum visit c. week 7). Your paper is expected to provide a visual analysis of the work that feeds your over-arching argument. Details of how to work, what to look for, and how to organize your materials will be provided during our paper workshop. Start working on your paper as soon as you have chosen your work, you’ll need the time to do some basic research on the object, to organize and outline your arguments before you start writing. Once you have a first draft, consider running it by the Writing Center. 30%
Final examinationThree short answer questions concerning the material discussed in the second half of the course. Three image identifications from the second half of the course. Three cumulative slide comparisons of works since the beginning of the course (for which the images are pre-identified). Comparisons are mini-essays: they should be reasoned out, argued, and critically savvy. The final exam is designed to assess understanding of the historical development of modern and contemporary art, knowledge of key individuals and works and critical debates, past and present. Details, guidelines and a mock final exam will be provided during final course review. 40%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:

AH 144 World Art IV: Visual Culture of the Modern and Contemporary meets

MW 1:30-2:45 PM in Spring 2020.
Attendance is obligatory.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.
STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

COURSE SCHEDULE

 

Week 1.1: 

Course introduction: scope, issues, requirements

 

Week 1.2: 

Histories of modern art — on evolution and teleology

No required reading

Week 2.1: 

Academies and the Grand Tour: norms and networks

No required reading

 

Week 2.2:  

Revolution!

Required reading: Boime 1987 (from Art in an Age of Revolution 1750-1800)

 

Week 3.1: 

Neoclassicism (1)

Required reading: Irwin 1997 (from Neoclassicism)

 

Week 3.2:  

Neoclassicism (2)

Required reading: Ingres c. 1820-1848 (from Ingres’ Notebooks)

 

Week 4.1:  

Romanticism 

Required reading: Delacroix 1822-1824 (from Delacroix’s Journals);

      Friedrich c. 1830 (“Observations on Viewing a Collection of Paintings”)

 

Week 4.2: 

Naturalism and Realism

Required reading: Courbet 1855 (“Statement on Realism”)

 

Week 5.1:  

Academic and “independent” art 

Required reading: Manet 1865 (Excerpts from critical reactions to Manet’s Olympia)

 

Week 5.2: 

Impressionism

Required reading: Eisenman 1986 (“The intransigent artist or how the Impressionists got their name")

 

Week 6.1:

Post-Impressionism (1)

Required reading: Shiff 1984 (from Cézanne and the End of Impressionism)

 

Week 6.2: 

Post-Impressionism (2)

Required reading: - Fénéon 1887 ( “Neo-Impressionism”)

                  - Denis 1890 and 1903(”Definition of Neotraditionism” and

“The Influence of Paul Gauguin”)

 

Week 7.1 

Fauvism and Expressionism

Required reading: Matisse 1908 and 1947(“Notes of a Painter” and “Exactitude is not Truth”)

 

Week 7.2  

Cubism

Required reading: Fry 1966 (“The History of Cubism”)

 

 

Week 8.1 

Futurism

Required reading: Marinetti 1909 (First Futurist Manifesto)

 

Week 9.1:  

Constructivism and Suprematism

Required reading: Tatlin 1919 (”The Initiative Individual in the Collective”) and

      Malevitch 1927 )“Suprematism”)

 

Week 9.2: 

Midterm review and final paper workshop

 

Week 10.1: 

Midterm examination

 

Week 10.2: 

Bauhaus and De Stijl

Required reading: Gropius 1923 (“Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus”)

 

Week 11.1: 

Dada, Duchamp and Art between the two World Wars

Required reading: Harrison and Wood 1993 (“Introduction to Rationalization and Transformation”)

 

Week 11.2:
Surrealism

Required reading: Aragon (et alii) 1925 (“Declaration of the Bureau of Surrealist Research”)

 

Week 12.1: 

Abstract Expressionism

Required reading: Greenberg 1961 (“Modernist Painting”)

 

Week 12.2: 

Pop Art

Required reading: - Hamilton 1961 (“For the Finest Art, Try Pop”)

      - Warhol 1963 (“Interview with Gene Swenson”)

 

Week 13.1:  

Minimalism and Conceptual Art; Site-Specific and Environmental Art

Required reading: - Fried 1967 (“Art and Objecthood”)

      - Smithson 1968  ( “A Sedimentation of the Mind: Earth Projects”)

Week 13.2: 

Happenings, Performance art; the Politics of Institutional Critique and Postmodernism (1)

Required reading: - Haacke 1974 (“Statement”)

    -  Lyotard 1982 (“What is Postmodernism?”)

 

Week 14.1: 

Post-modern practices (2): The Return of Painting and Figuration;

Required reading: - Trachtman 2007 (Figuration in Contemporary Painting)

      - Bourriaud 2002 (“Relational Aesthetics” note: only pages 11-24)

Week 14.2: 

Course Review and PAPER DUE

 

Week 15: 

Final Exam