Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AH 151"
COURSE NAME: "Foundations in Ancient Art"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2022

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Inge Hansen
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course addresses the skills, methods and issues essential to building the future Art Historian’s tool kit. To this end, it develops simultaneously on three levels: immersing students in progressively complex assignments and exams; getting students to practice art history as an issue-based analysis of objects; providing students with the historical and methodological frameworks specific to the field. The course lays the foundation for looking at, understanding and working in the visual arts. The material corpus that the course draws on is primarily the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East, across a period roughly between 2500 BC-AD 300.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The course is structured with a fundamentally chronological approach. This provides a framing ‘scaffold’ to facilitate careful engagement with material across a vast time-span, and establishes a ‘global Mediterranean’ approach as investigative practice.

This allows the course to ask fundamental questions regarding the interconnected character of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East – and how this changes over time, as well as to engage with the abundance of theoretical approaches and critical debates that are essential to understanding artistic practices of the ancient worlds.

The course is organized in four overarching issues, each of which frame a different way to approach art and archaeology: Art in Context, Viewing as process, Art as performer, Art as local and global. As well as providing avenues of in-depth analysis pertinent to the works examined, these issues engage with the theoretical approaches and methods that characterize the analysis of ancient art.

Coursework assignments assist in the analysis and research on works. However, their primary objective is the development of skills essential for working with visual material through lenses such as objects, space, viewership, participation, criticism and reception, and across a variety of media and display conditions. The requirements of formal analysis, of contextual and issue-based analysis, of research, and the relationship between these are addressed in assignments that progressively increase in complexity and train students in the attainment and effective application of art-historical techniques and tools.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Recognize key works and issues in ancient art

• Develop an understanding of the chronology and developments of art and material culture within the arch of the timespan of the course

• Exercise critical thinking while looking, reading, writing and speaking about ancient art

• Identify, analyze and interpret significant aspects and themes in the histories of ancient of art within different social, historical and critical contexts

• Evaluate the ways that art is shaped by dynamic social and cultural interactions

• Recognize and reason about key contributions and approaches to the field of ancient art

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

• Develop technical vocabulary appropriate to the fields of art history, communication, studio art and, more generally, to our image-based culture

• Develop an aptitude at visual analysis and the contextualization of works in different critical frameworks

• Learn to visually analyze works in relation to other genres and other bodies of knowledge — archaeological, political, economic, historical

• Formulate and develop critical and rigorous arguments, especially through assignments; find and evaluate pertinent, high-quality sources and information.

• Structure and effectively communicate ideas and information orally and in writing; understand how ideas and information may be conveyed visually

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number
Egyptian Art in the Days of the Pharaohs	Aldred, C.	Thames and Hudson (1980)	.	N5350.A25
The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece	Barringer, J.	Cambridge University Press (2014)	.	N5630.B27
The Middle East	Bourke, S.	Thames and Hudson (2008)	.	DS62.2.M53 2008
A History of Roman Art	Tuck, S.	Wiley-Blackwell	.	eBook

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Visual Analysis	1. image and full caption (list of essential data to identify the work) 2. visual analysis, maximum 500 words	5%
Contextual analysis and significance	1. image and full caption 2. visual analysis, maximum 500 words 3. context and significance, maximum 500 words	10%
Compare and contrast analysis	1. images and full captions for the two works 2. bullet points of main issues in maximum 250 words	15%
Midterm Exam	Three compare and contrast essays. No guiding question is provided	20%
Research paper	Approximately 1500 words. Students are free to choose the work they want from the list provided; all works are on display in situ or in museums in Rome. The choice of work and research question must be submitted for Professor approval	25%
Final exam	1. One compare and contrast essay. No guiding question is provided 2. Two essays.	25%

-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:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

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

INTRODUCTION

1. Course introduction: scope, issues, requirements.

2. Ancient art: basic tools.

No required reading.

ART IN CONTEXT – INTERCONNECTED WORLDS

3. The Ancient Near East: an urban revolution?

Core reading: Bourke 2008: 58-59, 62-77, 96-97, 102-3

Further reading:Feldman, M.H. (2005) Mesopotamian art. In D.C. Snell (ed.), A companion to the ancient Near East: 281-301. Blackwell; Liverani, M. (2014) The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Routledge; Podany, A. (2014) The Ancient Near East: A very Short Introduction. OUP.

4. Egypt: Pharaonic representation (Old Kingdom)

Core reading: Aldred 1980: 32-40, 69-77

Further reading:Malek, J. (2003) The Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2160). In I. Shaw (ed.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt: 83-107. Oxford University Press; Riggs, C. (2014) Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: a very short introduction. OUP

5. Cyclades and Crete: form and space - painting

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 12-39

Further reading:

Chaplin, A.P. (2014) Aegean painting in the Bronze Age. In J.J. Pollitt (ed.), The Cambridge History of Painting in the Classical World: 1-65. Cambridge University Press; Pedley, J.G. (1998) Greek Art and Archaeology. Laurence King; Preziosi, D. and Hitchcock, L.A. (eds) (1999) Aegean Art and Architecture. OUP

6. Egypt: Pharaonic representation – changing the canon? (New Kingdom, Amarna period)

Core reading: Aldred 1980: 147-63, 172-86

Further reading: Robins, G. (1997) The Art of Ancient Egypt. British Museum; Shaw, I. (2004) Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. OUP; Smith, W.S. (1998) The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt. YUP.

VIEWING AS PROCESS – FORM AND SPACE

7. Mycenae and Troy

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 39-61

Further reading: Pedley, J.G. (1998) Greek Art and Archaeology. Laurence King; Preziosi, D. and Hitchcock, L.A. (eds) (1999) Aegean Art and Architecture. OUP

8. Greece: Geometric and Oriental as visual polis approach

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 62-76, 89-97, 104-19

Further reading: Fullerton, M.D. (2000) Greek Art. Cambridge University Press; Osborne, R. (1996) Greece in the Making, 1200-479 BC. Routledge; Osborne, R. (1998) Archaic and Classical Art. OUP; Pedley, J.G. (1998) Greek Art and Archaeology. Laurence King.

9. Center and extended center: Assyria and Magna Grecia

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 128-40; Bourke 2008: 168-77, 186-89, 192-93

Further reading: Beaulieu, Paul-Alain (2005) World hegemony, 900-300 BCE. In Daniel C. Snell (ed.), A Companion to the Ancient Near East: 48-61. Malden, MA, Blackwell; Liverani, M. (2014) The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Routledge; Podany, A. (2014) The Ancient Near East: A very Short Introduction. OUP; Cerchiai, L., Jannelli, L. and Longo, F. (2004) Greek Cities of Magna Graecia and Sicily; Pedley, J.G. (1990) Paestum. Greeks and Romans in Southern Italy. Thames and Hudson; Pedley, J.G. (1998) Greek Art and Archaeology. Laurence King.

10. Aristocratic elites: Etruria and the Mediterranean

Core reading: Tuck 2005: 21-27

Further reading: Liverani, M. (2014) The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy. Routledge; Osborne, R. (1998) Archaic and Classical Art. OUP; Smith, C. (2014) The Etruscans. A very Short Introduction. OUP; Spivey, N. (1997) Etruscan Art. Thames and Hudson.

11. Art and social performance: Etruria

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 215-20; Tuck 2005: 27-44, 49-59

Further reading: Haynes, S. (2000) Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History. British Museum; Smith, C. (2014) The Etruscans. A very Short Introduction. OUP

12. Greece: polis and representation

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 97-104, 149-59, 159-78

ART AS PERFORMER – SPACE AND PLACE

13. Persia and Persepolis: composite viewers

Core reading: Bourke 2008: 216-19, 228-33, 236-7

Further reading:Beaulieu, Paul-Alain (2005) World hegemony, 900-300 BCE. In Daniel C. Snell (ed.), A Companion to the Ancient Near East: 48-61. Malden, MA, Blackwell; Curtis, J. (1989) Ancient Persia. British Museum; Osborne, R. (1996) Greece in the Making, 1200-479 BC. Routledge

14. Athens: Architecture of democracy / of empire?

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 179-89, 201-4, 225-54, 274-82

Further reading:Barringer, J. (2009) A new approach to the Hephaisteion: Heroic models in the Athenian agora. In P. Schultz and R. von den Hoff (eds), Structure, Image, Ornament: Architectural Sculpture in the Greek World: 105-20. Oxbow Books; Camp, J. (1992) The Athenian Agora. Thames and Hudson; Hurwit, J.M. (2002) The Parthenon and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. In J.M. Barringer and J.M. Hurwit (eds), Periklean Athens and its Legacy. Problems and Perspectives: 135-45. University of Texas Press; Osborne, R. (1998) Archaic and Classical Art. OUP; Pedley, J.G. (1998) Greek Art and Archaeology. Laurence King; Spivey, N.J. (2013) Greek Sculpture. CUP; Whitley, J. (2001) The Archaeology of Ancient Greece. CUP.

15. Course review

Discussion of course material in relation to midterm exam

16. Midterm exam

17. Pan-Hellenic sanctuaries: peer-polity relations

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 143-9, 204-14

Further reading: Osborne, R. (1996) Greece in the Making, 1200-479 BC. Routledge; Osborne, R. (1998) Archaic and Classical Art. OUP; Pedley, J.G. (1998) Greek Art and Archaeology. Laurence King; Spivey, N.J. (2013) Greek Sculpture. CUP; von den Hoff, R. (2009) Herakles, Theseus and the Athenian Treasury at Delphi. In P. Schultz and R. von den Hoff (eds), Structure, Image, Ornament: Architectural Sculpture in the Greek World: 96-104. Oxbow Books

18. Term paper workshop

How to choose a work, define a research question, obtain quality bibliographical sources and start working

19. Sculpture and portraiture: agency and movement

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 220-5, 296-9, 301-19; Bourke 2008: 248-65

Further reading:Damaskos, D. (2012) Free-standing and relief sculpture. In T.J. Smith and D. Plantzos (eds), A Companion to Greek Art. Wiley-Blackwell; Osborne, R. (1998) Archaic and Classical Art. OUP; Pedley, J.G. (1998) Greek Art and Archaeology. Laurence King; Smith, R.R.R. (1993) Kings and philosophers. In A. Bulloch, E.S. Gruen, A.A. Long and A. Stewart (eds), Images and Ideologies. Self-definition in the Hellenistic World: 202-11. UCP; Spivey, N.J. (2013) Greek Sculpture. CUP; Whitley, J. (2001) The Archaeology of Ancient Greece. CUP.

ART AS LOCAL AND GLOBAL – THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE

20. A Mediterranean koine: Pergamon

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 340-64; Tuck 2005: 80-81, 86-88,

Further reading:Coarelli, F. (2014) Rome and Environs. University of California Press; Dunbabin, K.M.D. (1999) Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World. Cambridge University Press; Manakidou, E. (2012) Politics and Society. In T.J. Smith and D. Plantzos (eds), A Companion to Greek Art: 414-39. Wiley-Blackwell; Seaman, K. (2016) Pergamon and Pergamene influence. In M.M. Miles (ed.), A Companion to Greek Architecture: 650-76. Wiley Blackwell; Pedley, J.G. (1998) Greek Art and Archaeology. Laurence King;

21. A Mediterranean koine: Rome

Core reading: Barringer 2014: 370-81, 384-9; Tuck 2005: 80-81, 91-97, 108-9

Further reading:Claridge, A. (2010) Rome. Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford University Press; Davies, P.J.E. (2018) Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing civic memory in late Republican Rome. In K. Sandberg and C. Smith (eds), Omnium Annalium Monumenta: Historical Writing and Historical Evidence in Republican Rome: 477-512. Leiden, Brill; Flower, H.I. (2004) Spectacle and political culture in the Roman Republic. In H.I. Flower (ed.) Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic: 322-43. Cambridge University Press; Gleason, K.L. (1994) Porticus Pompeiana: a new perspective on the first public park of ancient Rome. Journal of Garden History 14: 13-27; Ziolkowski, A. (1988) Mummius’ temple of Hercules Victor and the Round Temple on the Tiber. Phoenix 42.4: 309-33.

22. Honorific reciprocity: portraiture

Core reading: Tuck 2005: 108-11

Further reading:Fejfer, J. (2008) Roman Portraits in Context. Walter de Gruyter; Fejfer, J. (2015) Roman portraits. In B. Borg (ed.), A Companion to Roman Art: 233-51 (390-418 online). Wiley-Blackwell; Galinsky, K. (1996) Augustan Culture, an Interpretative Introduction; Rose, C.B. (2008) Forging identity in the Roman republic: Trojan ancestry and veristic portraiture. In S. Bell and I.L. Hansen (eds), Role Models in the Roman World: Identity and Assimilation: 97-132. University of Michigan Press; Schneider, R. (2008) Image and empire. The shaping of Augustan Rome. In F-H Mutschler and A. Mittag (eds) Conceiving the Empire. China and Rome Compared: 269-98. OUP.

23. Princeps and elite: fashioning civic space

Core reading: Tuck 2005: 114-127, 190-94

Further reading:Claridge, A. (2010) Rome. Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford University Press; Clarke, J. (2003) Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans. University of California Press; D'Ambra, E. (2012) Women on the Bay of Naples. In S.L. James and S. Dillon (eds), A Companion to Women in the Ancient World: 400-13. Wiley-Blackwell; Galinsky, K. (1996) Augustan Culture, an Interpretative Introduction;

24. Urban space as political consensus

Core reading: Tuck 2005: 180-85, 201-2, 287, 341-46

Further reading:Claridge, A. (2010) Rome. Oxford Archaeological Guide. Oxford University Press; Coarelli, F. (2014) Rome and Environs. University of California Press; Davies, P. (2000) Death and the Emperor. Cambridge University Press; Elsner, J. (2005) Sacrifice and narrative on the Arch of the Argentarii at Rome. Journal of Roman Archaeology 18: 83-98; Kleiner, D.E.E. (1992) Roman Sculpture. Yale University Press; Zanker, P. (2010) By the Emperor, for the people. In B.C. Ewald and C.F. Noreña (eds), The Emperor and Rome: 45-87. Cambridge, CUP.

25. Contemporary trends 1

Representation and style

26. Contemporary trends 2

Local space and global space

REVIEW

27. Course review

28. Course review

29. Final Exam