Course Descriptions

You will learn how to analyze and interpret art, hone your foundational skills as you progress to advanced techniques, and study special topics in your areas of interest. The courses you choose with the help of your academic advisor will enable you to pursue your academic and artistic goals. Read through the course descriptions below to discover the scope of study options offered at the School of Art & Art History.

Undergraduate Course Descriptions | Graduate Course Descriptions

Undergraduate Course Descriptions

Art History

ARH 2050: History of Visual Arts I
Survey of World Art to AD 1300. Introduction to problems of analyzing and interpreting the art of various cultures without making the Western perspective a privileged one.

ARH 2051: History of Visual Arts II
Survey of World Art since 1300 CE. Introduction to problems of analyzing and interpreting the art of various global cultures without making the Western perspective a privileged one.

ARH 3001: Introduction to Art
This online course investigates the histories of art, asking a range of questions about periods, cultures, styles of art-making. We explore the experience of viewing art, inquiring into its many forms and definitions, historically and in the present.

ARH 4115: Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern Art
A study of the art and cultures of ancient Egypt and the Near East, from the prehistoric period through the conquests of Alexander the Great.

ARH 4130: Greek Art
A comprehensive study of ancient Greek sculpture, painting, architecture, and other artistic media from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period.

ARH 4151: Roman Art
A comprehensive study of ancient Roman sculpture, painting, architecture, and other artistic media from the founding of Rome through the reign of Constantine.

ARH 4170: Greek and Roman Art
A comprehensive study of Aegean, Mycenaean, Etruscan, Greek and Roman painting, sculpture and architecture.

ARH 4200: Medieval Art
A comprehensive study of early Christian, Byzantine and Medieval painting, sculpture, architecture and manuscript illumination.

ARH 4301: Renaissance Art
A comprehensive study of Renaissance and Mannerist painting, sculpture and architecture in Italy and Northern Europe.

ARH 4310: Early Italian Renaissance
History of the visual arts in Italy from ca. 1220 to 1493, in the era commonly called the early Renaissance.

ARH 4312: Late Italian Renaissance
This course focuses on the visual arts of Italy of the later Renaissance, from c. 1490 to 1576, with some reference to the broader context of art in the rest of Europe and the world.

ARH 4318: Venetian Art
Major monuments of Venetian art are examined to elucidate the importance of Venice as the crossroads of cultural exchange between Islam, Byzantium, and the West, and the importance of Venetian art to the history of art and art criticism.

ARH 4333: Northern Renaissance Art
Introduction to the history of Northern Renaissance Art, that is, art from northern Europe, especially. the Netherlands, Germany and France, from the late Middle Ages to the early modern era (14th through 16th centuries).

ARH 4350: Baroque and Rococo Art
A comprehensive study of the painting, sculpture and architecture in France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands in the seventeenth 17th and early eighteenth 18th centuries.

ARH 4430: Nineteenth Century Art
A comprehensive study of 19th-century painting, sculpture, and architecture in America and Europe. Gender/multicultural issues and methodologies in 19th-century art are emphasized.

ARH 4450: Twentieth Century Art
A comprehensive study of painting, sculpture, and architecture from Cezanne to the present in Europe and the United States. Required of all art majors.

ARH 4455: Modern Political Iconography
The course explores art in which political themes are considered to be the source and determinant of aesthetic decisions. The dominant iconographic theme is the iconography of revolution, rebellion, and other forms of political struggle in 20th-century art and film.

ARH 4475C: Contemporary Issues in Art
A study of the principles and techniques of educational measurement as applied to the teaching of physical education; study of the functions and techniques of measurement in the evaluation of student progress toward the objectives of physical education.

ARH 4520: African Art
A combination of survey, comparative study and in-depth analysis of African sculpture, mainly from West and Central Africa. Emphasis on diversity of forms and contexts, functions, symbolism and meanings.

ARH 4530: Asian Art
An introduction to concepts of the arts of China, Japan, and other Far Eastern countries.

ARH 4557: Chinese Art
Chinese Art proceeds chronologically, from the Neolithic era up to the contemporary art world. The course considers cultural, linguistic, technical, philosophic, political and religious influences on the artworks produced by this ancient society.

ARH 4710: History of Photography
A comprehensive overview of the history of photography from its inception to the present day with an emphasis on the relationship of photography to the visual arts and popular culture.

ARH 4721C: History of Printmaking
The history of Western printmaking from the Middle Ages to contemporary times, with an emphasis on art-making technology and research, cultural perspectives and theoretical/critical analytical capabilities. The course is open to majors and non-majors. It is not repeatable for credit.

ARH 4744: Selected Topics in the History of Film
In-depth investigation of a selected period, development, or school in the history of film as art.

ARH 4800: Critical Studies in Art History
Specialized intensive studies in art history. Specific subject matter varies. To be announced at each course offering.

ARH 4890: Paris Art History
This course will explore issues central to the history and criticism of art through the rich visual culture of Paris. Themes will include art and national identity, orientalism, the avant-garde and the role of the museum in the evolution of modern art.

ARH 4930: Art History: Selected Topics
Lecture/discussion course designed to offer areas of expertise of visiting scholars or specific interests of resident faculty.

Art Foundation

ART 2201C: Concepts and Practices I
Introduce students to diverse art studio practices and concepts where topics include forms of communication, sourcing inspiration, and critical theory. Studio projects are augmented by lecture, discussion, reading, writing, and critical analysis.

ART 2203C: Concepts and Practices II
Continuation of ART 2201 building on diverse art studio practice and concepts including crafting an artistic self, measuring success, and examining the artist鈥檚 role. Art projects are augmented by lecture, discussion, reading, writing, and critiques.

Animation and Digital Modeling

ART 3610C: Digital Modeling
Exploration of 3D digital modeling techniques for the creative arts. Provides study in the history, theory, and practices of 3D digital modeling. Students model, texture, and light models in a 3D environment.

ART 3612C: Beginning Video, Animation, and Digital Arts
An introductory exploration of the use of video, animation, and digital art as media for making contemporary art. Emphasis is on all levels of production, concept development, and the history and theory of media, moving image, sound, and animation.

ART 3616C: Computer Animation
Hands-on exploration of issues, principles, and practices involved in the creation of 2D animation. Traditional methods are combined with animation and imaging software. The focus is on individual creative growth.

ART 3635: Selected Topics in Video, Animation & Digital Arts
Selected Topics in VADA is an intermediate course providing focused exploration on content specific to the discipline. It furthers the development of skills and critical discourse in the field. Majors only. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 3640: The Art of Video Games
The Art of Video Games investigates the emerging role that fine art plays within the video game medium. Students research connections between contemporary art practice and the commercial video game industry and create their own video game.

Ceramics

ART 2750C: Beginning Ceramics
An introduction to the use of ceramic materials as a means of self-expression and critical exploration.

ART 3761C: Intermediate Ceramics
Intermediate problems in ceramics and emphasis on the exploration of methods and media and the development of individual concepts. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 3781C: Selected Topics in Ceramics
Selected Topics in Ceramics is an intermediate course providing focused exploration of content specific to the discipline. It furthers the development of skills and critical discourse in the field. Majors only. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 4782C: Advanced Ceramics
Continued problems in ceramics.

Design

ART 4634C: Visual Design for the Internet
This upper-level course builds upon the concepts students encountered in the introductory level graphic design courses and focuses on web content creation and animation techniques.

ART 4925: Media Workshop: Design Production
This upper-level technology course will develop an in-depth understanding of graphics software and print production techniques. Students will review software programs, file preparation requirements, and print production standards.

Drawing

ART 2301C: Beginning Drawing
Projects exploring the methods, media, and concepts of drawing.

ART 3310C: Intermediate Drawing
An extension of the skills and concepts introduced in Beginning Drawing with an emphasis on individual experimentation and the development of advanced critical and technical skills in the discipline. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 3380C: Selected Topics in Drawing
Selected Topics in Drawing is an intermediate course providing a focused exploration of content specific to the discipline. It furthers the development of skills and critical discourse in the field. Majors only. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 4320C: Advanced Drawing
Advanced practices and projects in drawing.

DIG 3119C: Digital Drawing
Exploration of digital vector and raster-based illustration and design. Students synthesize traditional drawing and painting skills with digital tools. Includes study of digital imaging, drawing systems, color theory, and idea generation.

DIG 3306C: 3D Animation
Hands-on exploration of 3D animation. Through a series of structured experiments, exercises, and projects, students produce short animated films. Emphasis is on 3D workflows, animation principles, visual storytelling, dynamic motion, and performance.

Painting

ART 2500C: Beginning Painting
Projects in painting with emphasis on the exploration of methods and media and the development of individual concepts.

ART 3513C: Selected Topics in Painting
Selected Topics in Painting is an intermediate course providing a focused exploration of content specific to the discipline. It furthers the development of skills and critical discourse in the field. Majors only. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 3530C: Intermediate Painting
An extension of the skills and concepts introduced in Beginning Painting with an emphasis on individual experimentation and the development of advanced critical and technical skills in the discipline. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 4520C: Advanced Painting
Advanced practices and projects in painting.

Photography

PGY 2401C: Beginning Photography
Introduction to the expressive possibilities of photographic media. Projects and assignments will introduce students to both traditional and experimental ways of working with light-sensitive materials with an emphasis on the interdependence of form, technique, and concept. The course will also provide an overview of significant trends and directions in contemporary art photography.

PGY 3410C: Intermediate Photography
A mid-level course expanding the student's visual and technical skills while establishing the beginning of a personal artistic direction.

PGY 3820C: Digital Media I
This course builds upon the concepts introduced in Introduction to Multimedia Systems and focuses upon digital photographic creation and editing.

PGY 3930C: Special Topics: Photography
A mid-level course expanding the student's visual and technical skills while establishing the beginning of a personal artistic direction by exposing the student to new ideas, technical skills and genres, including, but not limited to: color photography, digital photography, non-silver, and documentary photography. Repeatable up to 9 hours.

PGY 4420C: Advanced Photography
Continued problems in photography.

PGY 4822C: Digital Media II
This course builds upon the concepts introduced in Digital Media I and focuses upon digital photographic, web and digital video creation.

Printmaking

ART 2400C: Beginning Printmaking
This course is designed as an introduction to the medium of printmaking. It concentrates on the technical production of various print media including intaglio, relief, monoprint, and serigraphy (screen printing).

ART 3403C: Intermediate Printmaking
This course concentrates on developing intermediate skills in printmaking with particular emphasis on conceptual topics. The course is intended for majors. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 3461C: Selected Topics in Printmaking
Selected Topics in Printmaking is an intermediate course providing a focused exploration of content specific to the discipline. It furthers the development of skills and critical discourse in the field. Majors only. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 3465: Digital Printmaking
An investigation of printmaking using the computer as a design interface between electronic and traditional printmaking processes. Repeatable up to 9 hours.

Sculpture and Extended Media

ART 2701C: Beginning Sculpture
Projects in sculpture with an emphasis on contemporary theory and issues, the development of individual concepts and the exploration of materials, tools, and processes.

ART 3709C: Intermediate Sculpture
This course expands upon the principles and processes introduced in Beginning Sculpture, developing a higher level of technical competence and critical sophistication. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 3712C: Multiples, Molds, and Bronzecasting
Continued studies and projects in sculpture with an emphasis on the nature of multiples explored through advanced mold making and bronzecasting. This course may not be repeated for credit. The conceptual implications of the multiple will be taught through reading, lecture, discussion, and demonstration.

ART 3735: Selected Topics in Sculpture
Selected Topics in Sculpture is an intermediate course providing a focused exploration of content specific to the discipline. It furthers the development of skills and critical discourse in the field. Repeatable up to 15 hours.

ART 3843C: Site, Installation, and Performance
Continued studies and projects in sculpture with an emphasis on site-specific sculpture, installation, and performance. A critical and cultural awareness of contemporary issues and media in sculpture will be developed through studio projects assigned readings, discussions, critiques, and demonstrations. The course may not be repeated for credit.

ART 4642: Digital Fabrications for Artists
Study and use of digital imaging and modeling software (CAD, CAM) for the creation of physical artworks using CNC (digital fabrications) equipment. Grounded in contemporary and historical practices.

ART 4710C: Advanced Sculpture
Continued problems in sculpture. Repeatable.

DIG 3323C: Digital Sculpture
Hands-on exploration of high-polygon digital sculpting for art and design. Students digitally sculpt figures and organic forms for 2D images, animation, 3D environments, and digital fabrication. Includes study of history, theory, and practices.

Teaching

ARE 4341: Art Teaching Strategies II
Media and the learning process will be explored through photographic arts, cinematography and video systems. Teaching strategies and media criticism for application at elementary and secondary levels.

Video

ART 3613C: Live Action Filmmaking
Students develop a comprehensive understanding of independent cinema by producing short film projects. Topics include scriptwriting, professional production tools and practices, and exhibition. Non-repeatable. For majors and non-majors with a prerequisite.

ART 4614C: Advanced Video, Animation and Digital Arts
Advanced exploration of issues and practices in the creation of experimental computer art. Continues an interdisciplinary approach to video, animation, 3D modeling and electronic arts with a focus on individual and group projects.

DIG 3465C: Visual Storytelling
This is an intermediate course focused on digital storytelling for animation and film. Students explore story development, storyboarding, and the creation of animatics. Includes study of pre-production and conventions of cinematography.

FIL 3427C: Beginning Film
Intermediate problems in film with emphasis on the exploration of materials and media and the development of individual concepts.

FIL 3854: Film Art
The course is an in-depth study of film language and history, focusing on its unique social, political and cultural significance. Students explore the heterogeneous nature of film by examining its role in popular culture and visual art discourse.

FIL 4433C: Advanced Film
More advanced projects in filmmaking to further develop works both technically and conceptually.

Graduate Course Descriptions

Art History

ARH 5813: Methods of Art History
This course introduces students to various methods which art historians have used to analyze the form and content of individual works of art, and to various modes of historical explanation.

ARH 6055: Art History
A contract for research in any elective area of art history.

ARH 6798: Seminar in Art History

Ottoman Imperial Identity and Visual Culture
Cross-Cultural Interactions in Islamic Art
The Human Figure in Islamic Art
Cultural Heritage in The Middle East and North Africa
Ornament in Islamic Art and Architecture
Moving Pictures: Materiality in Northern Renaissance Painting
Recontextualizing Dutch Realism
Approaching Ancient Greek Pottery (Fall 2024)
Painting in Early 20th Century Europe
The Purity of Painting: Picasso to Kandinsky
Kandinsky鈥檚 Abstraction: 1910鈥�1914
Modernism in Germany, 1890s鈥�1914
Modern and Contemporary Art: Key Interpretations
Modernism, Postmodernism and Beyond
Art and Biography
Collecting the East
Decolonizing the Museum
Global Material Culture
Mediterranean Encounters
Nuns and Art
Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts

ARH 6891: Paris Art History
This course will explore issues central to the history and criticism of art through the rich and visual culture that Paris offers. The goal of this course is to provide students with an experience of the cultural life of the city through an exploration of its major art collections, monuments, art collections, and historical sites. Thematically-organized topic will include art and national identity, patronage, orientalism, the birth of the avant-garde and the role of the museum in the evolution of modernism and modern art.

Ceramics

ART 5790C: Ceramics
Advanced problems in the various ceramic techniques, including throwing and glaze calculation. Repeatable.

ART 6791C: Ceramics
Advanced graduate research in ceramics.

Drawing

ART 5390C: Drawing
Advanced problems in various drawing techniques. Emphasis on individual creative expression. Repeatable.

ART 6391C: Drawing
Advanced graduate research in drawing.

Electronic Media

ART 6688: Electronic Media
Advanced projects in the exploration of the issues and practices involved in the creation of experimental computer art at the graduate level. Emphasis on individual creative expression. May be repeatedRepeatable.

Museum and gallery Studies

ARH 5836: Collection and Exhibition Management
This class will introduce students to the basic principles of collections care and management and to the intellectual and practical tasks of preparing an exhibition. Sessions will include art handling, registration, and condition reporting, preparing works of art for transit, environmental standards for collections storage and exhibition, and the professional responsibilities of the curator.

IDS 5177: The Atelier, Its Management, and History
This class will consider the history of printmaking and other forms of collaborative art production through the prism of the atelier and its management.

IDS 5178: Problems in Museum Studies
This class is designed as both an academic and theoretical course to introduce students to the museum profession and develop critical thinking skills required to solve problems in the rapidly changing typography of museums. Students will develop managerial and administrative skills as they meet with and discuss the job descriptions of curators, educators, collection managers, marketing professionals, exhibit designers, registrars, and fundraisers.

IDS 6948: Gallery and Museum Internship
The 6-credit hour internship program conducted in various area museums is a professional program designed to give students the opportunity to engage in a comprehensive study of the contemporary museum.

Painting

ART 5580C: Painting
Research in painting.

ART 6581C: Painting
Advanced graduate research in painting.

Printmaking

ART 5448C: Intaglio
Investigations into more complex intaglio processes including photoengraving and color printing procedures. Emphasis on personal conceptual development in graphic media.

ART 6449C: Intaglio
Advanced graduate research in intaglio process.

Sculpture and Extended Media

ART 5740C: Sculpture
Advanced problems in the various techniques of sculpture. Emphasis on individual creative expression. Repeatable.

ART 6792C: Sculpture
Advanced problems in the various techniques of sculpture. Emphasis on individual creative expression. Repeatable.

Teaching

ART 6937: Graduate Instruction Methods
Special course to be used primarily for the training of graduate teaching assistants.

Video

FIL 5469C: Cinematography
Advanced studio work using black and white, color and sound as technical and aesthetic factors in visual, artistic productions.

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