Course Objectives
 1. Think critically about the myriad of roles art performs in world cultures over time
2. Recognize similarities and differences in the diverse artistic traditions of the Americas, and begin to account for them historically and culturally
3. Develop skills and vocabulary to visually analyze works of art and articulate what you see
4. Acquire historical, cultural, and aesthetic knowledge to help you make sense of artworks you encounter outside the classroom

Course requirements:
Students are expected to come to class, participate in discussions, and complete their exams and assignments on time.  Late assignments will be downgraded and more than 3 absences will adversely affect your grade.  If you miss class, you should plan to get notes from one of your classmates, as the material cannot be gleaned by reading alone.  You are welcome to attend the other section of this class (12:00 or 2:00, same room)—just be sure to check in with me to be counted!  Grades will be based on the following:
Visual Analysis Paper: 30%
Exam #1: 20%
Exam #2: 20%
Final Exam: 20%
Class participation: 10%

You MUST complete all assignments in order to pass the class. 

The department has very limited facilities for make-up exams, and therefore make-ups are only available in emergencies and with my special consent.  Make-up exams will be different from those given in class; I reserve the right to use a different format, which may be more difficult.

Cultural Events Requirement
The Department of Art History strongly seeks to promote shared cultural and intellectual engagement outside of the classroom.  Therefore, students enrolled in an art history course are required to attend three departmental or visually based events during this semester and write a response to each. One of these events must be sponsored by the Handwerker Gallery or the Department of Art History. 

A list of suggested events is maintained on the departmental website (http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/arthistory/deptnews/Events/). Required class visits, tours, or assignments can not also be used for cultural events (e.g. a class tour of the current Handwerker exhibition can not be used, but attending the opening reception or a Gallery event for the same exhibition can be used.) 

Individual professors may also suggest other events appropriate to a particular class. Students may attend other events but should check with the professor as to whether or not a particular event will count. The same events may be used for multiple art history classes, but they all must occur this semester.  

While these assignments are not formally graded, they are required and will be taken into consideration when the final grade is calculated. Further guidelines and the required form can be found on the Art History Department website. Please EMAIL me your completed Cultural Event Forms.
Department Due Dates:  February 24, March 30 (you have til April 6th), April 27.

Website, Readings and Images
The class website is your information center.  In addition to including your syllabus and my contact information, it has assignments, lecture notes and images, and all the class readings in electronic format. 
www.ithaca.edu/faculty/jjolly/americas
Class readings should be done before class on the day for which they are assigned.  They are designed to complement the class lecture, and will often be part of class discussion.  Use your IC webID and password to access them. They are PDFs, so you will need acrobat installed on your computer. NOTE: Safari does not seem to be compatible with downloading the PDFs: try Explorer or Firefox.)

You will be expected to remember, recognize and discuss certain images we look at in class on your exams. These images will be assembled on-line and can be accessed through our class home page. 
 Additional image resources, including lecture presentation slides, are available through the ARTSTOR image database.  To access Artstor,
- Go to the Ithaca College Library’s list of Databases and click on the one for Artstor. 
- This will bring you to Artstor through the library’s proxy server, and will require you to log onto the server using your Ithaca College email and password. 
- Once you are at the Artstor site, enter and register by creating an account for yourself using your Ithaca College email and making up a password.  This password does not need to be the same as your IC one. 
Note: ARTSTOR uses pop-up windows, so be sure you disable popup blockers in your browser. You should identify BOTH ezproxy.ithaca.edu AND www.artstor.org as exceptions for your popup blocker.
Links to the lecture presentation slides are available from the unit webpage.

Class Schedule: see webpage for each unit ("Power," "Nature and Culture," "Cultural Encounters")

FINAL EXAMS:
Section 1 (11:00): Friday, May 11, 10:30-12:30 am
Section 2 (1:00): Thursday, May 10, 8:00-10:00 am