Syllabus

 

Course Goals:

  • Gain an understanding of Art History as a discipline
  • Learn to identify different methods employed to study the history of art and architecture
  • Develop research skills: form questions, identify tools, look for answers
  • Practice reading analytically to identify point of view, agenda, and methodology
  • Practice writing in different styles, using different methods of analysis
  • Formulate your own answer to the questions, what is my place in art or architectural history?  What can art or architectural history let me do, understand, explore?

Evaluation:
20% Reading exercises, class and event participation, professionalism
30% Short assignments (2 self-assessments, catalog essay, review essay)
15% Midterm (book review)
5 % Research project prep work
10% Research project presentation
20% Research project paper

Materials:
I will post weekly reading lists and related questions and/or exercises to the class website. Assigned readings will largely be available on-line through this website:
www.ithaca.edu/faculty/jjolly/pah
Some material may be available through library reserves. In addition you should purchase the following at the bookstore or online:
Stephen Eisenman, The Abu Ghraib Effect.  London: Reaktion Books, 2007.

Class Expectations:

  • This is not a lecture class; our collective progress in the class will depend on each of you being willing and ready to participate in the classroom community. Thus I will depend on you to come to class prepared to discuss class readings and ready to engage respectfully.   Always bring your copy of the assigned readings to class, along with the notes you have taken on that reading.
  • Attendance is required and essential to the learning experience.  Understanding that we all get sick and have emergencies arise, you can have up to three absences without being penalized (or doing makeup work); save them for when you really need them.  I do not differentiate between “excused and unexcused” absences (except for religious holidays); if you miss more than three classes, talk to me. Excessive absences will lead to being withdrawn from the course.

 

  • Cultural Events requirement: To encourage shared cultural and intellectual engagement outside of the classroom, students enrolled in an art history course are required to attend three cultural or departmental events during this semester and write a one-page response to each.  A list of suggested events is maintained on the Art History Department website (http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/arthistory/deptnews/Events/ ).  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. 
    • Email me the data re: the title, date, and location of the event/experience along with a paragraph-long description and response. 
    • DUE within one week of the event; one must be completed before midterm.
  • You must complete all course requirements in order to pass the course.
  • Assignments must be turned in on-time, or will be downgraded.
  • Meetings with me.  We will schedule at least two one-on-one meetings over the course of the semester.  In addition you are always welcome to stop by my office hours or make an appointment to see me.  I especially encourage you to talk to me if you feel you are slipping behind or having trouble with the material, workload, or assignments.  I just ask that you notify me if you are unable to follow through on a scheduled appointment.
  • Professionalism.  This class is also about the profession of art history, and as such is an opportunity to talk about professionalism.  Being on-time to class and in turning in assignments, responding to email in a timely fashion, speaking to your classmates and colleagues with respect, and treating yourself with respect (ie: taking yourself seriously and being self-aware) all impact the impression you make here at Ithaca College, and off campus. 
  • Academic Honesty.  According to College Policy, “Academic honesty is a cornerstone of the mission of the College. Unless it is otherwise stipulated, students may submit for evaluation only that work that is their own and that is submitted originally for a specific course. According to the traditions of higher education, forms of conduct that will be considered evidence of academic misconduct include, but are not limited to the following: conversations between students during an examination; reviewing, without authorization, material during an examination (i.e., personal notes, another student's exam); unauthorized collaboration; submission of a paper also submitted for credit in another course; reference to written material related to the course brought into an examination room during a closed-book, written examination; and submission without proper acknowledgment of work that is based partially or entirely on the ideas or writings of others. Only when a faculty member gives prior approval for such actions can they be acceptable.” (Article 7.1.4.  Ithaca College Policy Manual) 

 

SCHEDULE
Week 1 (August 31-September 2): What is the History of Art?
Bringing questions to Art History
Assignment #1: Self-Assessment

Week 2 (September 7, 9): Art History and the Humanities
MONDAY, September 5: LABOR DAY, no classes
What is the role of the Humanities in society, and whom do they serve?
What’s the use of a liberal arts education?
What are the objects of study in art history, and how have they changed in the last 25 years? (ie: what counts as “art” history?)
DUE WEDNESDAY: Assignment #1: Self-Assessment
CULTURAL EVENT: Opening Reception, “The Figure,” Handwerker Gallery, Thursday September 8th, 5-7
IMPORTANT IC DATE: Wednesday 7th: Last Day ADD/DROP

Week 3 (September 12, 14, 16): AH & Humanities, cont….
Aesthetics and Connoisseurship
On beauty, who decides, and what it is good for…
Looking closely and describing what you see.
FRIDAY GUEST: NANCY RAMAGE
DEPARTMENT EVENT: Beginning of the Year Lunch for Majors and Minors, Handwerker Gallery, Tuesday September 13th, 12:10

Week 4 (September 19, 21, 23): Connoisseurship, cont…
Assignment #2: Auction Catalog Essay
Biographic and evolutionary models of art history
Biography and History: just an account of what happened?
IMPORTANT IC DATES:  Tues. Sept. 20th Last Day for S/D/F

Week 5 (September 26, 28): Iconography and Iconology
On creating and uncovering meaning in the content of works.
How does thinking about audience change the way we use iconography?
IMPORTANT DATES:
            Sept. 29-30: Rosh Hashanah
Class Canceled Sept. 30 – see assignments

Week 6 (October 3, 5, 7): Art Criticism and Art History
How different are art criticism and history?
Making meanings for the public.
Assignment #3: Art Criticism Project
DUE MONDAY: Assignment #2
CULTURAL EVENT: Tuesday Roundtable, October 4, 12:10, Clark Lounge
October 8: Yom Kippur

Week 7 (October 11, 13, 15): Midterm Project
Stephen Eisenman, The Abu Ghraib Effect
Writing Workshop
DUE by Friday: At least one of your Cultural Event Responses

Week 8 (October 17, 19): Cultural Patrimony debates
From the British Museum to here at Ithaca College
WEDNESDAY GUEST: Cheryl Kramer
DUE WEDNESDAY: MIDTERM ASSIGNMENT

FALL BREAK: Thursday and Friday

Week 9 (October 24, 26, 28): Biography revisited… and semiotics
From psychoanalysis to “The Death of the Author” 
ALL WEEK: Research Paper Meetings
CULTURAL EVENTS: Architectural and Design Careers Roundtable, Monday, October 24th, 6 pm
Opening, “The Rise of a Landmark: Lewis Hine and the Empire State Building,” Handwerker Gallery, Thursday, October 27th, 5-7
Architectural Studies Inaugural Lecture, Professor Jeffery Cohen, Bryn Mawr College, time TBA

Week 10 (October 31, November 2, 4): Social History of Art, cont.
Art and social relations, art and history
History put to use; history is now.
DUE Friday: Project Bibliography
GUEST: Paul Wilson
CULTURAL EVENT:  Tuesday Roundtable, November 1, 12:10, Clark Lounge, Campus Center (Food provided)

Week 11 (November 7, 9, 11): Feminist Theory
Gender (and race, class, and sexuality) as analytical tool
           
FRIDAY FIELDTRIP TO WASHINGTON DC
IMPORTANT IC DATES:
            November 11: Last day to withdraw with W AND last day to revoke S/D/F

Week 12 (November 14, 16, 18): Art History in a Global Context
Where is Art?
Orientalism, the Other, and the legacy of imperialism
DUE FRIDAY: Assignment #3 (Review Essay)
GUEST: Itohan Osayimwese

THANKSGIVING BREAK

Week 13 (November 28, 30, December 2): Subjectivity, Identity Politics
Rethinking the role of the art historian, the collector, the subjects
GUEST TBA
DUE FRIDAY: Annotated Bibliography

Week 14 (5, 7, 9): Art History at IC
Art History’s new landscape, and the humanities revisited
How are we doing here at Ithaca College?
Presentation guidelines
Assignment #4: Self-Evaluation
CULTURAL EVENT: Tuesday Roundtable, December 5th, 12:10, Clark Lounge, Campus Center

Week 15 (December 12, 14, 16): Presentations
DUE MONDAY: Assignment #4 (unless you are presenting, in which case you have until Tuesday at 4 pm)

FINALS WEEK, Thursday December 22, 10:30-1: Presentations
DUE in Class THURSDAY: Final Paper, unless you are presenting, in which case you have until 4:00 pm