Art History (AH)

A survey of Western art from ancient times to the present that places monuments of art in social, historical, and cultural contexts.

Survey of the arts of India, China, Korea, and Japan. These arts will be examined with an emphasis on style as cultural expression, the meaning of arts in a religious context, and the impact of the cross-cultural exchange.

Introduction to the design history and cultural significance of domestic interiors in a range of places and periods. Students will investigate how the visual, spatial, and material aspects of living environments both express and actively shape changing values. Topics include aspects of planning decoration, and social usage; shifting conceptions of privacy and family; and the role of design in the formation of gender, class, and national identities.

Why do you see the way you do?  Find out through this course's exploration of the exciting ways in which vision and representation were and are constructed in the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries. By examining a variety of representational forms, including painting, photography, film, and PowerPoint, students understand that "seeing" is a complex and dynamic process; there's no such thing as "just looking".

An interdisciplinary introductory survey of the visual and material cultures of North, Central, and South America from the Archaic Period to the present. Students will engage in a hemispheric investigation of the art and visual cultures generated in the Americas through the complex historical exchanges between Indigenous, European, African, and Asian societies and peoples. This class highlights not only the richness of the Americas’ Indigenous cultures, but also that of the material produced by the mechanism of colonialism and the development of the modern nation-state.

An introduction to cultural, religious, and artistic exchange in medieval art and architecture (ca. 500-1500) of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Topics will include pilgrimage, Crusaders’ handbooks, the international trade of artistic materials, monks who traversed Europe with illuminated manuscripts in tow, diplomatic and amorous gifts, and traveling bands of sculptors whose movements we can trace through their carvings. These case studies will enable us to interrogate the role of art objects in complicating, suppressing, and reviving the stories of the past.

A focus on a variety of monuments and traditions of art and architecture, with the goal of exploring issues concerning style, function, technique, and meaning. Attention will be paid to topics such as creativity, the artist and society, sacred and secular art, gender and art, crafts and popular art vs. the fine arts, and the body in art.

A topically organized course with the specific topic varying according to program.

A study of the prehistoric, historic, and contemporary arts of Native American peoples of North America. This course will study the arts of mainly Southwest, Woodlands, Great Plains, and Northwest Coast cultures with particular attention to their historiography, style, technique, symbolic meaning, and place in ritual. A wide range of media will be covered, including sculpture, painting, architecture, pottery, textile arts, jewelry, and body decoration.

A survey of selected art traditions in ancient Mesoamerica and Andean South America from 2000 BCE to 1600 CE, focused around the theme of nature and the environment. The course covers art and architecture of the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Chavin, Moche and Inca, and the people of Teotihuacan, looking particularly at how nature and the environment have informed and shaped their styles, meanings, functions, and underlying ideologies.

Survey of the history of visual arts in Islamic cultures. The course will examine architecture, painting, ceramics, and textiles in Arab, North African, Turkish, Persian, and Indian contexts. Special consideration will be given to the interaction between local visual traditions and Islamic values.

Examines how the mass-produced material world (graphic design, advertising, objects, etc.) in mostly modern and contemporary United States can shape our experiences in intentional and unintentional ways. You will learn about power dynamics in education to prepare you to teach about topics such as racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia, and more in relation to the material world (topics can include Black Power, video games, maps, postage stamps, and more). You will be responsible for teaching some of the class material; your class session will be open to the Skidmore community. The course unfolds over three stages. Stage 1: I provide background in and moderate discussion on several topics, including power in teaching and learning, why group work is an effective learning technique, Nazi use of material culture to exert power (the Nazis were the orginators - and preeminent practitioners - of multi-media exertions of power), the resistance found in material objects to Nazi power, and how American mid-century modern design reinforced sexist and racist power dynamics. The sections on Nazi and mid-century modern design serve as models for you to reflect on when you prepare to teach your classes on American topics (stage 3). Stage 2: You prepare to teach with my support. This includes reading and discussing texts on effective teaching and group work developing a teaching plan on American material culture. You will master your topic, decide what your peers must know about it, how best to convey that information, what kind of homework to assign, and what kind of deliverable your peers will provide. Stage 3: You teach course material.

Examines power dynamics in the architecture, furnishings, and usage of living environments in the United States from the 18th century to the present. Students will study how many aspects of domestic design contribute to social injustice; how people navigate and resist oppressive design; and how design can foster diversity, equity, and inclusion. Particular attention will be paid to intersections of race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and dis/ability. Students will create a public-facing project that educates others about historical legacies and current issues concerning power, identities, and lived experience in domestic spaces.

An introduction to the art and architecture of the medieval cult of saints (ca. 500-1500), or the organized devotion to saints and the holy matter—also known as relics—they left behind. From human bones to locks of hair, relics played a crucial role in the creation of new artistic objects and spaces, from jewel-clad reliquaries that housed saintly remains to the monumental churches built to accommodate pilgrims on spiritual journeys across Europe and the Middle East. Topics will include miracle-performing statues of saints, salacious pilgrimage badges, the widespread theft of relics, and the architecture of pilgrimage. Students will examine relevant objects at the Tang as well as have the opportunity to design their own reliquary.

A concentrated focus on writing intended for declared or potential art history majors. Students will develop strong writing proficiency through analysis of professional art history writing. They will strengthen particular skills required in the discipline, including research techniques, close looking, and analysis based on visual and written evidence.

A survey of the practices and methods of the discipline of art history, intended for majors or potential majors. Examines the key questions, interpretive approaches, institutional structures, and modes of dissemination that shape the work of the art historian. Students develop skills that are essential to advanced art historical study, such as visual literacy, research, critical reading, and writing.

An exploration of the major developments in architecture, sculpture, and painting from Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations through the Hellenistic period. Attention is given to the influences on Greek art from the East and to the influence of Greek art on other cultures.

An examination of architecture, sculpture, and painting beginning with the Villanovan and Etruscan cultures and continuing through the Republic and Empire (fourth century AD). Topics covered include wall painting, narrative sculpture, and city planning.

An interdisciplinary introduction to the art and architecture of Mesoamerica from the Formative Period (c.2000 BCE) to the arrival of the Spanish in the early sixteenth century CE. Students will explore the larger religious and political transformations of the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and other societies through their production of artistic objects. Particular attention will be paid to cultural memory and myth to understand the intersection of Indigenous history and cosmology as well as the manner in which these systems shaped social, ritual, and political order.

An introduction to the art and architecture of the Maya from 500 BCE to the Early Colonial Period. Students will focus specifically on how changes in visual culture reflect larger religious and political transformations in Maya culture and social complexity. Issues of cultural memory and myth will also be examined to understand indigenous conceptualizations of history and cosmology, and how these shaped social, ritual, and political orders. To explore these topics and others the course will draw on a wide range of sources from pre-Columbian iconography, architecture, and epigraphy to Colonial and modern ethnographic documents.

Explores the art and architecture of colonial Latin America from Spanish Conquest in the early sixteenth century through the first independence movements of the nineteenth century. The Spanish Empire in the Americas was multicultural, multiethnic, and polyglot. At its largest extent, it stretched from the southernmost point of Argentina to the Pacific Northwest. Students will discover how diverse art forms participated in political and religious upheaval, the production of new identities, and the beginnings of globalism and international trade. We will consider narratives of discovery, the survival and transformation of indigenous art forms after the Conquest, the African Diaspora, the social significance of portraiture and fashion, and the emergence of a modern art market.

A close study of the materials and making of medieval art and architecture between 500 and 1500. Focusing on a different material each week, students will consider its geographic origins, the objects for which it was likely traded between merchants across the globe, and, through an eco-critical lens, the impact of its sourcing on humans, animals, and the environment. Materials examined will include parchment, pigments, gold, ivory, silk, rock crystal, lead, mother of pearl, and imprinted breads. (Fulfills Breadth A in AH major. Fulfills Humanities requirement; fulfills Humanistic Inquiry requirement.) Fee: $50

An exploration of how representations of bodies engaged a wide range of cultural preoccupations in Europe between the 1500s and the 1700s. Students will explore how pictured and sculpted bodies celebrated and challenged power, facilitated pleasure and oppression, shaped religious belief, channeled anxieties about otherness, and encoded ideas about gender, sexuality, race, class, and nationality.

Explores early modern empires in Asia from the 15th through the 18th centuries, focusing on the Mughal empire, the Ottoman empire, and the Tokugawa shogunate from a variety of perspectives, including trade, cross-cultural encounters and exchanges, cosmopolitanism(s), gender, pleasure, and materiality, as they interplay with constructions of power and identity. Throughout we examine the functions and roles of images, objects, and spaces in fashioning, displaying, and representing self and empire. This course challenges western misconceptions of these empires, their diverse cultures, and of Muslims and Japanese people(s) even as we realize significant elements of their cultural production have been, ironically, misread as foundational to western culture.

A topically organized course, with the specific topic varying according to program.

A consideration of how artists and art have resisted manifestations of power in the United States in the 20th and 21st centuries. Students will examine how artists have challenged the power structures that lead to racism, misogyny, child labor, rampant consumerism, climate change, and transphobia, among other social conditions. As the semester unfolds, students explore effective teaching strategies and develop and deliver a teaching plan focused on a segment of activist American art they have studied in depth.

A history of modern design from 1750 to the present, with an emphasis on design movements in the twentieth century. We will focus on modern European and American design, surveying objects made from a wide range of materials, including textiles, metals, ceramics, and the print media. We will situate movements such as Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, and Bauhaus in their cultural and art-historical contexts.

Explores the significance of consumer goods in histories of colonization, enslavement, and modern social formation from the 19th century to the present. Students will examine how consumer practices and access to natural resources and commodities are dependent upon unequal power relationships that privilege western, white populations and have devastating consequences for the earth. Students will interrogate the disproportionate impact of this process on formerly colonized and enslaved populations and will explore strategies to effect change. Studying these topics across space and time will provide a context for understanding and engaging with contemporary realities and concerns in the U.S. We also will resist rampant consumerism by considering the experiences of people forced to abandon their belongings due to political crises and natural disasters, and by cultivating more conscientious, meaningful relationships with the things in our lives. Students will develop public-facing activities to educate the Skidmore community about the environmental and human costs of everyday objects.

Internship opportunity for students whose academic cocurricular work has prepared them for professional work related to the major. With faculty sponsorship and department approval, students may extend their educational experience into such areas as museums, art galleries, art auction houses, private art collections, arts administration, art conservation, and architecture and historic preservation.

Investigates the history of textiles and clothing, from the perspective of South Asia, focusing on the period between the 16th century to the present. Unrecognized by many today, cotton originated in South Asia and finely woven, embroidered, and natural dyed textiles from the subcontinent were highly desired across the globe for centuries. This course examines the meanings and circulation of South Asian textiles in the early modern era, the role of South Asian cotton in British colonization, the Industrial Revolution, and the struggle for Independence from colonial rule. We will also examine problematic issues pertaining to modern fashion trends, from haute couture to fast fashion and larger issues including cultural influence, fusion/hybridity, and appropriation. Students will undertake a project that engages with cloth/clothes as a means for recovering the possibilities and potential of clothing, while still stressing the costs – environmental, social, personal – of the clothes we wear.

The visual and material culture of the Aztec of central Mexico from the founding of their capital city, Tenochtitlan, in the 14th century CE through the Spanish Conquest of 1521 CE. Students will explore the art and architecture of the capital city as important components of the Aztec Empire’s political message, and how this imperial visual program negotiated the state’s mythological past and contributed to a rhetoric of divinely-sanctioned political expansion. Through an interdisciplinary range of sources and methods, students will consider the integral relationship between aesthetics and religion, state and personal ritual practices, the role of the artist, and the legacy of Aztec culture after the Conquest.

An examination of South Asian and Japanese popular visual culture from the nineteenth century through the present. The course explores a wide range of visual-cultural products, including prints, photographs, postcards, advertisements, clothing, Indian film, and Japanese manga and anime. Students will connect popular visual culture to larger themes and processes, such as modernization, nationalism, globalization, capitalism, identity, class, gender, and tourism.

Explores the identities of European and North American artists during the 18th and 19th centuries. Students will examine how social norms and biases shaped the ways in which artists defined themselves and were defined by others. Case studies will address conceptions of race, gender, sexuality, socio-economic status, mental health, and nationality. We also will consider how artists were trained; how they engaged with patrons, consumers, and critics; and how they imagined the cultural value of art.

A multidisciplinary, reading and speaking-intensive seminar focused on reading about, looking at, and discussing many forms of photography, from aerial to advertising photographs. The course considers the photograph as an object, a site of exchange, a controlling and motivating force, and more; it also considers photography as a global, mass-produced and mass-consumed practice as well as a distinctive art tradition. The course requires careful reading of many challenging texts, consistent thoughtful classroom participation, and conscientious research and writing.

An examination of the history, theory, and practice of modern museums from the turn of the century to the present day, with a focus on the relationship between living artists and the museum. Students will gain experience in many aspects of museum operation including exhibition, education, and conservation. Guest speakers will join with the Tang Museum staff to present case studies and facilitate discussions on a variety of topics such as architecture, audience, tourism and administration.

Examines historical, political, curatorial, and theoretical issues related to collections and exhibitions of South Asian, Islamic, African/African diasporic, and Indigenous arts in the west, focusing on the United States, to help students understand issues pertaining to power, justice, and identity in contemporary Northern America. From colonial expositions (world’s fairs) to the rise of national museums to recent curatorial debates, this course critically engages with practices of display and representation of South Asian, Islamic, African/African diasporic, and Indigenous arts in the colonial, modern, and contemporary eras. In particular, recent movements demanding social justice for marginalized communities are forcing western museums to re-evaluate their collections and modes of display; questions of reinterpretation, de- accessioning and repatriation are coming to the fore like never before. Students will engage with these efforts to decolonize the museum and critical curatorial practices as they design their own exhibits or propose a reinstallation of an existing one through developing exhibition narratives and physical display spaces of their own design.

An interdisciplinary examination of how Latin America and its peoples and cultures have been represented in films throughout the 20th century. Students will examine how Latin American filmmakers depict the complexity and cultural richness of the region using innovative and expansive storytelling, and how ideas of "Latin Americanness" are expressed by non-Latino filmmakers, including documentarians. Topics include social realism, indigenous identity, and how films can challenge political regimes and constructions of nationalism. Students will develop media literacy and an understanding of the frameworks that have shaped the social, ideological, and historical trajectory of much of the Western Hemisphere.

An examination of a controversial artistic style that generated heated debate among artists, critics, and consumers in eighteenth-century Europe. With their sensuous forms and pleasing motifs, rococo images and artifacts were appreciated by many elites, but they were also widely criticized for their non-classical style, eroticism, and associations with femininity, fashion, and decoration. The rococo idiom continued to be disparaged throughout the modern period, and is only beginning to be taken seriously as a significant mode of visual expression. Students will explore how this style engaged the social values of eighteenth-century elites; why it generated a legacy of negative responses; and what its critical fortunes can tell us about the shifting values of artists, viewers, and art historians between the nineteenth century and the present.

A study of gender, sexuality, and identity in European medieval art and architecture (ca. 500-1500) using the interpretive methods of queer and feminist methodologies. Topics include the depiction of Christ as mother, separatist communities and their artmaking, same-gender desire in marginal manuscript illuminations, and the representation of transgender saints. Students will explore how art objects can subvert, reflect, and ask provocative questions about gender identities and norms, both then and now. The course will include a field trip to the Tang and the opportunity for students to try their hand at a form of medieval embroidery practiced by nuns.

An eco-critical approach to the study of Medieval and Renaissance art and architecture, ca. 500-1650. Topics will include representations of the natural world (including animals, rocks, trees, plants, and landscapes), the sourcing of raw materials, the effects of medieval art making on animals, and the fundamental role of Nature in religious images and texts. Students will also explore the relationship between climate change and early modern art as well as consider the stakes of both studying and exhibiting art objects in the wake of our own climate crisis.

A topically organized course that addresses problems and issues of special interest at the advanced level.

A study of the artistic cultures of the two capitals of imperial power in the nineteenth century, London and Paris. We will focus on artistic developments that both supported and critiqued this imperialist age, including the art competitions at the world's fairs of 1855 and 1889, the fashion for orientalism, the medieval nostalgia of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, and the self-conscious modernity of the Impressionists.

A study of visual culture in France between 1785 and 1815, with a focus on the French Revolution. Students will explore how visual representation contributed to the development of revolutionary ideologies and the nature of social and political experience during a turbulent period of radical change. Students will examine paintings, caricature, and designs for festivals and clothing, giving particular attention to the display and dissemination of art and design; modes of spectatorship; issues of class, gender, and citizenship; and the role of the artist in revolutionary culture.

A study of the role of gender in the images, artifacts, or built environments of a particular culture, area, or time period. Students explore the construction of gender identities through factors such as artistic training, subject matter, style, patronage, collecting, display, spectatorship, and/or theoretical discourses on art. Content of the course will vary depending on the specialty of the instructor.

A study of the role of gender in the images, artifacts, or built environments of a particular culture, area, or time period. Students explore the construction of gender identities through factors such as artistic training, subject matter, style, patronage, collecting, display, spectatorship, and/or theoretical discourses on art. Content of the course will vary depending on the specialty of the instructor.

A study of the role of gender in the images, artifacts, or built environments of a particular culture, area, or time period. Students explore the construction of gender identities through factors such as artistic training, subject matter, style, patronage, collecting, display, spectatorship, and/or theoretical discourses on art. Content of the course will vary depending on the specialty of the instructor.

Recent developments in American and European art. The class situates a range of contemporary art movements and practices, including pop, earthworks, performance, video, and the more traditional forms of painting, sculpture, and photography, in their cultural and art historical contexts. Students will explore such issues as the status of art institutions, the connections between high art and popular culture, theoretical readings of art works, and artists' self-conscious expression of an identity politics.

Recent developments in American and European art. The class situates a range of contemporary art movements and practices, including pop, earthworks, performance, video, and the more traditional forms of painting, sculpture, and photography, in their cultural and art historical contexts. Students will explore such issues as the status of art institutions, the connections between high art and popular culture, theoretical readings of art works, and artists’ self-conscious expression of an identity politics.

Guided by the instructor, the student does independent reading and research in a specific area of art history.

Guided by the instructor, the student undertakes advanced research begun in a prior independent study.

For senior Art History majors who wish to be considered for departmental Honors.  Students will develop public-facing projects that enhance engagement with visual culture within the Skidmore community or beyond.  Projects might include hosting a guest speaker, giving a presentation at a local school or community center, creating a social media campaign.

An intensive, integrative exploration of a specific topic through group discussions and research-based projects. Students will consider diverse perspectives on the topic from both scholarship and popular culture and will apply knowledge gained in other courses across the disciplines. Students will take ownership of their learning both individually and collectively, strengthen academic skills that are transferable to a wide range of professional settings, and reflect on the relevance of the course material for their lives as engaged global citizens.

The culminating experience of the art history major.  Students explore potential career paths and develop pre-professional skills such as application writing, interviewing, and networking.

Professional experience at an advanced level for juniors and seniors with substantial experience in art history. With faculty sponsorship and department approval, students may extend their educational experience into such areas as museums, art galleries, art auction houses, private art collections, arts administration, art conservation, and architecture and historic preservation.