2025-2026 Catalog

ARTH 10100. Introduction to Art. 100 Units.

This course develops skills in perception, comprehension, and evaluation of various art objects and the built environment. It encourages close analysis of visual materials, exploring the range of questions and methods appropriate to works of art and buildings, in their historical, theoretical, and social dimensions. Most importantly, the course emphasizes articulate writing and salient argumentation about visual and other aesthetic phenomena. Three coherent units, on Monument/Site, Image/Medium, and Object/Museum, explore these issues across cultures and periods. Examples draw on original objects in campus collections and sites on campus.

Instructor(s): Pop, Brittenham, Yang     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. This course meets the general education requirement in the arts.

ARTH 14402. Introduction to the Arts of the Italian Renaissance. 100 Units.

This course will cover the major themes and works of the Italian Renaissance, including painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and architecture. We will consider stylistic development of the arts from the period of roughly 1300 (late Medieval/pre-Renaissance predecessors) to 1560. Throughout the course we will interrogate the concept of "Renaissance" as a unifying term and examine its relationship to the Medieval in terms of both continuity and change. A major focus of the course will be the functions of different media in this time period, and we will consider patronage, multiple viewerships, and access. We will explore how, for whom, and why works were created, and interrogate the relevance of the category 'fine arts' as it is commonly understood to the Renaissance. Additional themes will be: artistic practice, especially collaboration and competition; regional styles; the relationship of art in this period to the intellectual, political, and spiritual climate(s) of the time."

Terms Offered: Summer

ARTH 15636. Modern Korean Art. 100 Units.

This course introduces students to key histories, artworks, and theoretical discourses surrounding modern Korean art. Covering the period from the late 19th to mid-20th century, the course explores historical junctures-late Joseon, the Korean Empire (1897-1910), the colonial period (1910-1945), and the Korean War (1950-1953)-as critical moments during which the concepts of modernity and "modern art" (geundae misul) were imported and contested. Beyond providing a basic understanding of modern Korean art history, the course engages with broader art-historical inquiries, particularly how modernity and modernism can be articulated within a global framework. Readings encompass art historical texts as well as theories on global modernisms, theories of imperialism, and decoloniality. Discussion sections will emphasize the close reading of texts and visual materials, including drawings, paintings (oil and ink), photography, sculpture, and architecture.

Instructor(s): S. Ryu     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Asian, modern (1800-present)

ARTH 15706. Skills & Processes for Architecture and Urban Design. 100 Units.

This studio course seeks to acquaint students with a range of skills and methods in design, including manual, digital and hybrid methods. Students will test out several design processes through a series of problem sets and micro-projects, and develop their own personal tools and ways as they go. An emphasis will be put on free play and experimentation, followed by rounds of revision and refinement. We will also consider how historical research, precedent, context and constraint can help meaningfully inform design process, without overly paralyzing it. This is an excellent course to take if you are interested in other studio design courses (such as courses listed ARCH 2419X and ARCH 24267), but want to build up your skills before undertaking a major, quarter-long project. While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting November 18, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email. For this class, priority will be given to 1st-3rd year undergraduates who have *not* already taken ARCH studio courses but intend to do so. Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment

Instructor(s): S. Park, L. Joyner     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting November 18, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email. For this class, priority will be given to 1st-3rd year undergraduates who have *not* already taken ARCH studio courses but intend to do so. Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 15706

ARTH 15780. Western Modern Art from the Enlightenment until Today. 100 Units.

Surveying the history of modern Western art from the 18th through the 21st century, this course will introduce students to the artists, art works, and issues central to the relationship between art and modernity: the rise of the self and identity politics, the growth of the metropolis, the questioning of the "real" and the invention of photography, the autonomous thrust and semiotic potential of abstraction, the political ambitions of the avant-garde, and the impact of consumer and media cultures. Most discussion sections will center around original works of art and take place in the Smart Museum of Art.

Instructor(s): C. Mehring     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. This course meets the general education requirement in the arts.

ARTH 16100. Art of the East: China. 100 Units.

This course is an introduction to the arts of China focusing on the bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Chinese appropriation of the Buddha image, and the evolution of landscape and figure painting traditions. This course considers objects in contexts (from the archaeological sites from which they were unearthed to the material culture that surrounded them) to reconstruct the functions and the meanings of objects, and to better understand Chinese culture through the objects it produced.

Instructor(s): Z. Yi (Autumn & Winter), W. Lin (Spring)     Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Note(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. This course meets the general education requirement in the arts. This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Asian, modern (post-1800), Asian, premodern (pre-1800)
Equivalent Course(s): EALC 16100

ARTH 16107. Moving Objects, Dispersed Cultures: Case Studies from China and the Middle East. 100 Units.

In this course, we will delve into "big problems" created by the movement, relocation, or displacement of objects that are assigned special cultural, artistic, and historical values in new contexts. We will follow the movement of artifacts across both geographical and disciplinary boundaries, challenging established notions of cultural heritage and art. We often study and read ancient texts as primary sources, but we don't always pause to consider that those texts were written on physical objects like pieces of wood, leaves, or animal skin. Similarly, we're familiar with the display of ancient artwork inside museums or galleries, but have we wondered about the journey of individual objects to those new locations? How do objects move from their original place to modern collections? How do they become art? And how do they become historical sources? Guided by an art historian and a social historian, this course presents different ways to look at "objects that move", both as sources about past societies and as mirrors for contemporary ones. Through studying examples from the history of China and the Middle East, we will reconsider concepts such as cultural heritage, national patrimony, or even art that have been taken for granted. We will learn about the different histories of the dispersal of cultural heritages in those two regions, from nation-building and colonial projects in the twentieth century to the illicit trade in antiquities and the creation of digital replicas today.

Instructor(s): Wei-Cheng Lin, Cecilia Palombo     Terms Offered: May be offered 2025-26
Prerequisite(s): PQ: Third or fourth-year standing.
Equivalent Course(s): BPRO 27100, ARTH 36107, NEHC 36107, EALC 16107, RLST 26107, EALC 36107, NEHC 16107

ARTH 16800. Arts of Japan. 100 Units.

This course surveys the arts of the Japanese archipelago through the study of selected major sites and artifacts. We will consider objects in their original contexts and in the course of transmission and reinterpretation across space and time. How did Japanese visual culture develop in the interaction with objects and ideas from China, Korea, and the West? Prehistoric artifacts, the Buddhist temple, imperial court culture, the narrative handscroll, the tea ceremony, folding screens, and woodblock prints are among the topics covered.

Instructor(s): C. Foxwell     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Students must attend first class to confirm enrollment. This course meets the general education requirement in the arts.
Equivalent Course(s): EALC 16806

ARTH 17512. Modern Architecture in Algeria, France, French Algeria, and Algerian France. 100 Units.

This course invites students to consider the intertwined architectural histories of France and Algeria in the colonial and postcolonial eras. From colonial designs in French Algeria to counterhegemonic spaces of Algerian communities in postcolonial France, students will examine how architecture engages with fraught historical episodes and contested cultural landscapes. Case studies include Paris as a Eurocentric paradigm for the modern city, dialectics of construction and destruction in Algiers under colonial rule, and urban multiplicity in Marseille. Protagonists include Le Corbusier, arguably the most canonical architect of the 20th century, and underexamined figures like Abderrahmane Bouchama, who declared being the sole Muslim Algerian architect at the independence. By the end of the quarter, students will have gained substantial knowledge of the history of these two countries, their architecture, and the historiographical stakes of connective architectural history.

Instructor(s): J. Huet     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Fulfills the following categories in the ARTH major and minor: African, European and American, modern (post-1800) and is an Art in Context Seminar
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 17512

ARTH 17551. Beyond the Vitruvian Man: Architecture and the Body in the Italian Renaissance. 100 Units.

With its ideal proportions inscribed in perfect geometry, the Vitruvian Man long served as the iconic model of early modern architecture, inspiring Renaissance designers to reimagine buildings and cities in pursuit of its ideal form. Yet this abstract male figure, often framed as a symbol of human dignity, conceals the vital multiplicity essential to both human and urban life and obscures the diverse experiences of early modern populations. This course challenges students to consider how the human body-both as a cultural construct and a site of lived experience-shaped the design and reception of early modern architecture. While the Vitruvian Man serves as our point of departure, we will move beyond its idealised geometry to explore how sensory experience and embodied practice animated and reconfigured Renaissance architectural space, paying particular attention to urban inhabitants who negotiated, reshaped, and at times overturned the harmonious projections of architects and designers. Students will engage with canonical architects such as Michelangelo, Alberti, and Leonardo alongside ordinary inhabitants-including artisans, women, Jewish communities, and travellers-who deployed their eyes, ears, hands, mouths, and feet to rewrite the meaning of urban space and inscribe their own presence in the fabric of Renaissance cities. With their support, we will also explore the potential for historical urban experience to inform, unsettle, or inspire the way we imagine cities today.

Instructor(s): E. Johnson     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): This course is an art in context core course. This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: European and American pre-1800
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 12204

ARTH 17602. Contemporary Art Beyond Korea. 100 Units.

This course surveys key histories and theoretical discourses of contemporary art, with a particular focus on Korea, both North and South. Beginning at the end of the Korean War (1950-1953), the course reexamines the notion of the "postwar" from Korean and broader Asian perspectives, extending the conversation to art produced in the present day. The parallel postwar histories-industrialization, authoritarianism, democratization movements, and globalization across East and Southeast Asia-necessitate an interregional and global approach. Korea, from the aftermath of the Korean War onwards, has served as a significant testing ground within these interconnected historical trajectories. While centering discussions on artworks and discourses from Korea, the course will also engage with artistic practices from other regions, including but not limited to Japan, China, Taiwan, Europe, the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. This course may include a self-directed visit to the MCA and the Art Institute, as well as participation in selected artist talks.

Instructor(s): S. Ryu     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Asian, modern (1800-present)

ARTH 17761. Introduction to Modern Architecture: Modernity and Its Other. 100 Units.

This course invites students to reflect upon the idea of modernity in architecture as it developed between 1450 and the end of the 20th century. The purpose of this course is two-fold: 1) to introduce students to selected architectural episodes across time and space; and 2) to demonstrate that modernity as a concept is deeply charged with power dynamics. Indeed, the idea of modernity systematically includes a strong delineation of its margins: the people, cultures, and places that have been portrayed as lacking the modern mind, techniques, or esthetics. In this respect, modernity and its antonyms are often inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. Throughout the quarter, we will discuss exclusionary modern visions, debunk their absolutism, and amplify the voices of those who have proposed alternative models for modernity in architecture.

Instructor(s): J. Huet     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: African, Asian, modern (post-1800), European and American, modern (post-1800), Latin American, Theory and Historiography
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 27761, ARCH 17761

ARTH 17781. Women in 20th-Century Architecture. 100 Units.

From the Renaissance to the present day, architecture has been a blatantly male-centric field. This course invites students to consider women who overcame systemic barriers to become figures of agency in 20th-century architecture. We will examine the lives and works of women who have managed to attend architecture schools, despite historical gender-based exclusion or restriction on enrollment, as well as those who found impactful ways to play architectural roles without academic training. We will pay particular attention to how these protagonists add necessary complexity to the modernist canon. The course will start with a first module on positionality (women as architects, women as clients, and women as residents) followed by a second module with a biographical scope (Minnette De Silva, Eileen Gray, bell hooks, and Sibyl Moholy-Nagy).

Instructor(s): J. Huet     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course fulfills the Art In Context Core Requirement: European and American, modern (post-1800), Theory and Historiography
Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 20145, ARCH 17781

ARTH 17904. Chinatown, the Japanese Garden, the Period Room: Diasporic Architecture from East Asia. 100 Units.

The built environment serves as a powerful connection to its time, place, and cultural origins. This course examines East Asian architecture and landscapes that have transcended their native contexts, as well as East Asian-style buildings designed for cultural others. From the bustling streets of Chinatown to the serene Japanese gardens and the meticulously curated period rooms showcasing East Asia's arts and cultures, the course explores a wide range of architectural forms, urban designs, and landscapes spanning two centuries. These structures are studied not as static artifacts but as dynamic platforms for social events, cultural debates, and political opportunities, shaped by historical and ongoing negotiations between their home and host contexts. Central to the course is the concept of diaspora, through which we investigate how the experience of living outside one's home country-sometimes in foreign or even unwelcoming environments-can be understood through the lens of the built environment. In this framework, architecture becomes a reflection of the dynamic experiences of immigration, racialization, cultural exchange, and confrontation. It is also subject to processes of representation, appropriation, modification, and reinvention. Through immersive field trips in the Chicago metropolitan area, students will critically analyze the formal language, spatial experiences, cultural symbolism, and social dynamics embedded in East Asian-style architecture and landscapes.

Instructor(s): Z. Yang     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): Fulfills the following categories in the ARTH major and minor: Asian, modern (post-1800), European and American, modern (post-1800). This course is an Art in Context seminar
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 17904

ARTH 18160. Islamic Arts of the Book. 100 Units.

This course is an introduction to the Islamic art of the book, with a particular focus on Arabic and Persian manuscripts spanning the 11th to 17th centuries and beyond. By paying attention to the relationships between calligraphy, illumination, and painting through the lens of manuscript materiality and bookmaking technologies we will explore key histories, artworks, and discourses surrounding Islamic manuscripts, from Qur'ans to lavishly illustrated historical, scientific, and literary texts. While attending to issues of style, image-text relationships, and the transmission of knowledge in a roughly chronological framework, the course also engages with broader questions about materiality and the socio-economic conditions of manuscripts including economies of manuscript production and circulation, and systems of patronage. The course emphasizes close looking and in-depth study of manuscripts from the ISAC, the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Sessions will also include workshops at the Seldon Institute in Hyde Park. Visits to local collections will supplement classroom discussions and assigned readings.

Instructor(s): S. Hosseini     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course is an Art in Context core.

ARTH 18611. To the Taj Mahal and Beyond: Arts of the Islamic South Asia. 100 Units.

This class is an "Art in Context" core class and introduces students to Islamic art and culture in South Asia, taking the Taj Mahal (1653) as a jumping off point. We begin with the Taj Mahal, taking time to analyse the architecture and history of the monument. Then we go back in time, where we examine the cultural and artistic context of the dynasty that made the Taj, the Mughals (r. 1526-1857). This will involve looking at contexts within and outside of South Asia, and within and outside of Islamic realms. Finally, we look at the impact of the Taj as a major world monument, studying later attempts to make similar tomb structures within large garden complexes. We will also examine the endearing legacy of the Taj Mahal in colonial and postcolonial periods, looking at prints, photographs, and films. The class includes a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago (details to be confirmed) and the Special Collections at Regenstein. There will also be the opportunity to construct the Taj Mahal Lego Set.

Instructor(s): M. Manohar     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 18611

ARTH 18704. Contemporary Art Beyond Korea. 100 Units.

This course surveys key histories and theoretical discourses of contemporary art with a focus on Korea, both North and South. Beginning at the end of the Korean War (1950-1953), the course reexamines the notion of the "postwar" from Korean and broader Asian perspectives, extending the conversation to art produced in the present day. The parallel postwar histories-industrialization, authoritarianism, democratization movements, and globalization across East and Southeast Asia-necessitate an interregional and global approach. Korea, from the aftermath of the Korean War onwards, has served as a testing ground within these interconnected historical trajectories. While centering discussions on artworks and discourses from Korea, the course will also engage with artistic practices from other regions, including but not limited to Japan, China, Taiwan, Europe, the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. This course may include a self-directed visit to the MCA and the Art Institute, along with participation in selected artist talks.

Instructor(s): S. Ryu     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Asian post-1800

ARTH 20035. Graphic Design and Social Movements. 100 Units.

Posters, publications, social media graphics, handbills, and other graphic materials have long played a role in sustaining and shaping social movements. In this course, which is part studio class and part discussion, we will discuss the role of graphic design in building collective identity for social movements, with a particular focus on the labor movement. Students will identify artifacts from contemporary or past social movements and use them as the basis for writing and designing a small publication.

Instructor(s): Danielle Aubert     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HMRT 20035, ARTV 20036, ENGL 20035

ARTH 20164. Exhibiting the Environmental Humanities: Curatorial Practicum. 100 Units.

Collaboratively, students in this course will design and mount an exhibition based on research in the Environmental Humanities. Students will explore not just the exhibition's content and historical contextualization but think through critical questions about choices made in the collecting and display of selected objects as well as examine the history of exhibitions in the United States. Drawing on methods from museum studies, art history, history, environmental studies, and others, students will develop interdisciplinary approaches to research and practice communicating humanistic inquiry to general audiences. In the Fall 2024 Quarter, Students in Exhibiting the Environmental Humanities will have the opportunity to collaborate with the Sterling Morton Library at the Morton Arboretum to tell the story of May Theilgarrd Watts, an early environmental educator at the Arboretum, naturalist, author, and UChicago alumna.

Instructor(s): Jessica Landau      Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 20164, CHST 20164

ARTH 20241. Architecture and Value. 100 Units.

This course is an investigation of architecture as a "value-added" proposition, looking at works and practice with regard to the marketpace. While architecture is often considered for its aesthetic and cultural benefit, here the issue studied is how architecture and architects create or improve value. Investigation begins with the normative, understanding the role of money in architectural practice, construction and development. Typically value in the profession is measured through the lenses of efficiency and economy, and architects operate within these traditional parameters. Included here is the important relationship between time and money in projects. Having defined the normative, work then shifts to be more progressive, with study of new responses to emerging markets, and alternative pathways with architects working directly as contractors or developers. Student work will investigate different solutions, working to produce both a research paper and a studio-type presentation. While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting February 24, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.)

Instructor(s): G. Goldberg     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting February 24, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.)
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 20241

ARTH 20336. Researching Chicago's Historic Parks and Neighborhoods. 100 Units.

Often described as a "City of Neighborhoods," Chicago has a fascinating network of community areas that were shaped by historical events and developments. Many of the city's neighborhoods include parks that have their own significant architectural, landscape and social histories. The class will introduce students to some of Chicago's most interesting historic neighborhoods and parks; expose them to key regional digital and on-site archives; and instruct them in appropriate methodologies for conducting deep research on sites and landscapes, with a special focus on Chicago's historic park system. Students will utilize an array of resources including Sanborn maps, US Census records, historic plans, photographs, and archival newspapers to provide in-depth studies of unpreserved sites. The course will also expose students to historic preservation policies, methodologies, and guidelines to provide practical strategies for preserving lesser-known places and sites. As a Chicago Studies class, its pedagogy will also include excursions into the city, engagement with local guest speakers, and research in relevant Chicago-area archives/special collections.

Instructor(s): Bachrach, Julia     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This special class is offered in conjunction with the University’s ongoing commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture. Olmsted and his sons, the Olmsted Brothers, had a substantial influence on the city’s South Side, including the University’s campus and the development of small parks that provided services to dense immigrant neighborhoods in the early 20th century. The class will include field trips during some Friday class sessions.
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 20336, ARCH 10336, CHST 20336, HIST 27312

ARTH 20500. Arts + Public Life: Relationships, Engagement and Cultural Stewardship on Chicago's South Side. 100 Units.

Founded in 2011 and located in Chicago's legendary Washington Park neighborhood, Arts + Public Life (APL) is a dynamic hub of exploration, expression, and exchange that fosters neighborhood vibrancy through the arts on the South Side of Chicago. This class gives students an opportunity to learn from APL's embedded practice of supporting the arts and cultural history of the South Side of Chicago to learn how they might become responsible and responsive stewards of this work themselves. Each week students will be immersed into a different aspect of APL's robust portfolio, all of which center relationships, community engagement, and cultural stewardship. Readings and visitors will provide background, inspiration, and know-how about APL's cultural production processes and location in Washington Park. Students will engage with APL team members to refine their own project ideas throughout the quarter. Class will primarily take place in APL's spaces on the Arts Block in Washington Park.

Instructor(s): Bharani, Nootan     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): Consent is required for this class. Interested students should email the instructor Nootan Bharani, nbharani@uchicago.edu, to briefly explain their interest, however no previous experience is necessary.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTV 20707, CHST 20500, RDIN 20501

ARTH 20692. Armenian History through Art and Culture. 100 Units.

Who are the Armenians and where do they come from? What is the cultural contribution of Armenians to their neighbors and overall world heritage? This crash-course will try to answer these and many other similar questions while surveying Armenian history and elements of culture (mythology, religion, manuscript illumination, art, architecture, etc.). It also will discuss transformations of Armenian identity and symbols of 'Armenianness' through time, based on such elements of national identity as language, religion, art, or shared history. Due to the greatest artistic quality and the transcultural nature of its monuments and artifacts, Armenia has much to offer in the field of Art History, especially when we think about global transculturation and appropriation among cultures as a result of peoples' movements and contacts. The course is recommended for students with interest in Armenian Studies or related fields, in Area or Civilizations Studies, Art and Cultural Studies, etc.

Instructor(s): Hripsime Haroutunian     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 20692, NEHC 20692, HIST 25711, NEHC 30692

ARTH 20705. City Imagined... 100 Units.

TBD

Instructor(s): L. Joyner     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Starting November 18, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email. Prior completion of at least one ARCH studio course is strongly recommended for enrollment in this class, as many of its themes and conversations will build on familiarity with at least one approach to courses like these.
Note(s): Note: this is the first course of a two-course sequence. You do not have to commit to enrolling in "...City Observed" in spring to take this course in winter, but it is strongly recommended. You must, however, take this course to enroll in "...City Observed" in the spring.
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 20705

ARTH 20706. ...City Observed. 100 Units.

TBD

Instructor(s): L. Joyner      Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting February 24, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.)
Note(s): Note: this is the second course of a two-course sequence. You must take "City Imagined..." in Winter 2026 to enroll in this spring course.)
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 20706

ARTH 20908. Media Revolutions Then and Now. 100 Units.

This seminar explores how the Protestant Reformation and innovations in printing technology coincided to catalyze a sweeping revolution that paved the way for today's media culture. The class will center around the eponymous exhibition curated by the instructors at the Hannah Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center in Winter 2026, which upends traditional narratives that center on printing technology as the driving force of the Reformation, and instead shows how essential religious thought and practice were for the emergence and success of modern media. We will highlight how Reformers like Martin Luther both provided content and theological legitimacy that sustained the print industry, transforming print from a nascent technology into a powerful tool for religious and cultural change. Crucial to the class is the notion of the Reformation as the first modern media event that laid the foundation for our modern media landscape. However, the aim is not to chart a straightforward linear narrative of progress from the woodcut to the meme; instead, we will focus on the commonalities as much as on the differences of the two eras. The class will touch upon a variety of themes (e.g., the page layout of printed Bibles, propaganda wars, hate speech, conspiracy theories, and witchcraft), illuminating what the early modern reformation of media can teach us about today's media culture and its potential future.

Instructor(s): T. Golan and C. Wild     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Fulfills the following categories in the ARTH major and minor: European and American, pre-modern (pre-1800)
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 30908, GRMN 25908, GRMN 35908

ARTH 21333. (Re)Branding the Balkan City: Comtemp. Belgrade/Sarajevo/Zagreb. 100 Units.

The freedom to make and remake our cities (and ourselves) is one of the most precious yet most neglected of the human rights," argues David Harvey. In this course, we use an urban studies lens to explore the complex history, social fabric, architecture, infrastructure, and cultural transformation of the former Yugoslav capitals. Since their inception, these cities have relied on multifaceted exchanges of peoples and political projects, forms of knowledge, financial and cultural capital, means of production, and innovative ideas. Among others, these exchanges produced two phenomena, Yugoslav architecture, embodying one of the great political experiments of the modern era, and the Non-Aligned Movement, as explored in recent documentary films (Turajlić 2023), museum exhibits (MoMA 2018, "Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia 1948-1980"), and monographs (Tito in Africa: Picturing Solidarity). Drawing on anthropological theory and ethnography of the city, we consider processes of urban destruction and renewal, practices of branding spaces and identities, metropolitan citizenship, arts and design, architectural histories and styles, and the broader politics of space. The course is complemented by cultural and historical media, guest speakers, and virtual tours. Classes are conducted in English.

Instructor(s): Nada Petkovic     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): REES 21300, HIST 24008, GLST 21301, REES 31303, ARTH 31333, BCSN 21300, ARCH 21300, BCSN 31303

ARTH 21416. Avant-Garde and Kitsch" in the 21st Century: Socialism, Modernism, Elitism. 100 Units.

The course is a thoroughgoing study of American art critic Clement Greenberg's seminal "Avant-Garde and Kitsch." Published in 1939, Greenberg's essay is not only a passionate defense of the superiority of so-called "formal," "elevated," or "highbrow" culture relative to the "rudimentary," "popular," or "lowbrow" forms abounding within modern industrial society; the text is also a subtle argument for what art is and why it matters, one indebted to a Marxist theory of history and grounded in a belief in the possibly imminent realization of global socialism. For Greenberg, it was not bourgeois elitism but popular entertainment that most gravely threatened humanity's full cultural flourishing-in short: socialism demanded modernism in the arts. But by his death in 1994, having earned a reputation as a conservative aesthete, Greenberg had long since abandoned his leftist commitments. Was this shift in Greenberg's political sensibility inevitable? How are socialism and modernism related historically? Is elitism in art necessarily incompatible with socialism in politics? These will be some of our core questions. Ultimately, the course is a quarter-length rumination on the contemporary relevance of the rather enigmatic final lines of Greenberg's famous essay: "Today we no longer look toward socialism for a new culture - as inevitably as one will appear, once we do have socialism. Today we look to socialism simply for the preservation of whatever living culture we have right now."

Instructor(s): C. Gruber     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: European and American post-1800

ARTH 21426. Marx's Theory of Class. 100 Units.

The topic of this course is Karl Marx's theory of socio-economic class. Its purpose is to gain insight into Marx's fundamental thesis that understanding classes helps us understand politics. Though it is one of the topics for which his name is most remembered, his view of class is often misrepresented. For instance, one might hear that, for Marx, there are just the two most famous classes of capitalist society-the so-called proletariat (workers) and the bourgeoisie (capitalists). Like classical economists before him and heterodox economists after him, however, Marx actually believes that modern societies consist of at least three classes: workers, capitalists, and landlords or rentiers, as well as other marginalized groups. And he even disaggregates those classes into the smaller groups which constitute them (e.g., productive and unproductive labor; industrial, commercial, and financial capital, etc.). By examining selections from his mature political-economic writings, we will reconstruct Marx's theory of social classes and consider his application of that theory in significant case studies such as the American Civil War. Themes which we will address include the relation between economy and politics, class and race, science and ideology, as well as agency and structure in historical development. Questions which we will ask include the advantages and disadvantages of Marx's view with an eye to contemporary questions.

ARTH 21702. Ekphrasis: Art, Description and Religion. 100 Units.

This course explores the rich traditions of description - ekphrasis - from Greco-Roman antiquity into the middle ages. It tackles texts (both prose and verse) in order to establish the ramifications of a genre in the European tradition, and its applications in particular to visual culture and religion. There will be opportunity in the final paper to range beyond these into questions of comparative literature, art (history) writing, religious imagination and ekphrasis in all periods or contexts, as well as into the use of images or films as themselves forms of descriptive response. The course is intended for graduates but interested undergraduates are very welcome. It will be examined on the basis of a paper, due on a subject to be agreed and on a date to be agreed at the end of the Spring quarter.

Instructor(s): Jaś Elsner     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course will be taught virtually for the last two weeks of the quarter. This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 29004, MDVL 29004, ARTH 40400, RLVC 40400, CLCV 29600, CLAS 42600, BIBL 40400

ARTH 21821. (Re-)Living Nazi Germany through the Eyes of the Graphic Novel. 100 Units.

This course considers the graphic novel as an aesthetic and political response to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Through close reading of three paradigmatic graphic novels by German and American artists from WWII to the present day, we will develop a critical vocabulary to analyze the intermedial form and explore the historical conditions out of which these cultural artefacts emerge. Our journey begins with Charlotte Salomon's pioneering masterpiece Life? Or Theater? (1941-943), a recently discovered autobiographical account of life in the Third Reich created by the visionary German-Jewish artist before her death at Auschwitz at the age of 26. One generation later, Art Spiegelman, the son of a Holocaust survivor, produces his seminal 1980 graphic narrative Maus based on interviews with his father. In Nora Krug's 2018 graphic novel Belonging, the author seeks to understand her grandparents' potential collusion with the forces of ethnic cleansing in Nazi Germany. Our interpretative readings will focus on the authors' engagement with questions of European and Jewish identity and their treatment of historical trauma and culpability in the graphic novel form. This course is designed both for German majors/minors and majors from other disciplines. All texts are available in translation and class will be held in English. German majors are invited to engage directly with the German-language editions and historical sources. Additional discussions in German will be offered bi-weekly

Instructor(s): Emily Dreyfus     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 21821

ARTH 22120. Ecocritical Art History: Perspectives from South Asia. 100 Units.

How can art history contribute to the ongoing discourse about environmentalism? What can the study of art tell us about the interrelatedness of human creativity and the environment? In this seminar, we will wrestle with these questions through an ecocritical study of South Asian art. Ecocriticism has its origins in literary studies, although it is now an interdisciplinary field of study that explores how the natural world is portrayed in the arts, broadly conceived. Art history has long been interested in analyzing how artists depicted the natural world. However, such explorations have usually been framed by a narrow set of discreet concerns that have their origins in Enlightenment-era discourse; for example, landscape studies, animal studies (zoology), plant studies (botany), etc. Ecocriticism does not have any such limiting framework. An ecocritical study attempts to move beyond the irreducibly anthropocentric approach in the humanities to understand the natural environments in which humans made art. South Asian art is fundamentally marked by an interest in nature. The towers of Indian temples were conceived of as physical manifestations of the Himalayas. The door guardians that stand on either side of temple entrances are anthropomorphic depictions of the rivers Ganga and Yamuna.

Instructor(s): M. Manohar     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 32120

ARTH 22305. Spiritual and Protective Lives of African Textiles. 100 Units.

This seminar explores visual culture and historical arts of Africa primarily from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with a focus on traditional textiles. We will cover a broad geographical range with case studies that center on production, practices, and uses for textiles and related objects of devotion in everyday life. Investigations will highlight textiles' tangible and intangible elements to examine their spiritual and protective dimensions through various lenses: organized religions, including the three Abrahamic faiths, local belief systems and ritual practices, social or political organizations, and other cultural distinctions. Such contextualization will contribute to students' recognition of the diversity and historical depth of the continent's arts and cultures. We will visit objects in local museums and exhibitions for in-person, close looking and to fuel discussions surrounding the role of museums and museum display and interpretation. At least two class sessions will take place at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Instructor(s): J. Purdy     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Consent only
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: African Art
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 32305

ARTH 22816. Narrative Frescos in Early Modern Italy. 100 Units.

In this course we will observe different ways to tell a story through painting, and we will analyze strategies used by artists in early modern Italy to describe space and time in visual terms. Students will engage with different artists, from Giotto to Raphael and Pellegrino Tibaldi, and different cultural and geographic contexts, from Padua and Bologna to Florence, Venice, and Rome, over the span of about three centuries.Students will explore a wide range of visual examples and textual sources on various subject matters, from poetry to history, from the Bible to vernacular accounts about saints, from mythology to contemporary chronicles, in order to investigate what kind of stories were told on the walls of halls and courts of honor, private rooms, or public spaces, aiming at understanding why each of them was chosen. Complex projects such as narrative mural and ceiling paintings usually involved a tight collaboration among artists, patrons, and iconographic consultants, all figures with whom students will become familiar. We will also analyse the theory behind the comparison of poetry and painting ("ut pictura poesis", "as is painting so is poetry") by investigating the meaning and the reception of this ancient concept in early modern times, and its implications on the social role of the artist. Students will investigate the significance of narrative frescos in early modern times, while also asking questions about their value and impact today.

Instructor(s): F. Caneparo     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 32888, ITAL 22888, ARTH 32816

ARTH 23325. Touch and Tactility in East Asian Art. 100 Units.

This course considers East Asian art through the dimensions of touch and tactility. What happens when we think of art not just as something to be seen, but felt? How do material, tactile, and haptic qualities shape creative processes, as well as our understanding of art across China, Japan, Korean, and beyond? How have modern museum practices, with their "do not touch" signs, transformed our relationship with these works? Through various case studies-from the sensuous surfaces of Chinese decorative objects and the ritualized grinding of ink on stone, the hand-formed and deliberately textured Japanese tea bowls meant to be cradled in hands, to the illusionistic tactility in Korean chaekgeori still-life paintings-we will explore the significance of touch and materiality in artistic expressions and aesthetic experiences in East Asian art history. We will engage with art objects hands-on when possible, develop methodologies for analyzing tactile dimensions of art, and critically examine how touch intersects with cultural values, social hierarchies, and aesthetics across East Asian traditions

Instructor(s): S. Yi     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Asian pre-1800
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 33325

ARTH 23401. Revision, Expression & Portfolio Design. 100 Units.

This studio course, similar to a "senior seminar" in other disciplines, serves five purposes: (1) to allow students to pick up a few elements (drawings, models, collages, visual and place-based research, etc.) they've produced in other ARCH studio courses and spend more time refining them, outside the broader demands of a thematic studio class, (2) to acquaint students with advanced skills in expression and representation related to the revision and refinement of these elements, based on student interest and needs, (3) to assist students in the development of a portfolio of studio work, either toward application for graduate school or simply to have for themselves, and in systems to organize projects and revisions, (4) to add to students' typographic and graphic design skillsets, primarily using the Adobe Creative Suite, as part of the portfolio process, and (5) to practice and hone communication and writing skills related to discussing architectural projects. While there will be a modest set of skills-based exercises each week, to help structure the studio, most of the work for this class will be students' own project revisions and portfolios, and most of class time will be spent sharing and refining both. Priority for this "senior studio" course will be given to 3rd and 4th years who've taken at least two other ARCH studio classes already. Starting July 14, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios

Instructor(s): L. Joyner     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Priority for this "senior studio" course will be given to third and fourth years who've taken at least two other ARCH studio classes already. Starting July 14, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.)
Note(s): This course counts towards the ENST 4th year Capstone requirement. Fulfills the following categories in the ARTH major and minor: European and American, modern (post-1800)
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 23401, ARCH 23401

ARTH 23816. Scroll, Screen, Stela: East Asian Art and Its Mediums. 100 Units.

This course invites students to engage critically with the materials and mediums used to create East Asian artworks, spanning from antiquity to the contemporary era. In addition to exploring subject matter and iconography specific to various historical periods, we will approach these works as physical, image-bearing objects and architectural structures-considering how their material forms shape both their creation and reception. As a COSI Mellon Museum Seminar, the course meets once weekly in a three-hour session held at local collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum, the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, Heritage Museum of Asian Art, and the Smart Museum of Art. Each session focuses on a major art medium-such as metalwork, scroll painting, albums and bound books, folding screens, stone carvings and rubbings, and woodblock prints. Students will read selected primary sources in translation alongside modern scholarship, and participate in close, in-person examination of objects. Over the quarter, students will build a historically grounded understanding of prominent East Asian art forms, gain hands-on experience in object observation and handling, and develop a critical sensitivity to various visual media in the contemporary world.

Instructor(s): L. Sun     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): No prior background in East Asian art is required.

ARTH 24002. Advanced Nonfiction Workshop: Writing About the Arts. 100 Units.

Thinking about practices is a way of focusing a conversation between creative writers, art historians, curators, and working visual artists, all of whom are encouraged to join this workshop. We ourselves will be practicing and studying a wide variety of approaches to visual art. We'll read critics like John Yau and Lori Waxman, memoirists like Aisha Sabbatini Sloan, inventive historians like Zbigniew Herbert, and poets like Gwendolyn Brooks and Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, as well as curatorial and museum writings, catalogue essays, artists' statements, and other experimental and practical forms. The course hopes to support students both in developing useful practices and experimenting boldly. Classes will be shaped around current exhibitions and installations. Sessions will generally begin with student-led observation at the Smart Museum, and we will spend one session on close looking in the study room at the Smart. Students will also visit five collections, exhibitions and/or galleries and, importantly, keep a looking notebook. Students will write a number of exercises in different forms (immersive meditation, researched portrait, mosaic fragment), and will also write and revise a longer essay (on any subject and in any mode) to be workshopped in class.

Instructor(s): Rachel Cohen     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Advanced Workshop: During pre-registration, this course is open only to declared Creative Writing Majors and declared Minors in English and Creative Writing, as well as graduate students. During add/drop the course will be instructor consent and open to all students in the College. Please contact the instructor to be added to the waitlist for the option to enroll during add/drop. Attendance on the first day is mandatory.
Equivalent Course(s): CRWR 44002, ARTH 34002, CRWR 24002

ARTH 24030. Sexuality Studies in American Art. 100 Units.

TBD

Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 34030, AMER 24030, AMER 34030, GNSE 26102

ARTH 24045. Painting Landscapes in 19th century France. 100 Units.

Over the course of the 19th century in France, landscape emerged as a preeminent genre for exploring the complexities of the modern world. The massive growth of cities, industry, tourism, and other environmental changes dramatically affected inherited notions of ecological balance. How did landscape painters respond to these challenges by developing new aesthetic attitudes and representational strategies? We'll study how landscapes evolved from the Romantics and the Barbizon school, through the Realists at mid-century, to the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Artists to be considered in depth include Théodore Rousseau, Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, and Vincent van Gogh. As many classes as possible will be held at the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay. We'll also make field trips to some of the sites represented by these painters.

Instructor(s): M. Ward     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course will be taught in Paris

ARTH 24091. Environmental Art History. 100 Units.

This course explores the historical and contemporary relationships between art and the environment in a global context. Two central questions will guide our inquiry. First, what constitutes "environmental art" as a field that is both theoretically and historically grounded yet open to redefinition, methodological innovation, and interdisciplinary experimentation? Second, what are the stakes of historicizing this field in a global framework? For instance, in parts of Asia, the term "environmental art" often refers to the environment in spatial and technological terms detached from environmentalist thought. Similarly, Land Art, a key milestone in the field, creates a productive tension with land-based or ecological perspectives. Considering the term's porosity and evolving definitions, the course adopts a broad purview, encompassing landscape painting, still life paintings, and plantation architecture, as well as recent debates on the Anthropocene, Indigenous land-based thought, environmental justice, and new materialisms. In addition to examining the objects and theories that constitute environmental art, the course will also consider cases of environmentally-informed art historical practice.

Instructor(s): S. Ryu     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 34091

ARTH 24092. Public and Political Locations of South Asian Art History. 100 Units.

This seminar will be addressing some of the new directions in South Asian art history over the turn of the 21st century, foregrounding the public and political inhabitations of the field. The background is set by two broad shifts in disciplinary focus and approach - from the ancient and medieval artistic pasts of the subcontinent to the modern and contemporary era; from the canonical genres of architecture, sculpture and painting to different visual media, image complexes, and spheres of popular production and consumption. The geo-political map of South Asia that frames the course is that of the dismantled empire and the dismembered subcontinent, born out of the twin occurrences of Independence and Partition, the making of multiple nation-states, and the ceaseless eruption of linguistic, ethnic and religious divisions. Placed within this historical context, South Asian history can be seen as an unquiet discipline: one that keeps interrogating the categories of art, nation and modernity, and recalibrating the registers of the secular and the religious, the national and the regional, the global and local in this sphere.

Instructor(s): T. Guha-Thakurta     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): This course is intended for advanced undergraduates in their final year as well as graduate students.
Equivalent Course(s): SALC 34092, ARTH 34092, SALC 24092

ARTH 24190. Imagining Chicago's Common Buildings. 100 Units.

This course is an architectural studio based in the common residential buildings of Chicago and the city's built environment. While design projects and architectural skills will be the focus of the course, it will also incorporate readings, a small amount of writing, some social and geographical history, and several explorations around Chicago. The studio will: (1) give students interested in pursuing architecture or the study of cities experience with a studio course and some skills related to architectural thinking, (2) acquaint students intimately with Chicago's common residential buildings and built fabric, and (3) situate all this within a context of social thought about residential architecture, common buildings, housing, and the city. While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting July 31, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.) Please also note that this course will include several field trips around Chicago during class time; if you have any questions or concerns about that, please share them in the consent form when you complete it.

Instructor(s): L. Joyner     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting July 31, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.) Please also note that this course will include several field trips around Chicago during class time; if you have any questions or concerns about that, please share them in the consent form when you complete it.
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 24190, ARCH 24190, GEOG 24190, CHST 24190, CEGU 24190, ARTV 20210

ARTH 24199. The Life of Buildings. 100 Units.

This course will examine the life of buildings-- how they perform, evolve, and adapt over time. How do particular design decisions influence human experience and behavior? Which parts of the building align with its intended use and what are surprising outcomes or changes? These questions aim to provide students with a deeper understanding of the built environment and the series of decisions that shaped them. Through readings, surveys, site visits, and conversations with architects and building users, we will measure and examine the spaces around us. Students will begin with a series of short analysis and design exercises and create short films, projective collages and diagrams, and architectural concept models. Building on our collective observations, research, and analysis, we will then finish with a final project where we respond to an existing building and propose an alternate life path. The format of the course is part-seminar, part-studio that aims to equip students with practical tools and strategies needed to shape our world and account for the long-term impact of design. While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting July 14, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.

Instructor(s): C. Haouzi     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting July 14, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 24199, CHST 24199, ARCH 24199

ARTH 24612. Global Art Nouveau. 100 Units.

This course explores the dynamic, international movement of Art Nouveau (new art), which flourished from the 1880s through the early 20th century. Characterized by organic motifs, Art Nouveau emerged as a modern style that sought to dissolve traditional boundaries-between art and life, fine arts and craft, and tradition and innovation. While the movement spread rapidly across Europe and the United States, each region adapted the style to articulate its own national identity through ornament and heritage. This paradox-of a style that is both international and deeply nationalistic-is further complicated by Art Nouveau's reliance on a wide array of global decorative traditions, many shaped by colonial encounters and orientalist frameworks. Centering on cross-cultural exchanges, this course reconsiders Art Nouveau through a global lens. How do its international references-from Japanese prints, Chinese ceramics, Indonesian textiles, Central African natural motifs, to Islamic ornament-challenge the idea of Art Nouveau as a purely Western or European phenomenon? Rather than framing Art Nouveau as a singular stylistic break, we will examine it as a complex network of artistic transmission, translation, and appropriation. In doing so, we'll ask: how do global influences reshape our understanding of this "modern" style? And how might a reframing through the lens of the global open broader questions about cultural exchange, power, and modernity in the late nineteenth century?

Instructor(s): J. Alperin     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: European and American post-1800

ARTH 24651. Latest Experiments in Architectural History. 100 Units.

This seminar invites students to examine recent scholarly experiments in architectural history. Participants will read and discuss a corpus of books published in the last five years. Each week, we will take a deep dive into a single publication by synthesizing its argument, unpacking its structure, and demonstrating its potential limits. In-class activities will catalyze dialogue and debate on the readings as well as highlight resonances across assigned books. By the end of the quarter, students will have developed transversal views of contemporary practices in architectural history and heightened their senses of methodological self-awareness.

Instructor(s): J. Huet     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 24651, ARCH 24651, ARTH 34651

ARTH 24712. Envisioning Tokyo: City, Capital, Metropolis (Traveling Seminar) 100 Units.

One of the world's largest and most populous cities, Tokyo has long captivated the imaginations of Japanese artists, especially ukiyo-e (woodblock print) designers, who returned repeatedly to the tradition of the "100 Views" (hyakkei) of the city in an effort to capture its mystery, majesty, and constant transformations. This course is related to the planning phase of a special exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It posits a periodization of Tokyo based around four major ukiyo-e series of "100 Views" from Hiroshige in the 1850s, to Kobayashi Kiyochika's 1876-1882 series in the Meiji period, and continuing on to the "100 Pictures of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era" (Showa dai Tokyo hyakuzue) by Koizumi Kishio (1893-1945), issued from 1927-1940. These prints will allow investigation of the creeping nationalism and rise in imperialism that would characterize the newly expanded "Great Tokyo" (Dai Tokyo) during the 1930s. The course concludes with an examination of a collaborative work entitled "100 Views of Tokyo: Message to the 21st Century" made from 1989-1999, which will allow investigation of new printing techniques, such as lithography and linocuts, as well as the culture and economy of "The Metropolis of Tokyo" (Tokyo-tou) in the post-Bubble era, concluding with Takashi Murakami's famed commissions for the real estate development Roppongi Hills.

Instructor(s): C. Foxwell     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent only via application. Students must have taken one prior course on East Asian (preferably Japanese) art
Note(s): Fulfills the following categories in the ARTH major and minor: Asian, modern (post-1800). Weekly sessions on campus will be supplemented by a mandatory 4-day field trip to Houston, Texas in January.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 34712

ARTH 24815. Collecting the Ancient World: Museum Practice and Politics. 100 Units.

Where is this artifact from? Who does it belong to? How did it get here? Who's telling its story? Critical inquiry into the practice and politics of museums has reached a new zenith in contemporary discourse. From discussions of acquisition and repatriation to provenience (archaeological findspot) and provenance (an object's ownership history) and the ethics of curation and modes of display, museum and art professionals-and the general public alike-are deliberating on the concept of museums and the responsibilities of such institutions towards the collections in their care. This course will explore the early history of museums and collecting practices and their impact on the field today, with a focus on cultural heritage collections from West Asia and North Africa. We will first spend time on such topics as archaeological exploration of "the Orient," colonial collecting practices, and the antiquities trade, as well as the politics of representation and reception in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Next, we will look at critical issues presently facing museums, including ethical collection stewardship, provenance research, repatriation, community engagement, and public education. The course will be structured in a seminar format, with lectures devoted to the presentation of key themes by the instructor and critical discussion as a group. Meetings will include visits to the ISAC Museum at UChicago.

Instructor(s): K. Neumann     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Theory and Historiography, Asian, premodern (pre-1800), and African
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 24815, NEHC 34815, HIST 30509, HIST 20509, ARTH 34815

ARTH 25115. Winckelmann: Enlightenment Art Historian and Philosopher. 100 Units.

We approach the first great modern art historian through reading his classic early and mature writings and through the art and criticism of his time (and at the end, our own). Reading-intensive, with a field trip to the Art Institute.Please help - many questions.

Instructor(s): Andrei Pop
Equivalent Course(s): KNOW 35000, ARTH 35115, CLAS 35014, SCTH 35000, GRMN 35015, GRMN 25015

ARTH 25119. Architecture and Colonialism in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. 100 Units.

This seminar invites students to examine the intersections of colonialism with architecture in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Throughout the semester, we will discuss the designs of architects working in the region (Le Corbusier, Fernand Pouillon, Shadrach Woods, etc.) and concepts defining colonialism as a design project (segregation, repression, primitivism, etc.). We will also pay particular attention to modes of opposition pursued by residents and their historical impact toward the region's decolonization. Moments of heightened historical consequence, such as the strategic use of selected architectural spaces by independentist guerrillas, will be thoroughly discussed. The class will progress through a chronological scope, from Orientalism as a 19th century phenomenon to the enmeshment of modernism with colonialism in the 20th century. We will conclude with the emergence of postcolonial modernities.

Instructor(s): Jacobé Huet      Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 35119, RDIN 35119, ARCH 25119, RDIN 25119

ARTH 25120. Design with A Mission. 100 Units.

This studio course challenges students to explore architecture's potential to serve mission-driven organizations and address social, cultural, and environmental issues. Through research, fieldwork, and design exercises, students will investigate how architecture can become a tool for advocacy, empowerment, and positive change. By examining case studies and crafting their own manifestos, students will develop a personal approach to mission-driven design. The course will culminate in a final project where students design a space, object, or intervention that reflects their personal design philosophy and responds to a specific mission-driven context. Starting July 31, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.)

Instructor(s): C. Haouzi     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Starting November 17, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.)
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 25120

ARTH 25121. Drawing, Visualization & Modeling: Architectural Skills in Depth. 100 Units.

This hands-on studio introduces students to how architects visualize and communicate their design work. Architectural drawings can do so much more than represent physical form--they can convey atmosphere, emotion, and meaning, sometimes taking on a life of their own. Through a series of workshops and design projects, students will develop skills in mixed-media drawing, digital modeling and rendering, post-processing, and physical model-making. No prior studio or art experience is required. This course is highly recommended for students interested in taking studios, want to expand their creative skill set, or are planning to pursue careers in any design related field. Starting November 18, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.

Instructor(s): S. Park     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Starting November 18, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: European and American post-1800
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 25121

ARTH 25140. Aesthetic Ecologies. 100 Units.

What would an intellectual history of the environment look like when told from the perspective of art history writing? The geographer Friedrich Ratzel, who first began using the term "Umwelt" ("environment") in a systematic way, claimed that, up to the end of the 19th century, the idea of environment had been primarily discussed not in scientific contexts but rather in aesthetic ones, by "artistically predisposed thinkers." In this course, we will take Ratzel's claim seriously and aim to recuperate the aesthetic side of theories of environment across diverse areas such as: notions of landscape ("the picturesque"); aesthetic and biological theories of milieu (Haeckel's "ecology," Taine's "milieu," Uexküll's "Umweltlehre"); Warburg's cultural history; the "sculpture of environment" (Rodin and Rilke); the "space-body" in modern dance (Laban). This course is about artworks that continue beyond their material confines into the space environing them. It focuses on evocations of air as the material space surrounding an artwork in texts that thematize the continuity between artwork as image and material object. Materials include: Aby Warburg, Rudolf Laban, Siegfried Ebeling, Camillo Sitte, Otto Wagner, Alois Riegl, R.M. Rilke, Wassily Kandinsky, Martin Heidegger, and others. MAPH and undergraduate students welcome.

Instructor(s): Margareta Ingrid Christian     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): GRMN 33523, GRMN 23523, ARTH 35140

ARTH 25203. The History of Collecting from Treasury to Museum. 100 Units.

Renaissance collecting transcended the traditions of medieval treasuries, developed out of modes of categorization derived from antiquity, and ultimately became the foundation for the rise of the museum in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Motivated by aesthetic consideration, curiosity, a quest for order and knowledge, and an interest in personal display, renaissance princes, noblewomen, emperors, naturalists and artists alike acquired art, objects, flora, fauna, ethnographic materials and exotica within a variety of different collecting spaces such as studioli, gardens, libraries, and kunst and wunderkammern. Through an examination of primary sources such as inventories, accounts and letters, of secondary sources about particular collections and collectors, and of various modern theories regarding possessing, consuming and gift giving things, this course explores the multifarious Renaissance collections of Europe, primarily focusing on Italy, Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and England.

Instructor(s): L. Markey     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: European and American, pre-modern (pre-1800)
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 35203

ARTH 25204. Early Modern Italian Literature and Art. 100 Units.

In this course we will analyse the tight connections between Italian literature and art in early modern times. We will read selected passages from various authors, including, but not limited to, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Boiardo, Ariosto, and Tasso. We will observe how artists reacted to literary novelties and incorporated them in their artistic production in Italy, Europe and the Americas. We will investigate different ways in which poets and artists entered in contact, collaborated, competed, became friends, and influenced each other, and how and why artists drew from literature to develop iconographic themes and motifs, while contributing (or not) to the canonization of recently-published literary works. We will analyse selected case studies, examining literary sources and works of art in various techniques (from painting to sculptures, from small decorative objects to monumental frescos, from drawings to prints), including relevant illustrated books from the Regenstein collections and the Newberry Library, as well as works of art from the Smart Museum and the Art Institute.

Instructor(s): Federica Caneparo     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): ITAL 23888, ITAL 33888, ARTH 35204

ARTH 25712. Photography and Political Ecology. 100 Units.

This seminar explores the role of photographic imagery in the global environmental movement from the 1960s through the present. We will investigate the uses of photography in shaping, documenting, and disseminating narratives surrounding ecological crises, activism, and public policy. Through a survey of photographic works in a variety of formats and media, we will explore how visual culture has shaped ecological thought and international politics over the last half-century, starting with the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. Adopting an interdisciplinary human-centered framework, this course foregrounds questions of environmental justice, sustainability, and the impacts of colonialism on landscapes and communities, offering insight into the role of photographic media as a catalyst for societal change.

Instructor(s): C. Fuldner     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): MAPH 35712, ARTH 35712

ARTH 25713. Photography, Literature, and the Archive. 100 Units.

This course, co-taught between English and Art History, considers the fertile cross-pollination between photography and literature in the United States from the late nineteenth century through the present. Tracing the reciprocal influence of text and image-based practices, we will look to photographs in social documentary tradition as a creative foundation for works of prose, poetry, and fiction, while also analyzing the integration of these literary modes into visual media like photobooks and exhibitions. Using archival theories as a critical frame, we will consider photographs as a basis for historical knowledge, as well as sites of creative intervention and revision. The aim of our comparative investigations will be to develop an interdisciplinary toolkit and critical vocabulary to bridge literature, art history, and cultural studies. The course will include multiple visits to museums and campus archives.

Instructor(s): C. Fuldner, M. Tusler      Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Consent Only
Note(s): Fulfills the following categories in the ARTH major and minor: European and American, modern (post-1800), Theory and Historiography
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 35723

ARTH 25885. 20th Century American Drama. 100 Units.

Beginning with O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night' through the American avant-garde to the most recent production on Broadway, this course focuses on American contemporary playwrights who have made a significant impact with regard to dramatic form in context to specific decade as well as cumulatively through the twentieth century. Textual analysis is consistently oriented towards production possibilities, both historically and hypothetically. ATTENDANCE AT FIRST CLASS SESSION IS MANDATORY.

Instructor(s): H. Coleman
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 24503, TAPS 20110

ARTH 26001. Religion and Visual Culture in the Late Antique Mediterranean. 100 Units.

In this seminar, we examine sacred sites and artifacts of early Christians and their neighbors in the regions around the Mediterranean from the third century to about 750 CE. Case studies will illustrate the wealth of religious art and architecture associated with different religions that existed side by side-Christianity, Judaism, polytheism, and emerging Islam. This course has five main objectives: (1) to examine how the designs of religious spaces, buildings, and objects respond to specific spiritual or ritualistic needs; (2) to gain familiarity with typical features characterizing the arts of each religion or sect; (3) to identify elements of a common visual language that result from shared traditions or artistic cross-pollination; (4) to examine different ways in which material artifacts were employed as means of ideological propaganda; and (5) to study art and architecture as evidence of doctrinal competition and conflict. While this course foregrounds the study of material culture, written sources (in translation) complement the analysis of the visual evidence.

Instructor(s): Karin Krause     Terms Offered: Spring. Not offered 2025–26
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 26001, RLST 26001, RLVC 36001, NEHC 26001, HCHR 36001, CLCV 26024, ARTH 36001, CLAS 36024, JWSC 26020

ARTH 26004. Introduction to Art, Religion, and Spirituality. 100 Units.

Throughout the course of human history, the pervasive belief in spirits, gods, natural and supernatural forces has significantly shaped and influenced various cultures, leaving an essential mark on their artistic expressions. This course takes a broad approach, utilizing artifacts and artworks from the Smart Museum of Art, Field Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago collections, art history, and visual studies to explore the intersections of art, religion, and spirituality.

Instructor(s): Donato Loia     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ARTV 20804, RLST 26003

ARTH 26367. Objects, Place and Power. 100 Units.

Objects are not only formed and interpreted through ideas of place and power, but also shape place and identity. This course looks at how material culture has, in part, formed understandings of the Calumet. Through methods drawn from art history and museum studies, we will look closely at objects, collections, and institutions in the region to analyze the power and politics of representation in placemaking.

Instructor(s): Jessica Landau     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course is part of the Chicago Studies Quarter:Calumet. This course includes required field trips every Friday from 9am-3pm.
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 26367, CHST 26367, HIST 27314, PBPL 26367

ARTH 26384. Art and the Archive in Greater Latin America. 100 Units.

How and why do artists engage records of the past in their work? What are the politics of both creating archives and culling from them to visually render or represent the past? Focusing on artists, art-making, and archives in Greater Latin America (including the United States), this course will consider the process of collecting and creating in artistic production from the perspectives of both theory and practice. Students in the course will work directly with archival materials in Chicago and collaborate on contemporary artistic projects that consider issues of relevance to people and places of the Western Hemisphere.

Instructor(s): Diana Schwartz-Francisco     Terms Offered: Course not offered in 24-25
Equivalent Course(s): CHST 26384, LACS 26384, ARTV 20017, HIST 26319, RDIN 26384

ARTH 26501. Straight-line sensibilities. A hidden history of 20th Century Art. 100 Units.

The proliferation of straight lines in 20th Century art and architecture is generally associated with rational and universalist procedures and perspectives, and closely associated with the rise of industrial society. This course will look at straight lines in modern art from a very different perspective. We will study a hidden genealogy of straight lines that all seem to evoke the vagaries of sensory realities and capacities and that are aesthetic through and through. These type of straight lines are all, in their various ways, related to the close interaction between bodies and media technologies - one of the major themes in modern art. The question, of course, is how and why straight lines comes to express this relationship. To look at this question, we will study artworks and ideas that extend from the mid 19th-century to 21st century art and that includes a wide range of media and expressions, including architecture, painting, drawing, film, video and computer art.

Instructor(s): I. Bloom     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): CMST 36505, ARTH 36501, MADD 26501, CMST 26505

ARTH 26616. Tracing Time. 100 Units.

Tracing Time is a hybrid seminar and studio. The first portion of the course will invite students to engage with a curated selection of techniques for representing time as a broad category of concerns, containing a wide range of nuanced conceptual frameworks and constructs: subjective time, objective time, proper time, coordinate time, sidereal time, emergent time, encoding time, relativistic time, time dilation, reaction time, spacetime, etc. The second portion of the course will invite students to develop their own models, visualizations, and representations of time or temporal phenomenon as a support for considering time as a factor of change in relation to their own research or interest in a particular concern or context, or where time is bound to physical, psychological, ecological, climatic, biological, geological, economic, historical, geographic, or other entangled processes. This course requires no preparation and is therefore open to students from any discipline who share a general interest in urban design, architecture and the arts or who specifically wish to develop a deeper understanding of drawings, models, photographs, video and other graphic mediums as material supports for inquiry. While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting November 18, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.

Instructor(s): A. Schachman     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): While this class does not require prior experience, all ARCH studio courses require consent. Starting November 18, please visit arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent to request instructor consent for this class or other ARCH studios. (Please do not send consent requests by email.
Equivalent Course(s): CHST 26616, ARCH 26616, ARTH 36616

ARTH 26710. Eisenstein. 100 Units.

TBD

Equivalent Course(s): CMST 26610, ARTH 36710, CMST 36610, FNDL 26504

ARTH 26809. Communicating Science: For Peers and the Public. 100 Units.

This architectural studio course explores strategies for effectively communicating and presenting science to the public in a campus setting. Students will discover a compelling science story generated by UC scholars and present it as a multimedia exhibit proposal. Student groups also will collaborate on the development of a plan for a campus science exhibition space and science quad involving design charettes led by architects and landscapers. The class emphasizes verbal, visual, and spatial communication methods and incorporates scholarly writing, podcasts, websites, social media communication, design charettes, and 3D model-making. Students will hone their skills to effectively communicate breaking science in an engaging manner in a new campus setting.

Instructor(s): Paul Sereno, Chana Haouzi, Jeremy Manier     Terms Offered: Not offered in 2025-2026
Prerequisite(s): PQ: Third or fourth-year standing. This course does not require prior experience, and all are welcome. If you would like to join the class, please complete this consent form at arthistory.uchicago.edu/archconsent so we can learn more about you.
Equivalent Course(s): SCPD 26900, ARCH 26900, MADD 26900, CHST 26900, BPRO 26900

ARTH 26810. Topics in Curating Indigenous Art. 100 Units.

In twenty-first century museums, the curation of Indigenous objects brings with it many dynamically changing responsibilities and considerations, as well as ethical and legal questions that vary by region, country, and legislation. These topics are essential knowledge for students studying Indigenous art and archaeology in their curriculum and who may be considering careers in related fields. That said, even scholars who do not directly study Indigenous art may someday find themselves responsible for it, whether as a department chair or museum director, making familiarity with these issues essential preparation. Ultimately, the curation of Indigenous art is shaping the leading edge of curatorial practice in museums today-as well as popular discourse.

Instructor(s): A. Hamilton     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 36810

ARTH 27032. Bodies, Objects, Cognition. 100 Units.

This course explores the differences between objects and embodiment as examined in varied historical periods and artistic genres. We will probe the ontological indeterminacy of embodied beings versus machines in terms of agency, autonomy, subjectivity, and artificiality. Our main operative mode is a visual-verbal comparison and its perception. Through discussions of such visual strategies as pareidolia, abstraction, bodyscape, as well as the scientific phenomena of cloning and humanoid robotics, the course will destabilize once fundamental epistemologies to present a cognitive moment when the traditionally stable object-body dichotomy is understood anew as a dynamic site of affective, biological, representational, and mechanical relations. Visual artists, writers and critics studied will include Leonardo da Vinci, Hans Holbein, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Tadeusz Borowski, Stanislaw Lem, Allan Teger, Magdalena Abakanowicz, W.T.J. Mitchell and others. All readings are in English.

Instructor(s): Bozena Shallcross     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 27032, REES 37032, REES 27032, KNOW 37032, KNOW 27032, ARTH 37032, ANTH 37032

ARTH 27314. Writing Art Criticism. 100 Units.

This course is a practicum in writing art criticism. Unlike art historians, art critics primarily respond to the art of their time and to developments in the contemporary art world. They write reviews of Chicago exhibitions that may be on view in galleries or museums and that may focus on single artists or broad themes. Importantly, art critics often produce the very first discourse on a given art, shaping subsequent thinking and historiography. Accordingly, art criticism is a genre that requires particular skills, for example, identifying why and how artworks matter, taking a fresh look at something familiar or developing a set of ideas even if unfamiliar with a subject, expressing strong yet sound opinions, and writing in impeccable and engaging ways. Students will develop these skills by reading and writing art criticism. We will examine the work of modern art critics ranging from Denis Diderot to Peter Schjeldahl and of artists active as critics ranging from Donald Judd to Barbara Kruger. Class discussions will be as much about the craft of writing as about the art reviewed. We will deliberate the style and rhetoric of exhibition reviews, including details such as first and last sentences, order of paragraphs, word choices, and the like. This seminar is writing intensive with a total of six exhibition reviews, four of which will be rewritten substantially based on instructor, visitor, and peer feedback and general class discussion. Off-campus field trips also required.

Instructor(s): C. Mehring     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: European and American, modern (post-1800), Theory and Historiography
Note(s): Permission of instructor required. Preference given to students with background in visual arts or architectural practice or writing. Please email mehring@uchicago.edu explaining relevant background.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTV 37314, ARTV 27314, ARTH 37314, ARCH 27314

ARTH 27440. Buddha Then and Now: Transformations from Amaravati to Anuradhapura. 100 Units.

The Buddhist sculptures in Amaravati are arguably the earliest to influence the early Buddhist art of the other parts of the sub-continent as well as south and southeast Asia. The course begins with the discussion of the context in which the Buddha images were made in Amaravati and the factors including Buddhist doctrinal developments that contributed to the spread of these images to various parts of Sri Lanka. Then it traces the course and function of Buddhist iconography in Sri Lanka until into the 21st century to assess the role of geopolitical factors. The positionality and portrayals of the images of Buddha are also considered and analyzed. The course traces the trajectories that transformed the image of the Buddha from a symbol of peace to jingoist assertiveness. Through the study of the images of the Buddha, the aim is to comprehend the ways Buddhism has changed over centuries from an inclusive posture which helped it sustain and spread to different parts of the world only later to become exclusionary.

Instructor(s): Sree Padma Holt     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): RLVC 37440, SALC 27440, HIST 36704, SALC 37440, ARTH 37440, RLST 27440, HREL 37440

ARTH 27441. Interregionalism in Modern and Contemporary Asian Art. 100 Units.

This course introduces "interregional art history" as an alternative to the dominant nation-state-based framework in the study of Asian art. The robust discourse on global art history in recent decades has generated a range of methodological approaches, including comparison, transnationalism, internationalism, regionalism, and the global contemporary. These approaches are also reflected in practice, as seen in artist-led collaborations, traveling exhibitions, and biennales. To capture the diversity of interregionalist thought and praxis, the course adopts a case study approach. Key themes include artistic engagements with Pan-Asianism, the 1955 Bandung Conference, Southeast Asian regionalism and ASEAN, Afro-Asia, Transpacific migration, the construction of the Third World and Global South, and the Asia Pacific Triennial (1993-present). While the course materials focus on East and Southeast Asia, students with diverse geographical interests are welcome. A significant portion of class time and assignments will be devoted to critically assessing the strengths, limitations, and future directions of global art history.

Instructor(s): S Ryu     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Asian post-1800, Theory and Methodology
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 37441

ARTH 27490. Art as Buddhism in Ancient India: Explorations in the Stupa of Amaravati and Other Monuments. 100 Units.

This course will examine the visual construction of early Buddhism in India, focusing in particular on stūpas and especially on the art of the great stūpa (mahachaitya) at Amarāvatī in Andhra Pradesh. We will examine questions of Buddhology, of the diversity and range of conversations within early Buddhism, leading to the rise of the Mahāyāna, in relation to the visualization of Buddhist theory and narrative in the extensive and extraordinary decorations of the major sites. The course will introduce those taking it to the rich visual, material and epigraphic culture of the Buddhist stūpas as well as the vibrant textual world of Indian Buddhist writing - from stories to suttas to commentaries. Students will have the opportunity to develop their own final papers in relation to this material or comparatively with other material in which they also retain an interest (not necessarily only Buddhist).

Instructor(s): Jaś Elsner     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): The course will be taught over 5 weeks in the Spring Quarter on an intensive schedule. This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 37490, SALC 27490, RLVC 37490, SALC 37490, RLST 27490, HREL 37490

ARTH 27799. Materiality and Artistic Intent: The Object, Conservation and Art History-Suzanne Deal Booth Seminar. 100 Units.

This course will investigate materiality in the context of art-historical study. Thirty years ago technical art history was a burgeoning field of study among a small number of museum conservators, curators and scientists. Today curatorial/conservation partnerships are common and analytic methods to examine and characterize artworks are sophisticated and often nondestructive. The intersection of the three disciplines - art history, conservation and materials science - has made it possible to study art in a more holistic and objective manner by understanding the art-making materials, the methods of using them, and the conscious choices made by artists to achieve their aesthetic goals. Additionally, changes to works of art, whether the result of inherent instability, external environmental factors, or artist's intent may be more readily identified and assessed. Case studies will be presented to show how artists' methods and materials can be informative within a broader art-historical context. The course will address the meaningful integration of technical study into one's own curatorial/art history practice. Students will examine works of art firsthand to determine the materials and methods used in their making, to assess their condition, and to see how various manipulations of different art-making materials inform their appearance. Students will evaluate selected readings and recent technical studies. Class participation is encouraged and expected.

Instructor(s): H. Strauss     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 37799

ARTH 28105. Body, Space, Desire; Feminist Theories of Visuality. 100 Units.

TBD

Equivalent Course(s): GNSE 38105, GNSE 28102, ARTH 38105

ARTH 28311. Image, Iconoclasm, Animation. 100 Units.

This course will explore the fantasies of the animation of images both ancient and early Christian, both secular and sacred, as the backdrop to examining the phenomenon of iconoclasm as an assault on the image from pre-Christian antiquity via Byzantium to the Protestant Reformation. It will tackle both texts and images, the archaeological context of image-assault and the conceptual (indeed theological) contexts within which such assault was both justified and condemned. These historical issues cannot be separated, in our scholarly approaches and responses, from a vibrant contemporary culture around question of virtuality, animation, image-worship and image-destruction in the current world. The course will provide space to reflect on the problems raised by this. The course will be taught over the first four and a half weeks in the Spring Quarter on an intensive schedule. It will be examined on the basis of a paper, due on a subject to be agreed and on a date to be agreed at the end of the Spring quarter.

Instructor(s): Jaś Elsner     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): The course will be taught over the first 4 and a half weeks in the Spring Quarter on an intensive schedule.
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLVC 38311, KNOW 38311, ARTH 38311, CLAS 35923, MDVL 28311, RLST 28311, CLCV 25923

ARTH 28319. Iconophobia: The Prohibition and Destruction of Religious Images. 100 Units.

This course examines concepts of art that reflect iconophobia, "fear of images," in the Abrahamic religions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Since antiquity, iconophobia has led to theological debates that resulted in the prohibition of images in sacred spaces, rituals, and other forms of religious practice. In extreme cases, iconophobia has caused acts of iconoclasm, the violent destruction of art. In all three religions, fear of idolatry ("idol worship") has been the main cause of iconophobia. We will examine what exactly constitutes an idol and how the definitions of idols differ from iconophile ("image-loving") assessments of religious art. Both iconophobic and iconophile arguments shed light on the various functions and effects of religious images and illustrate their power. Furthermore, they reveal attitudes towards artistic creation, materiality, aesthetics, sensory perception, and truth in art. In order to understand the causes and manifestations of iconophobia, we will examine a range of primary sources, both textual and visual, and engage with the relevant scholarship. We will take a comparative approach, but also pay attention to phenomena and developments that are unique to each religion. Most of the topics and readings will focus on the premodern period from antiquity to the 16th century. However, we will also look at some of the effects of iconophobia in our own time.

Instructor(s): Karin Krause     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 28319, CLAS 38325, CLCV 28325, MDVL 28319, RLVC 38319, ARTH 38319, HCHR 38319

ARTH 28325. Art and Description in Antiquity and Byzantium. 100 Units.

This course explores the rich tradition of ekphrasis in Greco-Roman antiquity and Byzantium - as it ranges from vivid description in general to a specific engagement with works of art. While the prime focus will remain on texts from Greece, Rome and Byzantium - in order to establish what might be called the ancestry of a genre in the European tradition and especially its fascinating place between pagan polytheistic and Christian writing -- there will be opportunity in the final paper to range beyond this into questions of comparative literature, art (history) writing and ekphrasis in other periods or contexts, depending on students' interests and needs. A reading knowledge of Greek in particular could not be described as a disadvantage, but the course can be taken without knowing the ancient languages. The course will be taught over the first 4 and a half weeks in the Spring Quarter on an intensive schedule. It will be examined on the basis of a paper, due on a subject to be agreed and on a date to be agreed at the end of the Spring quarter.

Instructor(s): Jaś Elsner and Karin Krause     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): The course will be taught over the first 4 and a half weeks in the Spring Quarter on an intensive schedule.
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLVC 38325, CLAS 38323, ARTH 38325, CLCV 28323, RLST 28325, KNOW 38325, MDVL 28325

ARTH 28328. Africa's Byzantine Heritage: Religion and Art in Pluralistic Societies. 100 Units.

This quarter-length course is conceived around themes and artifacts of an innovative special exhibition titled Africa & Byzantium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that we will be visiting together (Feb. 16-18, 2024). It will be the first time a museum has showcased the important contributions of Africa's multiethnic societies to the cultural and religious life of the Christian Empire of Byzantium. In addition, the Met boasts a world-renowned permanent collection of Byzantine artifacts, several of which we will be studying as well during our field trip. The Byzantine Empire (4th cent.-1453) encompassed large parts of the Mediterranean, the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Middle East, with North and East Africa forming part of the empire from the fourth century CE to the Islamic conquest (early 7th cent.). Under Islamic rule, the African continent's Byzantine-Christian legacy continued to be influential and has a rich afterlife to this day. The field trip will enable students hone their competence in visual analysis through close-up study of artworks representing a range of artistic media and techniques. The classroom sessions will illuminate the historical and cultural framework in which the artifacts are situated. Africa's Byzantine heritage is an emerging field of study and in this course students who wish to pursue their own research projects will have ample opportunity to do so. Students will also attend weekly discussion sections led by the TA.

Instructor(s): Karin Krause     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Students enrolled in this course will participate in a *mandatory* three-day field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Feb. 16–18, 2024). Travel and lodging will be fully covered through a Curricular Innovation and Undergraduate Research grant provided by the College.
Equivalent Course(s): CLCV 25323, MDVL 28328, RLST 28328

ARTH 28330. Art and Religion from the Roman to the Christian Worlds. 100 Units.

This course will be an introduction to Roman and early Christian art from the early empire to late antiquity. It will explore the significance of the changes in visual production in relation to different attitudes to religion and society; its specific and conflictive historiography; the particular issues involved in the move to Christianity and a Christian visual culture. We shall veer between an empirical inductive approach, looking at lots of stuff and a more general account of theoretical overviews that have been offered for Roman and late art - overviews that have been influential in the broader historiography of art history as a discipline.

Instructor(s): Jaś Elsner     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): The course will be taught over 5 weeks in the Spring Quarter on an intensive schedule. This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RLST 28330, ARTH 38330, RLVC 38330, CLAS 38322, CLCV 28322

ARTH 28335. Art as Biblical Interpretation. 100 Units.

Long before the Christian Bible was established as we know it, biblical figures and stories were being visually depicted and developed for Christian purposes. The Christian biblical imagination encompasses a rich tradition-spanning time periods (ancient and medieval, Renaissance, and beyond), regions, denominations, and artistic media-important not only for the field of art history, but also for the fields of biblical interpretation and the history of Western civilization and culture. In this course we will be studying art as a unique mode of biblical interpretation, with its own purposes, challenges, and strengths. How are texts "translated" into images? With what strategies do images represent abstract concepts, inner thoughts or experiences, or narrative time? What does God look like, and why? What are the possible functions of biblical images? We will cover topics including incarnation, iconoclasm, beauty, evangelization and education, the depiction of violence, book and material culture, liturgy and devotion, and typology, all while familiarizing ourselves with some of the most commonly depicted biblical figures and stories. No prior knowledge is required.

Instructor(s): Lauren Beversluis     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): ARTV 20811, RLST 28335

ARTH 28500-28600. History of International Cinema I: Silent Era; History of International Cinema II: Sound Era to 1960.

This sequence is required of students majoring in Cinema and Media Studies. Taking these courses in sequence is strongly recommended but not required.

ARTH 28705. Christian Iconography. 100 Units.

In Christian culture, visual images have for many centuries played a pivotal role in ritual, devotion, intellectual thought, and religious instruction. The most important aims of this course are that students understand images convey meaning in very unique ways and learn how to decode their visual messages. The study of iconography encompasses a variety of methods used to identify the subject matter of a pictorial image, describe its contents, and analyze its discursive strategies in view of its original cultural context. We will cover some of the most important themes visualized in the arts of Christianity by analyzing imagery spanning different periods, geographical regions, pictorial media, and artistic techniques. While special emphasis is placed on the intersections of art and literature, we will also examine pictorial themes that are independent of a specific textual basis. Alongside the study of Christian iconography, this course will address broader issues of visual inquiry, such as patronage, viewer response, emotions, and gender roles. In this course, students will acquire a 'visual literacy' that will enable them to explore all kinds of works of art fruitfully as primary sources in their own right. Students will be examined on the basis of an essay and one oral presentation of a work of art. Active participation in the classroom discussion is also a requirement.

Instructor(s): Karin Krause     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course is intended primarily for students who have little or no familiarity with the methods of visual analysis.
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 28705, MDVL 28705, RLST 28705

ARTH 28717. The Veil and the Vision: Image and Cover in the Western Artistic Tradition. 100 Units.

This course will explore the fascinating culture of covering and veiling sacred icons, portraits and images that were thought to cause trauma or outrage in the European tradition. It will begin in the ancient world and explore mediaeval, Renaissance and modern art - both paintings and sculptures, as well as images that represent the covering of images… It will attempt to restore the sensual, the tactile and the performative to the experience of viewing art and engaging with its powers, by contrast to the prevailing regime of disinterested contemplation encouraged by the modernist art gallery. The course will be taught with much encouragement to students to experiment and think against the grain.

Instructor(s): Jaś Elsner     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): The course will be taught over 4.5 weeks in the Spring Quarter on an intensive schedule. This course meets the LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 38717, RLVC 38717, RLST 28717

ARTH 28815. World's Fairs, 1851-1937: Chicago and Paris. 100 Units.

The great era of world's fairs (or universal expositions) lasted about ninety years. Although this golden age originated in London and took expression on every continent, two of its most significant hosts were Paris and Chicago. This course will examine the character and impact of expositions in these two cities, concentrating on Paris expositions held between 1855 and 1937 and the two Chicago fairs of 1893 and 1933. Particular attention will be given to the art, design, and architecture featured, stimulated, and sometimes ignored by the fairs. But technological, racial, political, institutional, and social themes will be examined as well. This colloquium is meant to encourage creation of research papers. It will meet once a week and there will be heavy reliance upon images at each session.

Equivalent Course(s): HIST 28805

ARTH 28926. The Romantic Fragment. 100 Units.

A central experimental genre of Early Romanticism, the fragment was defined by Friedrich Schlegel in Athenäums-Fragment 206 as: "entirely isolated from the surrounding world like a little work of art and complete in itself like a hedgehog." This seminar will consider fragments both conceptually and as isolated texts that are, however, gathered together materially in medial collections such as encyclopedias and albums. What is the relationship of the fragment to totality or coherence? What kinds of knowledge and reading practices does the fragment presuppose? What is the relationship between the literary fragment and other kinds of fragmentary artifacts such as ruins, torsos, and cut-outs? Readings will include fragments and fragmentary works by, among others, Winckelmann, Lichtenberg, Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel, Novalis, and Karoline von Günderrode.

Instructor(s): Catriona MacLeod     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): ENGL 28926, ARTH 38926, GRMN 38926, GRMN 28926, ENGL 38926

ARTH 29600. Doing Art History. 100 Units.

This course has two main objectives: to explore major texts and methodological approaches within the discipline of art history and to develop art historical research and argumentation skills. The course aims to deepen your understanding of art history as a discipline and the range of analytic strategies it affords. We read a mix of classic and more recent essays that have shaped and represent the discipline, and test their wider applicability and limitations. Through this process, participants are encouraged to discover the kinds of questions that most interest them.

Instructor(s): M. Ward     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent Only
Note(s): Required of third-year students who are majoring in art history. Consent is required for registration. This course does not meet the general education requirement in the arts. Fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Theory and Methodology
Equivalent Course(s): ARCH 29600

ARTH 29700. Reading Course. 100 Units.

This course is primarily intended for students who are majoring in art history and who can best meet program requirements by study under a faculty member's individual supervision. The subject, course of study, and requirements are arranged with the instructor. Prerequisite(s): Consent of Instructor and Director of Undergraduate Studies Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Form. Must be taken for a quality grade. With adviser's approval, students who are majoring in art history may use this course to satisfy requirements for the major, a special field, or electives. This course is also open to nonmajors with advanced standing. This course does not meet the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.

Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of Instructor and Director of Undergraduate Studies
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Form. Must be taken for a quality grade. With adviser's approval, students who are majoring in art history may use this course to satisfy requirements for the major, a special field, or electives. This course is also open to nonmajors with advanced standing. This course does not meet the general education requirement in the arts.

ARTH 29800. Senior Thesis Workshop. 100 Units.

This workshop provides guided research on the topic of the senior thesis. Students arrange their program of study and a schedule of meetings with their assigned section leader. Required of fourth-year Art History majors who wish to pursue honors.

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Possibly required of Fourth-Year Art History Majors; consult the program requirements in the catalog and contact Art History's Director of Undergraduate Studies for more information.
Note(s): This course does not meet the general education requirement in the arts. Fulfills the following requirements in the ARTH major and minor: Theory and Methodology

ARTH 29900. Preparation for the BA Paper. 100 Units.

This course provides guided research on the topic of the senior paper. Students arrange their program of study and a schedule of meetings with their senior paper advisor.

Instructor(s): Staff     Terms Offered: Autumn,Spring,Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of instructor and Undergraduate Program Chair
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Form. May be taken for P/F grading with consent of instructor.