Syllabus Fall 2020 (8:25:20) PDF
Course Schedule Fall 2020 (8:25:20) PDF
ARTD 1010 Art: Its History and Meaning
Fall 2020 (8/26/2020-12/20/2020)
Professor Anna Carroll
W 6:05-8:50PM
Office Hours: by appointment
Course Description: Introduction to art, emphasizing visual literacy in an historical context. Major works of art and architecture, drawn from a wide range of world cultures and periods from ancient times to the present, will be explored. This will be a primarily asynchronous class, with 2 synchronous meetings scheduled for midterm and final exam review (see course schedule). Office hours will be over Zoom. The class will run through a CUNY Academic Commons site (carrollart1010.commons.gc.cuny.edu) and Blackboard.
Course Goals and Learning Outcomes, according to Brooklyn College
- Students will learn to analyze works of art critically from both an historical and an interpretative point of view; in addition, they will gain an understanding of the importance of cultural diversity through exposure to the arts of many different times and places.
- Students will have extensive practice in articulating aesthetic judgments effectively in spoken and written form.
- Students will learn how to draw upon the cultural riches of New York City to enhance their learning within and outside the classroom. Given limited access to museums, students will make use of online resources.
- Identify unique characteristics of several artistic traditions, and recognize and analyze the differences among the major periods, artists, genres, and theories of art.
- Use terms of art historical analysis correctly and be able to apply them to unfamiliar works.
Grade Breakdown
Formal Analysis Quizzes: 10% (5% each)
Discussion Posts: 20% (4% each)
Paper 1: 15%
Paper 2: 20%
Midterm: 15%
Final: 20%
Grades
A+ 97-100
A 93-96
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 0-59, or plagiarism
Weekly Lecture: You will find the weekly lecture under the Slides section of the Academic Commons website. AFTER completing the assigned readings (found under the Readings section of the Academic Commons website), review the lecture. The lecture is a PowerPoint with prerecorded audio. You will also find a word document with the script of that audio. You may refer to the script and/or the audio as you choose. If you have questions, please ask them in the Weekly Question and Answer Forum, on the Academic Commons website. Please also respond to questions posted by your classmates. I will also respond in this forum. If you are uncomfortable asking a question to the entire class, please email me or schedule an appointment.
A note on lectures: the lectures, which you can access through Academic Commons under slides, are password protected. For each week, the password is art1010. I want to take a moment to explain why the slides are password protected. Academic Commons is an Open Educational Resource, which is a type of resource that is freely accessible to all. I am a firm believer in OERs, which require attributing all authors of articles and the creators of the photographs of the artworks we’ll be looking at. Because many photographs of works of art don’t have open access licenses, I cannot make them publicly accessible. As your professor, I am continually working to make course materials more accessible, and hope to make the slides openly accessible in the near future. You can read more about OERs, and CUNY’s commitment to them here, if you’re interested: https://www.cuny.edu/libraries/open-educational-resources/
Quizzes and Discussion Forums: There are two types of minor assignments throughout the semester (equivalent to a participation grade). Quizzes will consist of one essay question asking you to describe a work of art or compare two works of art. You may or may not have seen the work(s) of art before. These are graded out of 100 points. You can also find the rubric on the Academic Commons site under Assignments. Quizzes are submitted through Blackboard, and are found under the Assignments section of the Blackboard site. In discussion forums (found though our Academic Commons group) you are expected to post a substantial answer to an initial prompt that I will post AND post a substantial reply to at least one of your classmates. These are graded out of 10 points. Discussion forums and quizzes are always due by 11:59 PM on the day of the class session which they are due. Quizzes and discussion forums are open book (you may refer to class notes and readings), but you should not be browsing the internet for extra information on the work, nor should your response contain someone else’s writing on that work.
- What is the difference between the Discussion Post and the Question and Answer Forums?
All weeks have a question and answer forum, where you can post questions about material covered in that week’s lecture. I will always check these forums and respond in a timely fashion (within 48 hours). Discussion Posts are graded assignments (5 throughout the semester), in which I will post a prompt and you are expected to reply to that prompt, and also to a classmate’s response. These are guided discussion, while the Question and Answer Forums are an informal platform to ask questions about lectures and readings. Furthermore, the Discussion Prompt will typically refer to the PREVIOUS week’s material, while the Question and Answer Forum is for questions about the new material covered in that week.
- The Academic Commons Group
Before the first class, you will all be receiving an invitation via email to our Academic Commons Group, which is essentially a forum connected to our class website that allows private discussion threads. These threads are private to group members, so only I and your classmates can see them. Each week I’ll create a Q&A thread, and on weeks with discussion responses I will create the discussion thread. You’ll receive an email with these threads. An archive of the discussion prompts and the discussion rubric is on our main Academic Commons website.
Midterm: The midterm is a take home exam. It will be open book, meaning lecture notes and class readings can be consulted. You may not use the internet to look anything up outside of the readings. You will have two comparisons and one longer essay. The exam will be posted at 6:05PM on 10/7/20 and must be submitted through Blackboard by 11:59PM on 10/8/20. The Midterm will be available under ASSIGNMENTS on Blackboard.
Final Exam: The final is a take home exam. It will be open book, meaning lecture notes and class readings can be consulted. You may not use the internet to look anything up outside of the readings. There will no longer be a slide ID section or a bonus section. You will have three comparisons and 2 longer essays. The exam will be posted at 6:05PM on 12/16/20 and it is due by 11:59PM on 12/17/20. The Final will be available under ASSIGNMENTS on Blackboard.
Papers: For Paper 1, you will to write a 2-page formal analysis paper describing a work of art that you visit in person. For Paper 2, you will expand your formal analysis paper into a 2-3 page paper about your chosen work of art. Assignment sheets with detailed information will be posted to the course website. Paper assignments are found under ASSIGNMENTS in Blackboard. A description of the papers can be find on the Academic Commons website.
Paper 2 Revisions: After receiving your grade for Paper 2, you will have the opportunity to revise your paper based on my comments for a new grade. (If your grade on the revised paper is lower, you will receive the initial higher grade).
Plagiarism Statement, according to Brooklyn College:
The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for policy implementation can be found at www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation.
Plagiarism will NOT be tolerated in this class. Please come to office hours or make an appointment if you have any questions about plagiarism or need help citing sources.
Extra Credit: Five extra credit comparisons throughout the semester according to the schedule below (found on Blackboard under Assignments). You can use these to practice formal analysis and comparison writing. Write one page comparing the two works. If you hand in three of these and show improvement, it can raise your overall grade by 1/3 of a grade, up to a B+. For example, if you’re at a C+, your grade would be raised to a B-. In no circumstance will completing these lower your grade.
Disability Policy, as per Brooklyn College: In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at (718) 951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services, please provide your professor with the course accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation with him/her
Student Bereavement Policy: Students who experience the death of a loved one must contact the Division of Student Affairs, 2113 Boylan Hall, if they wish to implement either the Standard Bereavement Procedure or the Leave of Absence Bereavement Procedure (see below). The Division of Student Affairs has the right to request a document that verifies the death (e.g., a funeral program or death notice).
Typically, this death involves that of a family member, in parallel to the bereavement policy for faculty and staff. However, it is up to the discretion of the Division of Student Affairs to determine if a death outside of the immediate family warrants implementation of the student bereavement policy.
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/about/initiatives/policies/bereavement.php
Nonattendance because of religious beliefs: According to New York State Education Law, students will not be penalized for missing class because of religious beliefs. Please see the Undergraduate Bulletin for more information.
PLEASE NOTE: I reserve the right to change this syllabus throughout the semester. Please check the course website for updates.
A Note on Technology: I expect there will be technology issues throughout the semester; if you can’t access something or are having issues with internet access or connecting to blackboard, please email me to let me know. I’m also expecting that it will take some time for many of us to become familiar with the Academic Commons, please reach out with questions!
Course Schedule
*all due dates are according to Eastern Daylight Time*
| Date | Lecture Topic | Assigned Reading | Graded Assignment |
| Week 1 8/26/20 | Introduction & Prehistory | 1. Dr. Robert Glass, “Introduction to art historical analysis,” https://smarthistory.org/introduction-to-art-historical-analysis/
2. Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “How to do visual (formal) analysis,” https://smarthistory.org/visual-analysis/ |
1. Review CUNY Academic Commons and Blackboard websites |
| Week 2
9/2/2020 |
Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt | 1. “Mesopotamia, 8000-2000 B.C.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/wam.html
2. Dr. Senta German, “Ancient Near East: Cradle of Civilization” https://smarthistory.org/ancient-near-east-cradle-of-civilization/ 3. Dr. Amy Calvert, “Ancient Egypt, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/ancient-egypt-an-introduction/ 4. Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “House Altar depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Three of their Daughters,” https://smarthistory.org/house-altar-depicting-akhenaten-nefertiti-and-three-of-their-daughters/ |
NONE |
| Week 3
9/9/20 |
Ancient China
|
1. “Shang and Zhou Dynasties: The Bronze Age of China,”https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shzh/hd_shzh.htm
2. “Scholar-Officials of China” in Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/schg/hd_schg.htm 3. Dr. Asa Simon Mittman, “Power: spotlight – The Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi,” https://smarthistory.org/terracotta-army-emperor-qin-shi-huangdi/ |
1. Week 3 Discussion Post (post and reply in Academic Commons thread by 11:59PM) |
| Week 4
9/16/20 |
The Ancient Mediterranean World
|
1. The British Museum, “Ancient Greece, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/ancient-greece-an-introduction/
2. Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “The Art of Classical Greece (ca. 480-323 B.C.),” https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tacg/hd_tacg.htm 3. Lightfoot, Christopher. “The Roman Empire (27 B.C.-393 A.D.)” https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roem/hd_roem.htm 4. Dr. Allen Farber, “Early Christianity, an introduction.” https://smarthistory.org/early-christianity-an-introduction/ 5. Brooks, Sarah. “Byzantium (ca. 330-1453),” https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/byza/hd_byza.htm Dr. Davor Džalto, “Iconoclastic Controversies,” https://smarthistory.org/iconoclastic-controversies/ |
1. Quiz 1 (submit through Blackboard by 11:59PM)
2. Optional: Extra Credit 1 (submit through Blackboard by 11:59PM) |
| Week 5
9/23/20
|
Islamic Art | 1. Dr. Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis, “Arts of the Islamic World,” https://smarthistory.org/arts-of-the-islamic-world/
2. TED-Ed, “The complex geometry of Islamic design,” https://smarthistory.org/the-complex-geometry-of-islamic-design/. 3. Kendra Weisbin, “Introduction to mosque architecture,” https://smarthistory.org/introduction-to-mosque-architecture/. |
1. Week 5 Discussion Post (post and reply in Academic Commons thread by 11:59PM)
2. Prepare questions for Midterm review session by going over notes and the midterm review PowerPoint (found under week 7 slides) |
| Week 6
9/30/20 |
The Middle Ages: Asia and Europe
& ZOOM MIDTERM REVIEW (link will go out via email) |
1. Dr. Melody Rod-ari, “Hinduism and Buddhism, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/hinduism-and-buddhism-an-introduction/.
2. Dr. Karen Shelby, “Buddhist Monasteries,” https://smarthistory.org/buddhist-monasteries/ 3. Dr. Andreas Petzold, “A beginner’s guide to Romanesque art,” https://smarthistory.org/a-beginners-guide-to-romanesque-art/. 4. Valerie Spanswick, “Gothic architecture, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/gothic-architecture-an-introduction/. |
1. Paper 1 due through Blackboard by 11:59PM
|
| Week 7
10/7/20 |
MIDTERM EXAM | NONE | Submit through Blackboard by 11:59PM on 10/8/20 |
| Week 8
10/14/20 |
NO CLASS- classes follow a Monday schedule | NONE | |
| Week 9
10/21/20 |
Aztec Art and New Spain | 1. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, “Mesoamerica, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/mesoamerica-an-introduction/.
2. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, “Introduction to the Aztecs (Mexica),” https://smarthistory.org/introduction-mexica/. 3. “Mexico, 1400-1600 A.D.” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/08/canm.html (Make sure to also read the key events section) 4. Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank and Dr. Steven Zucker, “New Spain, an Introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/new-spain/
|
1. Week 9 Discussion Post (post and reply in Academic Commons thread by 11:59PM)
2. Optional: Extra Credit 2 (submit through Blackboard by 11:59PM) |
| Week 10
10/28/20 |
The Renaissance in Europe | 1. Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “How to recognize Italian Renaissance art,” https://smarthistory.org/how-to-recognize-italian-renaissance-art/.
2. Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, “How one-point linear perspective works,” https://smarthistory.org/how-one-point-linear-perspective-works/. 3. Oxford University Press, “A beginner’s guide to Mannerism,” https://smarthistory.org/a-beginners-guide-to-mannerism/. 4. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, “The Protestant Reformation,” https://smarthistory.org/the-protestant-reformation/. 5. Esperança Camara, “Baroque art, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/a-beginners-guide-to-baroque-art/. |
NONE |
| Week 11
11/4/20 |
Post-Renaissance Europe | 1. April Renée Lynch, “Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait,” https://smarthistory.org/elisabeth-louise-vigee-le-brun-self-portrait/.
2. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, “Antoine Watteau, Pilgrimage to Cythera,” https://smarthistory.org/antoine-watteau-pilgrimage-to-cythera/. 3. Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, “The Age of Enlightenment, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/a-beginners-guide-to-the-age-of-enlightenment/. 4. Galitz, Kathryn Calley. “Romanticism,” http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roma/hd_roma.htm 5. Dr. Nancy Demerdash, “Orientalism,” https://smarthistory.org/orientalism/. |
1. Week 11 Discussion Post (post and reply in Academic Commons thread by 11:59PM)
2. Optional: Extra Credit 3 (submit through Blackboard by 11:59PM) |
| Week 12
11/11/20 |
Yoruba Peoples and The Kingdom of Benin | 1. Dr. Christa Clarke, “Aesthetics,” https://smarthistory.org/aesthetics/.
2. Dr. Christa Clarke, “Form and meaning,” https://smarthistory.org/form-and-meaning/. 3. Dr. Christa Clarke, “Art and politics,” https://smarthistory.org/art-and-politics/. 4. The British Museum, “Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa” https://smarthistory.org/kingdom-of-ife-sculptures-from-west-africa/ 5. Benjamin Sutton, “Long in Exile, the Looted Benin Bronzes Tell the Story of a Mighty African Kingdom,” https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-long-exile-looted-benin-bronzes-story-mighty-african-kingdom (the site might prompt you to create an account; you don’t need to to access the article)
|
1. Paper 2 due by 11:59PM through Blackboard
2. Optional: Extra Credit 4 (submit through Blackboard by 11:59PM) |
| Week 13
11/18/20 |
Modernisms | 1. Finocchio, Ross. “Nineteenth-Century French Realism.” http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm
2. Dr. Beth Gersh-Nesic, “Impressionism, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/a-beginners-guide-to-impressionism/. 3. Voorhies, James. “Post-Impressionism.” http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/poim/hd_poim.htm 4. The Art Assignment, “The Case for Abstraction,” https://smarthistory.org/case-for-abstraction/. |
1. Quiz 2 (submit through Blackboard by 11:59PM) |
| Week 14
11/25/20 |
NO CLASS- classes follow Friday schedule | NONE | NONE |
| Week 15
12/2/20 |
20th Century Art in the United States | 1. Dr. Stephanie Chadwick, “Introduction to Dada,” https://smarthistory.org/introduction-to-dada/.
2. Josh R. Rose, “Surrealism, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/surrealism-intro/. 3. Dr. Virginia B. Spivey, “Abstract Expressionism, an introduction,” https://smarthistory.org/abstract-expressionism-an-introduction/. 4. Dr. Virginia B. Spivey, “Pop Art,” https://smarthistory.org/pop-art/. |
1. Prepare questions for Final review session by going over notes and the final review PowerPoint (found under week 17 slides) |
| Week 16
12/9/20 |
Contemporary Art
& ZOOM FINAL REVIEW (link will go out via email) |
1. “Watch this $1.4 Million Banksy Painting Shred Itself As Soon As It’s Sold,” https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/watch-14-million-bansky-painting-shred-itself-soon-it-sold-180970486/
2. “A Game Changer,” https://time.com/5158961/obama-portrait-kehinde-wiley-amy-sherald-interview/ |
1. Week 16 Discussion Post (post and reply in Academic Commons thread by 11:59PM)
2. Optional: Extra Credit 5 (submit through Blackboard by 11:59PM) |
| Week 17
12/16/20 |
FINAL EXAM | 1. Optional: Paper 2 Revisions Due by 11:59PM on Blackboard
2. Final Exam due by 11:59PM on 12/17/20 |
