Art History Courses

Instructor TBA
MWF 10–11
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

Ann Johns
MW 10–11 + Discussion Section
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Hybrid

Art is a language: how do we decode its meaning and its extraordinary effect on us, the viewers? How does art reflect the era, location, and culture of both its maker and its patron? Through a blend of online lectures (2 per week), quizzes (each class through Canvas), and tests (3 on Canvas), as well as TA-led visits to UT’s Blanton Museum of Art, students will learn that art is a prism—often beautiful, always challenging—through which we can view the human experience, both past and present. Throughout the semester, students will increase their visual literacy and critical thinking skills by looking at a global array of works from many eras and locations. The only prerequisites are open eyes and open minds! We will concentrate on the familiar media of painting, sculpture, and architecture, but we will also examine drawings, prints, photography, garden planning, ceramics, textiles, earthworks, installation art, and other forms of visual culture, both through live online lectures and through in-person visits to UT’s collections of art.

Nassos Papalexandrou
MW 11–12 + Discussion Section
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This course discusses art from the prehistoric period to the Early Renaissance (ca. 1300) in Europe, the Middle East and the ancient Americas, with emphasis on style and social and cultural context. The focus on arts—architecture and city planning, sculpture, painting, metalwork, and ceramics—is global with special attention lavished on ancient Near East, Egypt, Africa, Greece, Rome, Islam, Mesoamerica, India, and the European Middle Ages. The control of the viewer’s experience, the political and religious use of art, the meaning of style, the functions of art in public and private life, and the role of art in expressing cultural values will be among the major themes considered. This is also an introduction to the discipline of art history and archaeology, training students in basic vocabulary and techniques of close looking and analytical thinking about visual material.

Instructor TBA
TTH 5–6:30
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

Instructor TBA
MWF 11–12
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

Douglas Cushing
TTH 8–9:30
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

A study of selected visual works throughout the world from 1400 CE to the present.

Adele Nelson
MW 10–11:30
Fulfills →  Ethics, Independent Inquiry, and Writing flags
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

Examines the modern and contemporary history of art and visual culture in relation to a broader set of problems fundamental to visual representation throughout the history of art.

Restricted to Art History majors.

George Flaherty
MW 9:30–11
Fulfills →  Writing flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This seminar focuses on primary research for art history: what it is, how it’s done, and the value it brings to answering your questions about art and wider society. Starting with a selection of conceptual readings and practical exercises to hone your critical thinking skills, we will quickly move to conducting research using library and archival collections on campus. We will approach these resources not as an end to research but catalysts in an open-ended process that will help you learn to design an effective research project and articulate a strong argument.

Restricted to Art History majors.

Astrid Runggaldier
TTH 11–12:30
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This course explores, through the lens of architecture and sculpture, the ancient world of the Maya, encompassing both monumental, non-movable art, and smaller-scale sculpture and portable artworks. You will learn about the Maya from recent interdisciplinary research highlighting the deep history of art an architectural design, and the social functions of sculptural and artistic programs. In fall 2023, you will additionally benefit from direct observation of Maya artworks for a special exhibition at the Blanton Museum of Art, where you will see ideas from course readings reflected in the objects on view. With a focus especially on the Classic period of the Lowland regions within the Maya area, you will develop an understanding of the role art plays in society, politics, and religion, and you will explore how Classic-period artworks express Maya concepts of kingship, divinity, gender, cosmology and worldview in general. As a writing-focused course, this upper-level undergraduate seminar comprises ongoing student engagement throughout the semester with several writing-based projects and assignments.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

John Clarke
TTH 11–12:30
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This course aims to examine Visual Culture to gain a better understanding of how ancient Greeks and Romans thought about themselves with regard to love, sexuality, divine and human beauty, and protection from demonic forces. We will analyze specific works of Greek and Roman art between the sixth century B.C. and the fourth century A.D. to increase our understanding of what these concepts meant within social and cultural contexts that were very different from our own.

My hope is that you will leave the course with a greater understanding of the processes of acculturation or attitude-formation. You will be able to recognize how, in a given culture, the processes of acculturation lead to specific constructions of love, beauty, and security. Indeed, you may come to realize that all the practices of everyday life are cultural constructions: that each culture constructs the rules that regulate social behavior. I hope that your study of these ancient cultures will give you greater understanding of the phenomena of cultural diversity in the world. You should also gain a greater understanding of the major developments within the visual arts over this long period, from classical Greece to early Christianity.

You will improve your ability to read critically, and to recognize and scrutinize the arguments presented in the readings. The course will help you develop your ability to express your ideas in writing and speaking.

This is primarily a lecture course with three exams. The exams combine slide identifications and comparisons with prepared essays. These exams have the goal of getting you to engage with visual representations through the lens of class discussion and the readings. In particular, the prepared essay should develop your critical skills as well as your writing skills. Finally, the five assignments are designed to help you think about how different cultures mirror or contradict the Greek and Roman cultures we are studying.

Grading:

• Exam 1: 25% of grade
• Exam 2: 25% of grade
• Exam 3: 25% of grade
• 5 assignments each 5% of grade

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Ann Johns
MW 12–1:30
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

Florence, Venice, Siena: the cultural landscape of Italy is dominated by cities so rich in artistic treasures that any one example is worthy of a whole course. We begin with the most famous Renaissance city-state, Florence. We will explore the development of art and architecture in civic, ecclesiastic, monastic, palatial, and private settings, from Brunelleschi’s dome to private, secular decoration in the city’s palazzi. We will then examine the cities of Venice and Siena; each of these cities is distinguished by its own unique style of art and architecture. We’ll study Italy’s “court” cities, including Ferrara, Mantua, and Urbino. We’ll observe the unique sense of “place” that distinguishes these communities, but we’ll also discover cultural, artistic, and urban commonalities throughout Renaissance Italy.

We’ll also examine issues such as the role of women and the family; the importance of race and international trade; the rise of specialized hospitals and quarantine islands in an era of plague; and the delicate balance between the growing urban centers and the control of the surrounding territory, so necessary for crops and other resources.

All readings will be posted on Canvas. Assignments include reading responses and other urbanistic analyses. All tests are non-cumulative.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Michael Charlesworth
TTH 1–2:30
Fulfills →  Writing flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This course studies European Art from Romanticism (especially the work of Francisco Goya in Spain and William Blake in England, together with Sublime landscape in painting and gardens) to modernism. The course will embrace works of German romanticism, the Abolition movement, the French Romantics (Gericault and Delacroix), the French Realist School (esp. Gustave Courbet) and the Pre-Raphaelites. We shall also look at some architectural history.

Three tests and a paper.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

John Clarke
TTH 2–3:30
Fulfills →  VAPA
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This course surveys the major movements in American art from about 1958 to about 1985. We will look at the work of selected artists associated with the major trends, including pop art, minimalism, conceptual art, site-specific art, performance and body art, photorealism, patterning and decoration, and the varieties of figural art that emerged in the 1980s, including neo-expressionism, graffiti, and appropriation.

We will look at these trends from three principal points of view: their relationship to prior historical developments, their self-stated aims, and their treatment by contemporary critics.

This course should give you a good survey knowledge of the art—including much more than traditional painting and sculpture—between 1950 and 1985. You will gain an understanding the interactions between art movements, artists, critics, and dealers, and you should be able to walk into a museum or art gallery and recognize all of the styles and approaches mentioned above. More importantly, you will learn how visual representation reflects social change. “Art”—broadly defined—always reflects social change, but in this period there were many Counter-Cultural Movements. Most importantly, the Civil Rights Movement for racial equality. But also important were the development of Feminism, the Hippie Movement, and the Gay Liberation Movement—all with important visual components.

This is primarily a lecture course. To help you study the content of these lectures, I will post lecture outlines and the PowerPoints of each lecture on Canvas after I present them to you in class. I expect you to keep up with the assigned readings on canvas and to memorize a group of images.

There will be three one-hour examinations at the end of each of three modules, testing you on the content of that group of lectures and images. I also regularly set “plus” assignments that will give you the opportunity to raise your exam grades.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

George Flaherty
MW 11:30–1
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This course looks closely at Mexican art and visual culture from the late nineteenth century through the 1950s, a period characterized by rapid modernization but also violence and glaring social and political injustices. With the Mexican Revolution, the first major social upheaval of the twentieth-century, the country became a beacon for politically committed art throughout the Americas and beyond. Our focus will be the emergence of cosmopolitan avant-garde artists and their relationship to state and market. Mixing native and international influences, these artists, writers, and intellectuals contributed to notions of national identity that still resonate today.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Moyosore Okediji
MW 1:30–3
Fulfills →  VAPA / Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Online

This course is a comprehensive study of the visual arts of Africa, in the social and cultural contexts within which people make and use these images. Students will explore historical, contemporary, and diasporic aspects of African art, as part of a larger expressive complex that includes music, dance, literature, and cinematography.  The course will present the works of major artists, art groups, ethnicities, and communities, as a lively dialog between the creative imaginations of those who make the objects, and the philosophical responses of those to whom the artists address the objects.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Moyosore Okediji
MW 9:30–11
Fulfills →  VAPA
Instruction Mode →  Online

Can we adopt the criteria used for the analysis and presentation of western art and artists for the analysis and presentation of works by Africana women artists? How do we define Africana women’s art and artists? Who are the most influential Africana women artists, and in which mediums do they work? What tasks do they tackle and what challenges face them? What are the stylistic diversities that define and distinguish their contributions? What are the technological tools available to them, and how have they manipulated and fashioned these tools? How have they shaped the past and present trends in art history, and what are their aspirations and hopes for the future? These are some of the questions that this course will investigate with the use of art historical and critical theories that draw on oral and written literatures, music, films, and other formal and informal documents.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Astrid Runggaldier
TTH 11–12:30
Fulfills →  Global Cultures and Writing flags
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This course explores, through the lens of architecture and sculpture, the ancient world of the Maya, encompassing both monumental, non-movable art, and smaller-scale sculpture and portable artworks. You will learn about the Maya from recent interdisciplinary research highlighting the deep history of art an architectural design, and the social functions of sculptural and artistic programs. In fall 2023, you will additionally benefit from direct observation of Maya artworks for a special exhibition at the Blanton Museum of Art, where you will see ideas from course readings reflected in the objects on view. With a focus especially on the Classic period of the Lowland regions within the Maya area, you will develop an understanding of the role art plays in society, politics, and religion, and you will explore how Classic-period artworks express Maya concepts of kingship, divinity, gender, cosmology and worldview in general. As a writing-focused course, this upper-level undergraduate seminar comprises ongoing student engagement throughout the semester with several writing-based projects and assignments.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Janice Leoshko
MW 5–6:30
Fulfills →  Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

Two thousand years ago “the wonder that was India” was well known not only elsewhere in Asia but as far away as Rome. This course examines the ways in which visual culture developed through the centuries as a result of India’s material and spiritual wealth. Themes to be examined include the constructions of sacred space that led to distinctive architectural traditions, the principles of image-making that resulted in elaborate iconographies and the entwined nature of political allegory and religious narrative in the works and monuments creted there up to 1500.How these visual forms were shaped by particular social and religious factors is an issue that will allow us to consider the relationships among India’s religious traditions (Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism). Another focus of this class is upon understanding how we investigate and produce knowledge about the past and why this is important. Course carries a global flag.

The course broadly engages with the practices of art history and the ways in which it explores cultural differences. Students will become familiar with socio-historical and religious traditions in which multiple artistic traditions developed in South Asia.

Another facet of concern will be the ways in which the study of Indian art first developed and the colonial constraints upon this process. Assignments will involve creative thinking and analysis in order to evaluate material presented in lectures, discussions and readings.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Penelope Davies
TTH 3:30–5
Fulfills →  Global Cultures flag
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

Taking a broad view of Roman architecture from Republic to Empire, this lecture course examines different phases of ancient buildings’ lives, from construction to restoration to demolition, with a view to determining their political valencies at these moments. Readings will cover issues such as construction process, damnatio memoriae (condemnation of memory) and vandalism, drawing on examples from, and scholarship on, diverse periods and cultures. Participants are encouraged, in turn, to bring expertise/interests of their own to the discussion.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Jacob Stewart–Halevy
MW 8:30–10
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

A broad study of the histories and meanings of modern art from circa 1850 to 1950 with special attention to social and cultural shifts and related developments in the history of form, technique, and media. Themes include art and political upheaval; the avant-gardes; craft and colonialism; primitivism and futurism; representation of history, landscape, and the nude; non-objectivity, collage, the readymade, and abstraction.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Jacob Stewart–Halevy
MW 1–2:30
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

An introduction to art since the postwar era with a particular emphasis on the present. Who is making contemporary art, where is it being made, and why? Do these elements constitute an “art world” or multiple and fragmented pockets of production? How do they relate to uneven flows of commerce and capital and what is their connection to emerging political and technological trends? The course treats center/periphery relations; relational and activist art; experimental groups across the Americas, Europe, and Asia; Conceptualism and abstraction; the dynamics between offline and online reception; and the dilemmas of producing art in a digital economy.

Art History Majors
Download this guide to view the qualifying Time Periods and Geographical Locations for this course.

Michael Charlesworth
TTH 9:30–11
Fulfills →  Independent Inquiry and Writing flags
Instruction Mode →  Face-to-Face

This course provides an introduction to the discipline of art history and to some of the most significant methodological approaches and challenges to the study of art and visual culture. This course does not follow a lecture format but instead focuses on class discussion, active participation, and collaborative learning. Our goal is to become familiar with the fundamental characteristics and objectives of various methods and traditions in art history, and to create a productive environment in which to analyze, critique, compare, and utilize them. Because this class carries both Writing and Individual Inquiry flags, emphasis will also be placed on a series of written assignments and papers that enable the student to more fully research and explore a topic of particular art historical interest to her/him/them.

Prerequisite: ARH 321: Problems in Art Historical Research. Restricted to Art History Majors.

Individual projects to be completed under faculty supervision.

Requires consent of instructor to register.

Fulfills →  Independent Inquiry flag

Individual conference course in which student researches and writes a thesis.

Restricted to those participating in Art History Honors Program. Requires approval by Art History Honors Program Director to register.

Fulfills →  Independent Inquiry and Writing flags