Course Catalog

Home>Academic Catalog 2024-2025>

Course Catalog

INTRO TO ART THROUGH PARIS MUSEUMS (AH1003)

Uses the unsurpassed richness of the art museums of Paris as the principal teaching resource. The history of Western Art is studied through the close examination of a limited selection of major works in a variety of media. The works chosen illuminate the political, social and religious contexts of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque and Rococo periods, and the modern epoch. The course has an extra course fee of 35 euros.

Pages

INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF ART II (AH1020)

Continues the study of selected monuments of painting, sculpture, and architecture, from the Renaissance to the 20th-century. Emphasizes historical context, continuity, and critical analysis. Includes direct contact with works of art in Parisian museums. The overall themes of the class may vary by semester.

FIRSTBRIDGE IN ART HISTORY (AH1099)

Firstbridge courses are offered to degree seeking freshmen and registration is done via webform in pre-arrival checklist.

TOPICS IN ART HISTORY (AH1910)

Topics vary by semester

PARIS THROUGH ITS ARCHITECTURE I (AH2000)

Investigates the growth patterns of Paris from Roman times through the Second Empire. Studies major monuments, pivotal points of urban design, and vernacular architecture on site. Presents the general vocabulary of architecture, the history of French architecture and urban planning, as well as a basic knowledge of French history to provide a framework for understanding the development of Paris.

MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN PARIS (AH2004)

Celebrated for the beauty of its architectural past, Paris is also a rapidly changing, dynamic, modern metropolis in the present. From its historical center to newer neighbourhoods at the city's periphery, recent buildings and urban projects have altered Paris and made it the site of significant modern architecture and urbanism. This course introduces the major new monuments and urban designs that characterize the city today. Following a brief historical introduction, the Grand Projects such as the Louvre Pyramid, the Grand Arch and the Bastille Opera, as well as more modest and unassuming structures, will be studied on site. Focussing on the major architectural and urban undertakings of the past few decades, such as museums, libraries, cultural centers, housing projects and public parks, this course explores how the architecture and urban fabric of the past have been reassessed to suit modern materials, tastes and needs. Students will also investigate how international influences have been adapted, adopted, or rejected in the creation of Paris today. Emphasis is placed on the students' grasp of the material, rather than the completion of a chronological survey.

ANCIENT ART & ARCHITECTURE (AH2011)

We will study the visual arts from the Ancient Mediterranean in all media, including architecture, sculpture, vase painting, frescoes, mosaics, cameos, and jewelry. After a brief introduction about the legacy of Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian art, the first half of the course will cover Greek art from the Aegean Bronze Age through the Hellenistic era. The second half of the course will focus on Roman art from the Etruscans through the end of the Roman Empire. Themes we will consider include the ideal of beauty and the development of the “canon,” portraiture and representations of the human body, and ideas about youth and age. To understand the relevance of studying ancient art in modern times, we will also include questions about forgeries and looting, and the contentious issue of cultural heritage. Students are expected to engage closely with original objects of ancient art on view in Paris.

MEDIEVAL ART & ARCHITECTURE (AH2012)

This course will survey highlights of the painting, sculpture, architecture,mosaics, tapestries, metalwork, ivories, and stained-glass windows of the Middle Ages in Europe and the Mediterranean. We will proceed in a chronological framework, starting with the beginnings of Christian art, and ending in the late Gothic period. Works of art will be studied in their historical, social, cultural, and religious contexts. Thematically, we will examine continuities and breaks with the classical tradition; the recurring issue of iconoclasm; the rich diversity of materials; the fruitful effects of cross-cultural and interfaith exchanges; and the global context and long afterlife of medieval art.

RENAISSANCE ART & ARCHITECTURE (AH2013)

This course will introduce you to the major works of the Italian and Northern Renaissance from 1300 to 1600. Emphasis will be placed on understanding artworks within their original cultural contexts, paying particular attention to the production and circulation of art in an age of exploration and discovery. Key themes and issues of consideration will include the idea of a classical revival and artistic self-fashioning, questions of imitation and style, courtly values, art collecting and the ethnographic print, as well as the religious debates of the period and the changing status of the sacred image.