Throughout history, societies have defined, perpetuated and transformed themselves through their art. When we experience a work of art today, we can see not only the work itself, but also the world that produced it. We see something of ourselves, too. Art history at Hamilton focuses on understanding the rich cultural and historical contexts in which art is created and experienced.
Art History today is a field study that has undergone a number of exciting changes in response to contemporary intellectual and social developments. Many of the courses offered in the Art History program at Hamilton College, beginning with introductory courses, incorporate significant aspects of these changes, challenging students with new and different questions to ask, new ways of asking old questions, and fostering students' ability to see and think critically.
The Art History Department offers four different courses at the introductory level each year and each faculty member in the Department teaches at least one of the courses every year based on their specific interests and expertise. This encourages students to experience a range of topics and approaches. In addition, several courses at the 200-level are open to beginning students without prerequisites. These include ARTH 282: The Renaissance, ARTH 285: Seventeenth Century Art, and ARTH 293: Moderism and Postmoderism.
ArtH 120F Introduction to the History and Theory of Film. This course is designed as a general introduction to cinema and the field of cinema studies and includes viewing and critical discussion of crucial films from a wide range of cinematic traditions.
ArtH 150 Architecture in History is offered every other year in the fall semester. It provides a rigorous foundation in the historical issues concerning architecture and the built environment, including urban planning and landscape. It is based on the conviction that there is a valid canon of sites of exceptional importance that provide the historical knowledge that one needs to know in order to have a necessary yardstick by which to evaluate other movements and developments in architecture.
ArtH 151 Architecture and the Environment is offered as a proseminar every other year in the fall semester (alternating with Architecture in History). It differs from the traditional survey course by focusing on the environmental performance and ecological impact of buildings, many of which are vernacular. Class discussions and written assignments offer ample opportunities for students to critically examine the human dimension in architecture in terms biological and psychological needs and the social functions.
ArtH 152 Proseminar in Art History is a writing-intensive course that is offered each year in the fall and the spring semesters. It is designed to introduce students, through selected readings, to ways of critically evaluating differing viewpoints on the meaning and social significance of art. Writing assignments provide opportunities to develop visual literacy by engaging students in a critical examination of the power of images, throughout time and across a wide spectrum of visual representations, to promote certain social values and to shape viewers‚ understanding of themselves, their relations to others and world around them.
ArtH 154 Arts and Cultures of Asia is taught each fall and spring. It offers the student an opportunity to study the indigenous traditions of artistic practice in the three great Eastern civilizations of India, China, and Japan. It deviates from the traditional survey in emphasizing an understanding of the meaning and the social and aesthetic significance of art from within the context of its cultural setting. It is through an examination of the visual arts that students will learn about the histories, philosophies, religions, and social and political structures of Asia.
120F Introduction to the History and Theory of Film.
A general introduction to the wide world of cinema and cinema studies, focusing on crucial films from many cinematic traditions. Topics include the evolution of film from earlier forms of motion picture, the articulation and exploitation of a narrative language for cinema, the development of typical commercial genres, and the appearance of a variety of forms of critical cinema. Focuses on basic film terminology, with the cinematic apparatus and ongoing theoretical conversation about cinema and its audience.
(Same as Cinema and New Media Studies 120 and .)
MacDonald.
[150S]
Architecture in History.
A critical examination of the development of the designed and built environment from the Paleolithic Period to the Industrial Revolution, with consideration given to urban, social and landscape issues.
(Writing-intensive.)
Maximum enrollment, 20.
151S Architecture and the Environment.
A critical and historical introduction to the study of human intervention in the environment, considering such issues as the alleviation of biological and psychological stress through architectural design, social purpose and formal significance. Individual buildings examined in relation to their urban and natural contexts.
(Proseminar.)
Maximum enrollment, 16.
R Carter.
152F,S Proseminar in Art History.
An introduction to the roles that art plays in shaping society from ancient times to the present. Discussion and writing assignments focusing on topics such as stereotypes, gender roles, propaganda, censorship, popular culture, patronage, museums and the art market.
(Writing-intensive.)
(Proseminar.)
Open to first- and second-year students only.
Maximum enrollment, 16.
McEnroe and Pokinski.
154F,S Arts and Cultures of Asia.
An introduction to the traditional arts of India, China and Japan. Discussion focusing on the cultural and aesthetic values, religio-philosophical beliefs and historical conditions informing the practice of art and its reception within these cultures. Goldberg.
[236S]
Outrageous Acts: Avant-Garde Theatre and Performance Art.
An examination of experimental art’s capacity to shock and to force us to recognize ourselves from new and unexpected perspectives. The historical, cultural and philosophical origins and influences, as well as exemplary works from the early avant-garde movements (1890-1940) and more contemporary avant-garde theatre and performance art (1950-1990). Discussion of the art, music, literature, theatre and film of Surrealism, Symbolism, Expressionism, Dada, Futurism, Constructivism, Epic, The Living Theatre, Grotowski, Monk, Wilson, Foreman, The Wooster Group, Hughes, Finley.
(Oral Presentations.)
(Same as Theatre 236.)
[245S]
Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic Arts of India.
An introduction to Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic traditions of art and architecture in India, as well as the art and architecture of the colonial and post-colonial periods.
(Same as Religious Studies 245.)
248S Paths to Enlightenment: The Arts of Buddhism.
An examination of the history and meaning of the art and architecture of Buddhism within its various cultural locations: beginning in 2nd-century BCE India, through its transmission across Asia to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Central Asia, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. Exploration of this multifaceted tradition as a profound expression of artistic and religious values.
(Writing-intensive.)
Maximum enrollment, 20.
Goldberg.
254S Courtier, Samurai, Priest and Chonin: The Arts of Japan.
A historical examination of the social and aesthetic values and sensibilities expressed in the indigenous arts associated with the court aristocracy, samurai warrior, Zen priest and chonin or townsman. Japanese material culture, including painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, gardens, kimono, ceramics and the tea ceremony. Goldberg.
[257]
The World of Spanish Art: From the Alhambra to Guernica.
Intensive study of the artistic production of Spain, as reflected in the most significant expressions of architecture, painting and sculpture, along with the cultural and historical context in which these works were created. To be included, among others: Moorish, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassic and Modernist styles (in architecture); El Greco, Velázquez, Zurbarán, Ribera, Murillo, Goya, Sorolla, Picasso and Dalí (in painting); and Vasco de la Zarza, Bigarny, Diego de Siloé, Juni, Montanás, Cano, Mena, Berruguete (in sculpture). Prerequisite, 200, 201 or consent of instructor. Taught in Spanish.
(Same as Hispanic Studies 257.)
258F Political Power and Cultural Authority: The Arts of China.
A historical examination of the ethico-aesthetic, religio-philosophical and socio-political values expressed in the indigenous arts associated with the imperial court, the scholar's studio, the marketplace and the subtle art of dissent. Chinese material culture, including painting, calligraphy, sculpture, ceramics, jade, ritual bronzes, architecture and silk robes. Goldberg.
[259F]
Defining American Art.
The role of art and its development in the United States between 1800 and 1950. Topics include the effects of the colonial experience, the search for a national identity, expressions of race, class and gender, the sense of inferiority in relation to European art, popular and vernacular art forms, and debates over public support of the arts. Prerequisite, one course in art history, American history, American literature or American studies.
261S Classical Art: Inventing the Past.
An examination of Mediterranean art from the Bronze Age through the Roman Empire. Special emphasis on the archaeological discovery and reshaping of ancient art by later scholars and the concept of the "classical."
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, one course in art history or classics.
(Same as Classics 261.)
Maximum enrollment, 20.
McEnroe.
[266S]
Art of the Islamic World.
The Near and Middle Eastern origins, the classical inheritance, and the Eastern and Western diffusion of Islamic civilization.
[270S]
Visual Culture in the Middle Ages.
Visual culture before the "era of art." Topics include the role of images in shaping social order, the holy image and veneration, images and the written word, and how attitudes toward medieval images have changed over time.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, one course in art history or medieval studies.
Maximum enrollment, 20.
282S The Renaissance: Reframing the Golden Age.
An examination and reevaluation of Renaissance art. Topics include the relations between art and craft, the social functions of art, gender and ethnic stereotypes. McEnroe.
285F Seventeenth-Century Art.
The internationalization of Italian Renaissance classicism in the Age of Expansion, beginning with its origins in Rome and continuing with its development in the new artistic capitals of southern, western and northern Europe. Emphasis on major figures such as Caravaggio, Rubens, Bernini, Velasquez, Poussin, Vermeer and Jones. R Carter.
[286S]
Art in the Age of the Enlightenment.
The 18th century in Europe and its overseas dominions seen as a watershed between a rational and an empirical attitude to nature and reality. The rococo, sentimental and picturesque/sublime traditions and their assimilation into neoclassicism. Attention given to the landscape garden and the decorative arts as well as architecture, painting and sculpture.
292F Modern Architecture: 1750 to the Present.
The origins of an essentially modern attitude toward architecture during the late 18th century and its development in the 19th and 20th centuries.
293F Modernism and Postmodernism.
Developments in European and American high art from the beginnings of Modernism through the emergence of Postmodernism at the end of the 20th century. Topics include the effects of shifting social and gender roles on subject matter and audience, the hegemony of formalist aesthetics and avant-gardism, the relationship between art and popular culture, and the role of art institutions. Pokinski.
301F Critical Cinema: A History of Experimental and Avant-Garde Film.
A history of alternatives to commercial movies, focusing on surrealist and dadaist film, visual music, psychodrama, direct cinema, the film society movement, personal cinema, the New American Cinema, structuralism, Queer cinema, feminist cinema, minor cinema, recycled cinema and devotional cinema. While conventional entertainment films use the novel, the short story and the stage drama as their primary instigations, experimental and avant-garde films are analogous to music, poetry, painting, sculpture and collage. Not open to first-year students. MacDonald.
315S The Technological Sublime.
Traces the shift from the natural to the technological sublime through a variety of visual imagery from the early modern period including landscape paintings, images of factories and mechanisms of all sorts. Readings place the technological sublime as a critical element in American consciousness and ideology-building. Additional study of contemporary visual media demonstrates how the technological sublime continues to shape our view of new innovations, influencing everything from art photography and painting to advertising, popular and documentary film, and the imagery of nano-technology.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, one course in Art History.
(Same as American Studies 315.)
Maximum enrollment, 20.
Rosolowski.
[319F]
Text/Image in Cinema.
Focus on the ways in which the histories of film and literature have intersected. Discussion of implications of adapting narrative and dramatic fiction to the screen. Also evokes the history of the use of visual text in film — in titles, intertitles, subtitles, credits — as a background for exploration of the wide range of creative uses of visual text evident in the work of independent filmmakers. Filmmaker guests will be invited to talk about their work. Prerequisite, one course in literature or film.
(Same as Comparative Literature 319.)
330F Art Historians and Art History.
Changing interpretations of art from the Renaissance to the present: biography, connoisseurship, formalism, iconology, feminist and postmodern theory.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, one 200-level course in art history.
Maximum enrollment, 20.
McEnroe.
[331]
Introduction to Museum Studies.
An introduction to the history of museums, types of museums and the definition of a museum. Explores the practical considerations and problems of museum organization, operation and administration and the proper handling and interpretation of objects, as well as the philosophical basis, professional practices and ethical ramifications of museums and their changing perceptions and obligations in our society.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, one 200-level art history course.
Maximum enrollment, 20.
[340S]
The Arts of Zen Buddhism.
An in-depth investigation of the rich and diverse forms of artistic practice associated with Zen Buddhism, a tradition introduced from India to China in the sixth century and transmitted to Japan at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries. Topics include Zen history, doctrine and practice, aesthetics and theory of art, symbols and metaphors, themes and genres of painting, art of writing, architecture and gardens of Zen monasteries.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, 154, 254, 258 or consent of instructor.
Maximum enrollment, 20.
350F Gender Issues in Art History.
Examination of the role of gender in the production and content of art in the Western tradition. Special attention to the challenges facing women artists, the role of images in constructing and reinforcing gendered identities, the impact of feminist and gender-based scholarship.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, one course in art history.
Maximum enrollment, 20.
Pokinski.
[352S]
Contemporary Chinese Art in the Global Cultural Economy.
Examines the radical transformations in Chinese visual culture in the post-Mao era (1976-present): painting and calligraphy, sculpture and photography, installation and performance art. Topics include the impact of transnational forces of cultural and economic globalization, artistic expressions of cultural identity, historical memory, personal subjectivity and voice independent of the official government line, the rise of a Chinese avant-garde movement, art after Tiananmen, and the place of contemporary Chinese art within a global perspective .
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, Art History 154 or 293, or consent of instructor.
Maximum enrollment, 20.
[359S]
North American Architecture before the Civil War and the British North America Act.
A brief outline of architecture, planning and design in the Americas before Columbus, followed by a fuller discussion of the period of European colonization and the era of political independence. The Canadian experience will be included. Field trips to accessible sites. Prerequisite, 150, 151 or consent of instructor.
[375S]
Religion, Art, and Visual Culture.
What do the visual arts tell us about religions in ways that written texts alone cannot? How do religious practices actually train religious people to see? Such questions will begin our examination of various media (including painting, calligraphy, architecture, film, and comics) in conjunction with various religious traditions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism). Same as Art History 375 Prerequisite, One course in either art history or religious studies. Required weekend field trip to New York City.
(Same as Religious Studies 375.)
Maximum enrollment, 12.
[401F]
Seminar in East Asian Art.
Selected topics in Chinese and Japanese art.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, one course in Asian art history or consent of instructor.
Maximum enrollment, 12.
406S Seminar in Modern Art.
Topics in modern art and historiography. Prerequisite, 293.
Maximum enrollment, 12.
Pokinski.
[490S]
Seminar: History of Design and the Decorative Arts.
Study of style and social function in the arts of design, with special emphasis on furniture and interior design. Student presentations may include such media as ceramics, glass, metalware and textiles. Visits to public and private collections.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, 285 or consent of instructor.
Maximum enrollment, 12.
491S Seminar in Neo-Classicism.
Art around 1800 seen as a watershed between Renaissance humanism and modernism. Topics include the reinvesting of old forms with new meanings, the reevaluation of myth and symbol, the aesthetic dilemma of industrialization, and archaeology and the romanticization of the past and future.
(Writing-intensive.)
Prerequisite, 285.
Maximum enrollment, 12.
R Carter.
