ARTH

This course offers an overview of works created throughout the Italian peninsula, from Naples to Genoa, and Venice to Rome from the thirteenth through the fifteenth century. In addition to the well-known artists who generally define the period (Giotto, Donatello, Botticelli) the course covers a variety of artists, media, and sites that broaden students' understanding of the early Renaissance, examining formal transformations within social, political, and religious contexts.

This course explores the artistic trends in the West from 1900 to the present focusing on the relationship of artists and movements to historical and cultural events that shaped the period. Theoretical readings inform the study of painting, architecture, sculpture, photography, printmaking, installation and performance art from the modernism of the early twentieth century to current artistic movements.

This course investigates women as creators, patrons, and subjects of art from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries. We will study individual histories of female artists alongside some critical theories around gender, sexuality and representation, in order to explore the gendering of artistic practice and the practices of representing gendered subjects. The course explores questions like: How does gender change our understanding of art and the meanings associated with art? Did women's artwork or commissions differ from those of men, and if so, in what ways?

This course introduces the arts of Mesoamerica and Mexico from 1200 BCE to the present. Architecture, sculpture, pottery, textiles, and painting of the pre-Columbian, Viceregal, and modern periods are examined with their ritual functions in mind, focusing on the political and religious contexts of the works. Style is analyzed throughout the course as a product of cultural intersection and transmission, reflecting ongoing adaptation and assimilation rather than the hegemonic expression of one particular culture.

This course is a survey of the major artistic traditions of Asia, primarily of China, India, and Japan, from prehistoric times to the turn of the twentieth century. It examines important monuments and emphasizes the interaction of art and society, specifically, how different artistic styles are tied to different intellectual beliefs, geographical locations, and other historical contexts. The course includes a field trip to the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

This class introduces students to artistic works created in Western Europe and the Americas from circa 1300 to the present. Students will learn to discuss how art communicates, while pursuing larger questions of meaning related to the social, cultural, and artistic context in which the works were created. While students will learn to identify stylistic characteristics, particular emphasis is given to how the works complement and/or reflect particular political, spiritual, scientific, or philosophical issues.

This course introduces selected monuments produced by the civilizations of the pagan ancient Mediterranean and the Near East, medieval Christian Europe, and the world of Islam, from ca. 3000 BCE to ca. 1300 CE. The course examines a wide range of material - from colossal monuments built for the powerful to humble objects used by commoners, from works of awesome religious significance to lighthearted artifacts of the secular realm - to understand the role art played in the various societies of the ancient world.

The Department of Art and Art History explores the wonder and complexity of visual art in theory and practice, offering programs in both studio art and art history.