Syllabus

Course Description: Art is the creation of its creator as well as the cultural, political, economic, and social forces that shaped that artist. This course will connect art to those histories, and will introduce students to the visual language of Western art from ancient to modern times, in order to increase the recognition and understanding of references in advertisements and posters, on clothing, and in film and other media. The course introduces a wide variety of methodologies and topics of current debate in the field of art history, including: style, technique, patronage, iconography (subject matter), social context, historiography (writings about art and how they shaped our concepts), gender, psychoanalysis, and art theory.

Required Textbook:  Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through The Ages, A Concise Western History, 2^nd Edition, Wadsworth, 2010 (previous edition is OK, copies are on reserve in the library)

Learning Outcomes:

Students will,

• learn the analytical techniques used by art historians,
• become familiar with key works of Western art, their artists, styles, materials and working methods,
• become knowledgeable about the major works of art linked to historical events, intellectual history, and scientific and cultural trend,
• acquire a working knowledge of the specialized vocabulary used in art history,
• enhance their visual literacy and critical thinking skills

Website:  You must access the class website by logging into CityTech’s OpenLab via https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/.  To access the OpenLab, you will need to register with your CityTech email account (if you haven’t activated your CityTech email, you will need to go to the helpdesk in the 6^th Floor Computer Lab of the General Building).  Instructions on how to start your account on the OpenLab will be provided in a separate handout.

Slide lists for the lectures will be posted online.  You will need a password to access slide lists and readings (passwords will be provided in class).  Go to the Class Downloads tab on the website.  The slide lists have the works of art and vocabulary that you are responsible for on the exams.  Although I will occasionally show slides that are not on your slide lists or in Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, these unlisted works will not be on the exams.  You will also find additional information to help you study for exams (see Exam & Study Guide online).

Homework Blog Assignments: Your homework consists of blogging on the class website.  Each week, I will post a Discussion Topic.  You will be asked to produce 10 posts or comments (approx. 200-words) on the class blog by Saturday of each week.  Please look at the blogging guidelines for instructions on the class website.

Grading:

Exam 1                                                                                    20%
Exam 2                                                                                    20%
Museum Paper                                                                      20%
Homework (Class Blog)                                                       10%
In-Class Assignments                                                             5%
Narrative Art (4 Icon Challenge) Assignment                   5%
FINAL Exam                                                                          20%

PLEASE NOTE:  Failure to turn in the paper or submit an exam, plagiarism, and cheating will result in a zero (0), not F for the assignment/exam.

Class participation will be considered in determining final grades.

Important Dates:

Feb 16, Thursday                        Last day to drop without W grade
March 6, Tuesday                       Exam 1
April 5, Thursday                        Museum Paper due
April 19, Thursday                      Exam 2 and Last day to withdraw with W grade
May 17, Thursday                       Final Exam, 10:00 – 11:15 am
                                                        no incomplete work accepted after this date

Exams: Exams consist of slide identifications (artist name, title of works, stylistic period, approximate dates, location if in situ, significance of work), short answer questions, essays, and vocabulary.  Make-up exams will only be given for reasons of documented emergency.

Museum Paper:  Information on the required paper will be given in a separate handout.  The paper is an exhibition review (4 pages). You will be given a list of approved exhibitions in New York City.  Choose one exhibition to visit.  Write a review based on your interpretation and analysis.  The objective of this review will be to determine the goal of the curator in putting the exhibition together and then to evaluate the extent to which the curator was successful in achieving this goal.  Please submit your paper on time, late papers will drop a letter grade per day after the deadline.

Extra Credit:  Over the course of the semester, you will be given an option to do several extra credit projects worth 1-2 points each.  The projects have specific due dates.  These are short written assignments of approx. 500 words.  If you complete all the projects well, it is possible to increase your final grade average by 10 points. You will find extra credit assignments posted online.

Attendance:  Students are expected to attend all classes. More than 3 absences will result in course failure.  Excessive lateness will affect your grade.  Three late marks equal one absence.

Plagiarism and Cheating: Presenting work by others as your own is completely unacceptable. Plagiarism includes using material from books or the Internet without acknowledging the source as well as submitting something written by someone else. Either will result in a 0 (zero) for that particular assignment/exam. A second instance will result in an automatic F for the course.

Decorum:  Please turn off your cell phones, beepers, alarms, etc. and no sleeping, internet surfing, txt msgs while in lecture.

New York City College of Technology Policy on Academic Integrity:
Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion.

*Syllabus is subject to change.