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This introductory course surveys the history of modern art from the late 19th to the early 21st centuries. It examines major works by important artists of such major art movements as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Non-Objective Art, Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, New Image, Neo-Expressionism and Neo-Conceptualism. Students will become familiar with core examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, installation and performance. Students will consider the crucial role of these images and objects in the formation of their respective historical and cultural context. Through readings, class discussions, writing assignments and museum visits, students will explore the following questions: What is art? Is the appearance, or form of an art object its most important element? Is iconography an essential component of art history? What role does religion, biography, psychology, philosophy, society and politics play in the production of art making and perception? Students will further develop their critical understanding of this information through the development of research methods.

This introductory course surveys the history of modern art from the late 19th to the early 21st centuries. It examines major works by important artists of such major art movements as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Non-Objective Art, Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, New Image, Neo-Expressionism and Neo-Conceptualism. Students will become familiar with core examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, installation and performance. Students will consider the crucial role of these images and objects in the formation of their respective historical and cultural context. Through readings, class discussions, writing assignments and museum visits, students will explore the following questions: What is art? Is the appearance, or form of an art object its most important element? Is iconography an essential component of art history? What role does religion, biography, psychology, philosophy, society and politics play in the production of art making and perception? Students will further develop their critical understanding of this information through the development of research methods.

This online (synchronous) survey course examines historical developments of art and architecture in Asia, with emphasis on India, China and Japan, from the Neolithic period to modern times, and their role in the formation of Asian cultures. We will explore such topics as art and religion, art and afterlife, art and state power, landscape painting and the understanding of nature, art and garden culture, and the East and the West in modern and contemporary art, etc. We will investigate such art forms as ceramics, sculpture, painting and calligraphy, architecture and garden design. We will discuss important artifacts in light of medium, form and style, historical context, iconographical meaning, and their religious and social functions.

This online (synchronous) survey course examines historical developments of art and architecture in Asia, with emphasis on India, China and Japan, from the Neolithic period to modern times, and their role in the formation of Asian cultures. We will explore such topics as art and religion, art and afterlife, art and state power, landscape painting and the understanding of nature, art and garden culture, and the East and the West in modern and contemporary art, etc. We will investigate such art forms as ceramics, sculpture, painting and calligraphy, architecture and garden design. We will discuss important artifacts in light of medium, form and style, historical context, iconographical meaning, and their religious and social functions.

This course investigates how modern and contemporary Chinese artists and filmmakers respond to the many ways in which China’s accelerated urbanization affects the cultural, social, political and economic life in the world’s new superpower. Topics and themes include city planning, architecture and communal life in the communist regime; environmental art and urban culture in Post-Mao period; architectural designs by foreign architects since the 1990s; and urban life and the politics of consumption in the era of reform and globalization. It aims at helping students understand the formation and transformation of a new urban culture in a China that is playing an increasingly important role in today’s global affairs.

This course investigates how modern and contemporary Chinese artists and filmmakers respond to the many ways in which China’s accelerated urbanization affects the cultural, social, political and economic life in the world’s new superpower. Topics and themes include city planning, architecture and communal life in the communist regime; environmental art and urban culture in Post-Mao period; architectural designs by foreign architects since the 1990s; and urban life and the politics of consumption in the era of reform and globalization. It aims at helping students understand the formation and transformation of a new urban culture in a China that is playing an increasingly important role in today’s global affairs.

This online (synchronous) survey course examines historical developments of arts and architecture in the Islamic world from the seventh to the nineteenth centuries. We will explore the main achievements in such areas as Arabia and Syria, Iran and Central Asia, Egypt, North Africa and Spain, Anatolia, and India, with a focus on architectural design and structure, decoration motifs and their meanings, illustrated books and mural paintings, textiles, ceramics, glass and metalwork, etc. Class discussion topics will include differentiating religious and secular art, figurative and non-figurative imagery, regional styles and cultural traditions.

This online (synchronous) survey course examines historical developments of arts and architecture in the Islamic world from the seventh to the nineteenth centuries. We will explore the main achievements in such areas as Arabia and Syria, Iran and Central Asia, Egypt, North Africa and Spain, Anatolia, and India, with a focus on architectural design and structure, decoration motifs and their meanings, illustrated books and mural paintings, textiles, ceramics, glass and metalwork, etc. Class discussion topics will include differentiating religious and secular art, figurative and non-figurative imagery, regional styles and cultural traditions.