Art History

ARH 125 HISTORY OF WESTERN ART
How long have humans been creating art? What makes the Mona Lisa the Mona Lisa? Why is Picasso so famous? This course answers such questions by surveying the development of art in the West from prehistoric times to the present day. Through illustrated lectures and in-class discussion we will consider what purposes art serves, why it changes, and how artistic  change is linked to political and social developments. At the same time, close study of individual works will introduce the skills needed to identify works of art and decode the imagery they contain. For classes prior to 2020, this course satisfies the Core requirement in Art, Music & Theatre. For the class of 2020 and subsequent classes, this course fulfills the Core requirement for a fine art in Culture and Expression. For all, it serves as a gateway to a minor in Art History. Staff/Three credits

ARH 130 INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE
This course introduces students to the principles, techniques, and forms of architecture. The course will examine buildings as well as landscape design and urban fabric from antiquity to the present day, from medieval Indonesia to modern Las Vegas. Students will learn how to analyze elements of architecture and consider how political power, economics, cultural history, technology and function play a role in architectural form, and how architecture in turn shapes human experience. For classes prior to 2020, this course satisfies the Core requirement in Art, Music & Theatre. For the class of 2020 and subsequent classes, this course fulfills the Core requirement for a fine art in Culture and Expression.
Gearhart/Three credits

ARH 140R ART IN ROME
This course, exclusive to the Rome campus, examines the history and society of Rome and its architectural and artistic expression as it developed over a period of 3000 years. Students study key examples of architecture, monuments and art from Classical Rome through to the Renaissance and Baroque, and the modern period. Much of the course is taught on site with visits to churches, palaces and museums. For classes prior to 2020, this course satisfies the Core requirement in Art, Music & Theatre. For the class of 2020 and subsequent classes, it fulfills the Core requirement for a Fine Arts class in Culture & Expression. Borghese/Three credits

ARH 150–151H ART & POLITICS I & II
(Same as POL 150–151H) This two-semester interdisciplinary sequence in Art History and Political Philosophy concentrates on the study of the worlds of politics and art: from Ancient Greece through the Renaissance in the first semester, from Modern Europe through 21st-century Europe and the United States in the second. Both semesters emphasize the reading and interpretation of texts about key political principles and the analysis of major works of art. Students earn three credits in Political Science and three credits in Art History. For classes prior to 2020, this course taken as an ARH class satisfies the Core requirement in Art, Music & Theatre. Taken with a POL designation, either course counts as a social science in the Core. For the Class of 2020 and subsequent classes, either course counts in Culture and Expression as a fine art when taken as ARH, and in The Great Conversation when taken as POL. Taking both semesters serves as a gateway to a major or minor in Art History. (150, Fall; 151, Spring)
Norris, Gearhart/Three credits each semester

ARH 160 ART ANCIENT AND MODERN: THE QUESTION OF BEAUTY
This course surveys the history of Western Art from the Greek world to the present day, using the question of beauty as a unifying theme. The first class each week will introduce the art or architecture of the period; the second will use readings from period sources to understand how beauty was perceived and defined in that period. The course will have a particular emphasis on theories of beauty that recur in successive historical periods: beauty and mathematics, beauty and function, beauty and color, beauty and mimesis, beauty and effect. For classes prior to 2020, this course satisfies the Core requirement in Art, Music & Theatre. For the class of 2020 and subsequent classes, it fulfills the Core requirement for a Fine Arts class in Culture & Expression. For classes prior to 2020, this course satisfies the Core requirement in Art, Music & Theatre.
Norris, Gearhart/Three credits

ARH 223 RENAISSANCE ART AND ARCHITECTURE
This course looks at one of the most celebrated eras of art history, the Renaissance. Focusing on Italy and Northern Europe, the course will look at art made from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. Major themes will include urban development, economic change, the black plague, and the political and religious forces of culture. Material covered will include painting, sculpture, architecture, and fresco, from the devotional works of the Franciscans to the courtly art made for the Duke of Urbino, and works made for women as well as men. Looking critically at primary source material, such as the writings of Alberti and Vasari, the course will also consider the role of the artist and what is often seen as his rise in status, through examples like Botticelli, Michelangelo, Giotto and Dürer. For classes prior to 2020, this course satisfies the Core requirement in Art, Music & Theatre. For the class of 2020 and subsequent classes, this course fulfills the Core requirement for a fine art in Culture and Expression. Gearhart/Three credits

ARH 225 NINETEENTH CENTURY ART
This course examines the art of Europe and the United States from the French Revolution to the end of the nineteenth century, starting with the Neoclassicism of Jacques-Louis David and ending with Impressionism and its impact on the art world. Topics covered will include the invention of photography and its effect on painting; the development of landscape painting in Germany, France and the United States, and the growth of the art market. French art will be the main focus of the course, but we will also be thinking about Francisco Goya in Spain, Romanticism in Germany, the Hudson River School in America, and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in England. Staff/Three credits

ARH 227 THE MEANING OF MODERN ART
This course examines the development of modern art in Europe and the United States, focusing on the period between 1880 and 1950. Starting with Post-Impressionism, we trace the key movements in modern art (including Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism), and consider some of the more traditional forms against which they defined themselves. In the process, we seek to understand how the terms ‘modern,’ ‘modernist,’ and ‘avant-garde’ came to be applied to art and artists, and to establish what art historians and cultural critics mean when they use them.
Norris/Three credits

ARH 229 ART SINCE 1945
The course examines the art produced between the end of World War II and the present day. Since the art of this period uses an extraordinary range of materials and approaches, many of them far outside the traditional practices of European art-making, we also try to answer some important questions: What does it mean to be an artist? What conditions must an object or event fulfill to qualify as a work of art? Are these artists even serious? You will emerge not just with an understanding of movements in art since the middle of the last century, but also with an awareness of the dramatic ways in which the entire concept of art has changed in the last 60 years.
Norris/Three credits

ARH 231 ISLAMIC ART & ARCHITECTURE
This course is an examination of the art and architecture of the Islamic world from the beginnings of Islam in the seventh century to the early modern era. The course focuses on the Mediterranean and Middle East, from the Spanish peninsula to modern-day Iran and Afghanistan. The course focuses on issues such as patronage, cross-cultural exchange and the inheritance of classical culture, and examines architecture as well as art in a variety of media, such as metalwork, ceramics, textiles and manuscripts. For Class of 2020 and subsequent classes, counts in the Core as a Global Awareness course.
Gearhart/Three credits

ARH 299, 399 OR 499 HISTORY
Each of these numbers designates a specific level of specialized study on a relevant topic that has been designed by the student in conjunction with a faculty member. Permission of Chair required.
Staff/Three credits

ARH 300 INTERNSHIP IN ART HISTORY
This upper level, field-based course is designed for juniors and seniors to explore and develop professional opportunities and apply concepts and skills learned in their coursework in art history. Permission of Chair required. Staff/Three credits

ARH 324 MICHELANGELO: PAINTING, SCULPTURE, ARCHITECTURE AND POETRY
This course focuses on the works of the great Italian Renaissance sculptor, architect, painter and poet, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). Through an in-depth analysis of Michelangelo’s works, students will come to know the artist himself and better understand the issues with which he grapples in his poetry and visual art. Lamoureux/Three credits

ARH 350 SPECIAL TOPICS IN ART HISTORY
One Special Topics course in art history is offered each Fall semester in conjunction with the Senior Art History Seminar. These courses respond to special interests evinced by students and/or the research interests of the faculty. For Class of 2020 and subsequent classes, when topic is relevant, counts in the Core as a Global Awareness course. Gearhart, Norris/Three credits

ARH 400 SENIOR ART HISTORY SEMINAR
This course serves as a culminating experience for students who are majors or minors in art history. It is offered in the Fall semester each year in conjunction with a Special Topics in Art History class. The topic studied will vary depending on the instructor, but the course will always examine a specific period of art history in detail, combining visual analysis of works of art in class with readings of primary and secondary texts and classroom discussion. Students will undertake a semester-long research project culminating in a formal presentation of their work and in a written paper. For Class of 2020 and subsequent classes, when topic is relevant, counts in the Core as a Global Awareness course.
Gearhart, Norris/Three credits 

Additional courses may be available to Assumption students through the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, a group of 12 colleges and universities in the Worcester region. The COWC allows students to access courses, facilities and events at all institutions. Free shuttle transportation is available to other Consortium schools.