Survey of Art from Prehistory to the Medieval Era - Honors

Catalog description

This course introduces students to visual art and architecture from prehistory to the medieval era with a focus on art from Europe, North Africa, and the near East. The course will further consider global interactions involving these regions. This is an honors course. The course is survey of paintings, sculpture and architecture in the Western tradition, starting from human beginnings until 1300; it examines functions and meanings of art and architecture within historical, socio-political, aesthetic, cultural, technological and philosophical contexts of the regions. Slide lectures and class discussions examine functions and meanings of artworks from ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In the latter part of the course, Late Antiquity, Byzantine, Early Medieval, Romanesque and Gothic Arts will be discussed. The honors course provides contents that requires greater intensity and in-depth of study than the non-honors class. Honors enhancements include: 1. Reading scholarly journals and visual analysis of original artworks (as real objects or virtually through digital collections). 2. Analysis of the broader ethical, political, curatorial issues surrounding the art historical practice of ancient and medieval arts. 3. Oral presentation of research findings and critical thinking interaction in a seminar-style discussion. 4. Writing a research paper. Formerly ART 101H (C-ID: ARTH 110H) (UC, CSU, AVC) Note: Students may take either ARTH C1100 Survey of Art from Prehistory to the Medieval Era or ARTH C1100H Survey of Art from Prehistory to the Medieval Era - Honors. Duplicate credit will not be awarded. This honors course is intended for students in the Honors Transfer Program.