info@michaeljryan.com
Building 1 Room 1111 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 8:10 - 9:00 AM
Required Text:
Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Global History, Volume I
Other text will be distributed as handouts accordingly.
Course Goals:
1.To introduce the chronology and historical context, characteristics, and problems of major works of art from the prehistoric period to the Middle Ages.
2.To explore and investigate how these works of art manifest and/or served the cultural values and ideas of their respective civilizations.
3.To teach methods in examining and experiencing art, learning how to analyze the formal characteristics of a work of art, and how to communicate and discuss the issues and ideas that surround it.
Requirements:
1.Attendance. Every student is responsible for all material covered during the class period; this will include content outside of the text. Coming to class is the best way to insure you don’t miss anything. If you miss a lecture, make certain you get good notes from a classmate. Homework and adjustments to the course schedule will also be announced only in class; therefore your attentiveness to any day(s) missed will be crucial. Three unexcused absences will lead to the lowering of your grade by 100 points; an A would become a B, a C would then be a D.
2.Preparation. This is a fast moving course. We cover a vast amount of millennia in a matter of months. It is necessary to read assigned material before class, in order to keep up with content and details of studied images and reading. Quizzes will be given periodically on images and their reference. These will be considered as a low part of your grade, as their true function will be to prepare you for the exams. Two typed essays will also be assigned. Late papers will lose 100 points per day late, unless arranged in advance.
3.Participation. This class meets very early in the morning, and much of our time will be amidst dim lighting. In order for all of us to stay awake and invested in the course material I will engage the class in group discussions throughout the lecture. A crucial focus of this course is to communicate and express what has just been learned or discovered, and the best way to absorb new information is to apply it, whether in writing or in dialogue.
4.Student Honesty Policy
Cheating of any kind whether it is on an exam, homework, or presenting someone else’s work, phrasing and/or ideas as one’s own will result in a 0 for the assignment, and may result in an F for the course.
Course Outline
Reading Assignments and other exercises will be introduced at the beginning of the week. Make sure you observe the images as well as what is written, both will be applied in class and then reviewed through quizzes and exams. We will not study every artwork mentioned in the book and some artworks we will investigate further than what is discovered in the book. Stay up to speed and things will be easier to retain and learn.
*All dates and assignments are tentative and subject to change.
Jan. 21 Introduction to course and content
23Introduction to Formal Analysis and Ways of Seeing.
26Paleolithic Art
28Paleolithic Art
30Neolithic Art
Feb.2Ancient Near East
4Ancient Near East
6Predynastic and Old Kingdom
9Old Kingdom
11Middle and New Kingdoms
13Holiday? Lincoln's B-day
16Holiday? Presidents Day
18Papers Due from Museum Visit/ Demo and Lab
20Minoan Art
23Mycenaean Art
25Exam 1
27Early Greek Art
Mar 2Architecture
4Architectural Sculpture
6Parthenon Architecture
9Parthenon Sculpture
11Hellenistic Art
13Etruscan Art
16Roman Republic
18Portraiture (Roman)
20Imperial Sculpture
23Architectural Revolution: Pantheon
252nd exam
27TBA
30Conversion of the Empire: Christianity
April1Constantine and Christian Art
3Imperielization of Christian Art
6 Spring Recess
8Spring Recess
10Spring Recess
13Justinian I and the New Rome
15TBA
17Mesoamerica and Africa
20Carolingian Architecture
22Renaissance and Renascences
24Ottonian Art
27Ottonian and the East
29Origins of Romanesque
May1Pilgrimages and Relics
4Romanesque Art
6Origins of Gothic
8Gothic Architecture
11Sculpture
13Architecture
15England and Italy
18Review
20Final Exam
Skyline College
ART 101 – History of Western Art I:
Ancient and Medieval art to the beginning of the 14th century
Spring 2009 Syllabus
Michael Ryan
Office – 1101B
Email: ryanm@smccd.edu
Website: www.michaeljryan.com
Phone: 650-738-7301 extension: 19428
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 7:30 – 8 AM, or by appointment.