ART 110: History of Western ArtFall 2015 Time: T, Th 11:00 am – 12:15 pmProf. Owen Doonan Place: SG 103/ on-lineOffice hrs.: T 12:30-3:30 pm Office: SG 238e-mail owen.doonan@csun.edu Tel. 677-6753

Class Syllabus

Goals for the course

A. To introduce students to the broad outlines of the history of western art. Students will learn to recognize the styles typical of a broad range of ancient and modern cultures related to the western tradition. The focus on major themes will help develop insights into how art traditions build from and react to previous traditions.

B. To explore different strategies for understanding art. We will consider different standpoints (artist, patron, intended viewers, modern connoisseurs) as we look at various kinds of visual expression (architecture, sculpture, painting, public art, folk art, crafts). Students will develop an appreciation of the complexity of different cultural and functional perspectives. We will examine how monuments past and present are employed for modern nation building and politics, social domination, imperialism and local resistance to cultural change.

C. To investigate the symbolic and stylistic processes of expressing meaning through art in a number of different (but related) cultures. We will follow the cultural dynamics and tensions that encouraged imitation of prestigious traditions and rejection of others, the pre-modern antecedents of modern colonialism, imperialism and globalization.

D. To foster a culture of professionalism and collaboration within the community of our classroom that will help incoming students adjust to the expectations and structure of University life and develop good habits for all students that will serve you well in a professional workplace.

Art Department SLOs met by this course (see: http://www.csun.edu/art/overview.html)

1. Acquire a basic knowledge, theories, and concepts about art; develop a foundation of art skills and a high level of craftspersonship; communicate ideas and concepts through writing, speaking and art making; acquire a competency with the tools and technologies associated with the visual arts.

2. Broaden knowledge of ancient through contemporary art; develop an understanding of the theoretical, cultural, and historical contexts of art.

5. Develop an appreciation and tolerance of diverse perspectives dealing with art, culture, teaching and learning.

6. Become involved in both individual and collaborative art experiences with other students, faculty, and community.

7. Develop a career path for an art profession or an art-related field; develop an understanding of the demands and expectations of that area of art profession or art field.

Course-related activities: how will these goals be achieved?

Collaborative Student Group ActivitiesClass will be divided into 8 study groups of four or five students each. Study groups will prepare Power Point presentations to the class to be made in the third week of each study unit. Lectures will be presented (during the on-line sessions) on key themes to help provide direction for the student presentations. These will be recorded and available for students to study from on their own time. In-class sessions will be devoted to work groups and group presentations. After each unit there will be a quiz based on the lectures, presentations and students’ discussion and analysis of their own and their teammates’ participation in group work.

Units for group presentations and discussions:

War (wk. 2,3,4,5)

Divinity (wk. 6,7,8)

Nature (wk. 10,11,12)

Self-Society(wk. 14,15,16)

Ancient worldCh. 1-3 Groups 1, 5 Groups 2, 7 Groups 3, 6 Groups 4, 8Middle AgesCh. 4-7 Groups 2, 6 Groups 1, 8 Groups 4, 5 Groups 3, 7Early Modern eraCh. 8-11

Groups 3, 7 Groups 4, 5 Groups 2, 8 Groups 1, 6

Modern eraCh. 12-15 Groups 4, 8 Groups 3, 6 Groups 1, 7 Groups 2, 5

Group presentations shall be graded on the overall quality of the presentation, accuracy and relevance of the information presented, the relevance of the historical/ contextual discussion and use of sources such as the textbook, ArtStor, Grove Art on-line. Students will be asked to fill out (on-line) a feedback form on the performance of their team members and this feedback will be taken into account in assessing student grades on the group projects.

Group Presentations (4) will be graded based on the following criteria: Quality of presentation, clarity, accuracy, information, on-time Individual contribution based on feedback form (note – you will fail this part of the

group presentation grade unless you turn in the self-evaluation and group evalu-ation forms)

Group presentations should be based on approximately 10 Power Point slides uploaded to the course web site at latest two hours before the class meeting when we will present them. Power Points are to be “printed as” pdf files and uploaded in that format. Slide presentations should consist of both text slides (bullet points of important ideas to be discussed) and images (demonstrating important points). Images, ideas and historical information will come from the textbook, from other printed sources provided in class by the instructor (or found by the students), or scholarly on-line sources like ArtStor, Oxford Art On-line, or similar. Classmates will study some of your slides for quizzes so include basic information about the images as captions on each slide (title, date, period, culture, country of origin).

Technical requirementsWe will frequently be using information from the Internet in support of class activities and handouts will be made available via the class Moodle site and real-time discussions held using the Elluminate program. All students should have access to e-mail and a computer with Firefox or a similar browser program. You will be expected to download the Elluminate program before Thursday class time in order to participate in discussions of topics assigned for each week. Computers are available in the Library and other places around campus for those without computer access at home. Those accessing the class from the library or similar public spaces must bring a headset in order to hear the discussions. Hearing-impaired students should meet with me as soon as possible in order to make appropriate accommodations, in particular for the on-line meetings. Discussions in class and on-line will be based on the themes your group and the class are working on that day.

How to study: Come to class prepared to work with your classmates actively on assigned projects. Bring a textbook and if possible bring a wifi-equipped computer to use for research and preparation of group presentations. You should plan on spending an average of three hours at home for each hour spent in class-- that is nine hours per week. Participate actively in group work. Your group participation is an important component of your grade. Study for quizzes by taking notes on classmates’ presentations and reviewing your notes together with the Power Points (available on line). Success in this class depends on active participation every week, proactive collab oration with team mates, keeping up with readings and assignments. We cover a lot of information and move fast, so do not get behind. Do not take this class if you are looking for an easy “gut” course.

This class is half on-line and half in the classroom, giving us greater opportunities to interact with one another. Each week we will meet in class on Tuesday. Generally we will hold lectures, discussions and quizzes on-line. I expect that you will come to class having done relevant readings and background research so that class time may be devoted to active, informed collaboration between team members.

N.B. All e-mail communications should have “ART 110 11:00 section” listed in the subject line! You should email me via your @my.csun.edu account.

Behavior: One important goal of this class is to establish a culture of professionalism that will serve you well not only here but in all future educational and other endeavors.

In the classroom and on-line students are expected to behave courteously and participate in a constructive, informed manner. Students who engage in disruptive behavior such as talking, making noise, on-line “flaming” or other actions that distract other students will be given a warning and if the behavior persists, the student will be asked to leave the class for that meeting.

Students are expected to be on-time and remain engaged through the class period. Cell phone, instant messaging and non-class-related use of laptop and other computers/ smart phones is not permitted. Class-related activities and attendance will be graded no-credit and may not be made up if a student is late, leaves early or has been dismissed from class (or on-line).

If disruptive behavior persists the student will be referred to the Dean’s office for further disciplinary action and may be removed from class. Cheating will not be tolerated – use of unauthorized sources of information during an exam or class activity will result in a grade of 0 for the assignment with no make-up option.

Grades: how will student performance be evaluated?1

Mastery of Content: you are expected to learn about the works we study in a number of different ways in pursuit of the following course goals and department SLOs:

1) Identify images and terms by culture, importance, relevant physical or other properties. (Course goal A, SLO 1, 2).2) Compose essays on set topics (Course goals B, C, SLO 3)3) Discussion and analysis of images (Course goals B, C, D , SLO 3)

Group Projects (four group projects, 10% each): groups will present projects that will be graded in part as a group endeavor, but also taking into account the instructor’s assessment of individual contributions. Peer evaluations and instructor observations will raise or lower individual grades from the base grade earned by the group for a presentation. See MOODLE for grading rubrics and peer evaluation forms.

Quizzes (four quizzes, 10% each): students will complete four quizzes as part of the fulfillment of class requirements. At the end of each unit there will be a quiz. You must attend the quiz within the timeframe specified. Each quiz will consist of two sections

Identification (7 points): Identify (multiple choice) 10 images or concepts from the presentations

Essay (3 points): write a 300-400 word essay that summarizes the main ideas behind your group project and cites at least three works in the context of your discussion.

1 N.B. Students who miss the first two class meetings will be disenrolled from the class.

Museum paper (10%): Students will visit an art museum and write a review of an exhibition based on the criteria described in the “Museum paper” document and pdf of the chapter “Writing an Exhibition Review” from Sylvan Barnet’s Writing About Art, both available in the Useful Resources section of the MOODLE site.

Attendance (10%) is an important component of this course. You are expected to attend class regularly and to contribute in an informed and productive manner to discussions and team activities. Attendance will be taken during class and on-line meetings (at the teacher's discretion) through the course of the term. You must be in class and participating actively to be counted as present at a class meeting. Students missing, arriving late, leaving early or not participating sufficiently in more than three class meetings may have their overall grades reduced by 1 full grade.

Weighting of class assignments will be as follows: Quizzes 1-4 4@10 % 40 pts. Group projects 4@10 % 40 pts Attendance and participation 10 pts. Museum paper 10 pts.

Total /100 pts.

Grade ranges: A= 90-100%, B=80-89%, C=70-79%, D=60-69%, F=<59%

Schedule of course activities (tentative: see MOODLE site for changes)

Week 1 (Aug. 25, 27): IntroductionTuesday: Introduction to the course; Establish work groupsThursday: Introductory lecture: Art and War

Week 2 (Sept. 1, 3): Art and War Tuesday: Work groups: Art and WarThursday: Lecture 2, Art and War

Week 3 (Sept. 8, 10): Art and War Tuesday: Work groups: Art and WarThursday: Lecture 3, Art and War

Week 4 (Sept. 15, 17): Art and WarTuesday: Work groups: Art and WarThursday: On-line discussion: Art and War

Week 5 (Sept. 22, 24): Art and the DivineTuesday: Presentations: Art and WarThursday: Introductory lecture: Art and the Divine

Week 6 (Sept. 29, Oct. 1): Art and the Divine

Tuesday: Work groups: listen to “Art and the Divine” Quiz 1 Due before classThursday: Lecture 2, Art and the Divine

Week 7 (Oct. 6, 8): Art and the DivineTuesday: Work groups: Art and the DivineThursday: Lecture 3: Art and the Divine

Week 8 (Oct. 13, 15): Art and the DivineTuesday: Work groups: Art and the DivineThursday: On-line discussion: Art and the Divine

Week 9 (Oct. 20, 22): Art, Nature and ArchitectureTuesday: Presentations: Art and the Divine Thursday: Introductory lecture: Art, Nature and Architecture

Week 10 (Oct. 27, 29): Art, Nature and ArchitectureTuesday: Work groups: Art, Nature and Architecture Quiz 2 Due on-line before classThursday: Lecture 2, Art, Nature and Architecture

Week 11 (Nov. 3, 5): Art, Nature and ArchitectureTuesday: Work groups: Art, Nature and ArchitectureThursday: Lecture 3, Art, Nature and Architecture

Week 12 (Nov. 10, 12): Art, Self and SocietyTuesday: Work groups: Art, Nature and Architecture Thursday: On-line discussion: Art, Nature and Architecture

Week 13 (Nov. 17, 19): Art, Self and Society Tuesday: Presentations: Art, Nature and Architecture Thursday: Lecture 2, Art, Self and Society

Week 14 (Nov. 24, 26): Art, Self and SocietyTuesday: Work groups: Art, Self and SocietyThursday: Thanksgiving Break!!! By Sunday night, Nov. 29 at midnight: MUSEUM PAPER DUE on-line; Quiz 3 Due on-line before class Dec. 1

Week 15: (Dec. 1, 3): Art, Self and SocietyTuesday: Work groups: Art, Self and SocietyThursday: Lecture 3: Art, Self and Society

Week 16: (Dec. 8, 10): Art, Self and SocietyTuesday: Work groups: Art, Self and SocietyThursday: Review for quiz 4

Dec. 15 Final Exam, 10:15 am -12:15 pm: Presentations: Art, Self and SocietyQuiz 4: (due on line by Dec. 17 at midnight)

Bibliography:Kleiner, F. and C. Mamiya (Eds.), Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Concise History of Western Art, 3nd ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/ Thompson Learning, 2013). ISBN-10: 1133954790 ISBN-13: 978-1133954798

NOTE: the first edition (ISBN-10: 0534605117) or second edition (ISBN-10: 142406998X) of this book may be substituted but you must order it so that it arrives by week 2. I will be checking “attendance” for the book as well as you starting week 2.

This has been the standard text for art history surveys for more than 70 years. Updated by major scholars the text is richly illustrated and very well organized for comprehension. I expect you will read through this book as well as search it for

Regularly used on-line resources:

Art 110 Moodle site: our on-line “home base” http://moodle.csun.edu/

ArtStor: 500,000+ art images, professionally-vetted meta data Log in through CSUN library alphabetical database:

http://library.csun.edu/xerxes/databases/alphabetical

Oxford Art on-line: access to scholarly-quality authored articles on Art Historical topics

Log in through CSUN library alphabetical database: http://library.csun.edu/xerxes/databases/alphabetical

JStor: Academic articles on a range of topics Log in through CSUN library alphabetical database:

http://library.csun.edu/xerxes/databases/alphabetical

Important art museums in the LA area (useful for planning museum assignment):Metro Trip Planner (http://www.metro.net/) is useful for planning your trip by public transportation.

Getty Museum: Brentwood, just off 405. Parking $15, admission free! Closed Mon. Outstanding collections in European painting, European Decorative arts, magnificent complex overlooking Brentwood. Getty Villa (Malibu) one of the world’s greatest ancient art museums in a reconstructed Roman villa overlooking the sea (obtain free tickets in advance from web site).http://www.getty.edu/

Los Angeles County Museum: Wilshire at Fairfax. On-street and lot parking ($9) nearby, admission $10 for students, after 3 pm weekdays free. Closed Wed. Outstanding collections of Asian, Latin American, Islamic art. Good selections of European painting, decorative arts and American art. Fri. night free Jazz, Sunday night free Classical concerts!http://www.lacma.org/

Norton Simon Museum: Pasadena. Parking free! Admission free for students! Closed Tuesday. Outstanding collections of European painting/ sculpture and South Asian art.http://www.nortonsimon.org/

Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Three locations, 250 Grand Ave. offers the most comprehensive and interesting collection of Modern and Contemporary art. Students $7, parking $9 (at Disney Hall with validation). Closed Tues., Wed., free admission Thursdays after 5 pm.

Check with me about whether or nor other galleries and collections are suitable for the museum paper. Note that because of the content of Art 110 the topic of your museum paper should relate to the cultures covered in the course.