ARTHIST 1A: Experiencing Early Global Art and Architecture (CLASSICS 56)
This course centers artistic traditions marginalized in Western academia such as pre-historic paintings, Byzantine mosaics, mosques and palaces of the Islamicate world, pre-contact art and architecture of the Americas, ancient ziggurats in modern Iraq, Egyptian pyramids and temples, and Native American art. We engage with these traditions through phenomenology, exploring the multi-sensorial modes coded in the cultural experience of these structures and objects. We also engage with the art of Greece and Rome but we de-center their position and uncover the principles that govern their sensorial experience. Experiencing Early Global Art uncovers shared themes that underscore the premodern artistic production. These themes include bodies and performance; archive and memory; sustainability and repurposing; fluidity and permanence; conversion and mobility. "Early" relates to time conceptualized from a non-western-centric perspective and avoids the pejorative associations with backwardness of the term "premodern." The adoption of the term "Early Global" here is inspired by the recent conceptual work done by UCLA in renaming their research center of Medieval and Renaissance Studies into Center for Early Global Studies.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors:
Pentcheva, B. (PI)
;
Dumitrescu, A. (TA)
ARTHIST 1B: How to Look at Art and Why: An Introduction to the History of Western Painting
This course explores the relation of art to life - how and why works of art, even from hundreds of years ago, matter in a person's life. It trains students to find the words to share their thoughts about art with their peers, friends, and family. Some fundamental questions the course considers: How do we get beyond the idea that the study and making of art are elite, 'privileged' activities apart from the real world? How do we develop a sense of discernment - of deciding for ourselves which artists matter, and which don't - without being a snob? How can works of art teach us to feel the wonder of being alive and our deep debt to the past, to the dead? Focusing on painters such as Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Goya, Manet, Morisot, and Charlotte Salomon, this course will pursue these questions with the aim of challenging and encouraging students to develop their own ways of thinking and feeling - generously and ethically - about the past and the present. Sections will focus on original works of art at the Cantor Arts Center. No prerequisites required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Nemerov, A. (PI)
;
Evans, B. (TA)
;
Flores, M. (TA)
;
Horan, S. (TA)
;
Singh, A. (TA)
;
Vuong, I. (TA)
ARTHIST 2: Asian Arts and Cultures (JAPAN 60)
An exploration of the visual arts of East and South Asia from ancient to modern times, in their social, religious, literary and political contexts. Analysis of major monuments of painting, sculpture and architecture will be organized around themes that include ritual and funerary arts, Buddhist art and architecture across Asia, landscape and narrative painting, culture and authority in court arts, and urban arts in the early modern world.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Vinograd, R. (PI)
;
Maine, D. (TA)
ARTHIST 2B: Introduction to Islamic Art (ISLAMST 149C)
This course surveys the art and architecture of societies where Muslims were dominant or where they formed significant minorities from the emergence of Islam until the present. It examines the form and function of architecture and works of art as well as the social, historical and cultural contexts, patterns of use, and evolving meanings attributed to art by the users. The course follows a chronological order, where selected visual materials are treated along chosen themes. Themes include the creation of a distinctive visual culture in the emerging Islamic polity; the development of urban institutions; key architectural types such as the mosque, madrasa, caravanserai, dervish lodge and mausoleum; art objects and the arts of the illustrated book; self-representation; cultural interconnections along trade and pilgrimage routes; westernization and modernization in art and architecture.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Blessing, P. (PI)
;
Dumitrescu, A. (TA)
ARTHIST 3: Introduction to World Architecture (CLASSICS 54)
This course offers an expansive and wide-ranging introduction to architecture and urban design from the earliest human constructions to the mid-20th century. The examples range from the Americas to Europe, the Middle East, South and East Asia. The diverse technologies and materialities of building are addressed throughout and an overriding concern is to understand architecture as a sensible manifestation of particular cultures, whether societies or individuals. To the same ends, student writing assignments will involve the analysis of local space, whether a room or a building, and then the built environment at large
Last offered: Spring 2021
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
ARTHIST 5: Art and Power
Art and Power explores a wide range of artworks from the premodern to the contemporary world to reflect on how art has been shaped by structures of inequality and, conversely, how power relations are represented and reinforced by art. Co-taught by two professors to foster a multi-focal perspective, this course asks questions about the relationship of beauty and violence, and the place of art history in capitalism, colonialism, and elitism.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
ARTHIST 10AX: SFxLA Arts Immersion (ARTSINST 12AX)
In this travel course, students will explore the dynamic histories of Black and Latino artists across the Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles. Students will visit museums, galleries, and community centers dedicated to nurturing, showcasing, and archiving the work of artists of color; meet artists, directors, curators, and collectors; participate in private tours to view historical sites and contemporary art; and engage in art-making workshops. The course is largely experiential in format with limited traditional classroom time. Nonetheless, students are expected to participate fully in daily activities, which are likely to require a lot of walking and/or standing.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 2
Instructors:
Salseda, R. (PI)
ARTHIST 11AX: Bay Area x Los Angeles Arts Immersion
In this Arts Intensive, students will learn about the dynamic histories of Black and Brown artists in both the Greater Bay Area and Los Angeles. Students will visit museums, galleries, and community centers dedicated to nurturing, showcasing, and archiving the work of artists of color, including Black, Chicane/x, and Latine/x founded art institutions. Students will meet artists, directors, curators, and collectors; participate in private tours to view historical sites and modern and contemporary art; and engage in art-making workshops with guest artists. While this course is largely experiential in format, students will also explore the art histories of Black and Brown peoples through class discussions of texts and films while considering the parallels, differences, and intersecting experiences of artists in Northern and Southern California.
Last offered: Summer 2025
| Units: 2
ARTHIST 11N: Roman Portraits and Persons (ARCHLGY 11N, CLASSICS 11N)
Ancient Rome is famous for lifelike portraits of powerful individuals like Pompey, Julius Caesar and the emperors, but not everyone received portraits. We also have to consider how everyone else was represented: women and people with non-normative genders; working people and bodies in pain; soldiers, gladiators, enemies of Rome. In this class, we study Roman portraits from Republican verism through imperial images to changes with the rise of Christianity, practicing close looking and discussing larger issues. What is a portrait, anyway? How did Roman artists create likeness - and why? Why were some portraits violently attacked? What concepts of the person and society were at stake? We will see how this tradition still shapes our world, from Confederate statues to selfies.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors:
Trimble, J. (PI)
ARTHIST 32P: Place: Making Space Now
This seminar argues that architeccts are ultimately "placemakers," and questions what that means in the contemporary world. Part I investigates the meaning of the word "place." Additional background for understanding contemporary place making will include a critique of the history of modern place-making through an examination of modern form. Part II examines two traditional notions of place by scale: from "home" to "the city." What elements give these conceptions of space a sense of place? To answer this question, themes such as memory, mapping, and boundary, among others, will be investigated. part III presents challenges to the traditional notions of place discussed in Part II. Topics addressed include: What does it mean to be "out of place"? What sense of place does a nomad have, and how is this represented? What are the "non-places" and how can architects design for these spaces? Part IV addresses the need to re-conceptualize contemporary space. The role of digital and cyber techno
more »
This seminar argues that architeccts are ultimately "placemakers," and questions what that means in the contemporary world. Part I investigates the meaning of the word "place." Additional background for understanding contemporary place making will include a critique of the history of modern place-making through an examination of modern form. Part II examines two traditional notions of place by scale: from "home" to "the city." What elements give these conceptions of space a sense of place? To answer this question, themes such as memory, mapping, and boundary, among others, will be investigated. part III presents challenges to the traditional notions of place discussed in Part II. Topics addressed include: What does it mean to be "out of place"? What sense of place does a nomad have, and how is this represented? What are the "non-places" and how can architects design for these spaces? Part IV addresses the need to re-conceptualize contemporary space. The role of digital and cyber technologies, the construction of locality in a global world, and the in-between places that result from a world in flux are topics discussed in this section of the seminar. Learning goals: Specific goals include clsoe reading of texts, understanding of philosophical thinking and writing, argument under uncertainty, and developed concepts of place, space and architecture.
Last offered: Spring 2024
| Units: 3