HAA 101 | INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is based on a series of important issues in the study of African art, such as medium and color, portraiture, the artist and innovation, relationships with language, royal patronage, divination, gender, aesthetics, Othering, and authenticity. The course will explore each of these concepts through a variety of artistic traditions from the continent. In this manner, students will gain basic theoretical tools which will enable them to work with art from across Africa.
HAA 115 | INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An introduction to major developments of art and architecture across Asia including South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, and East Asia. This course examines not only painting, sculpture, and architecture, but also gardens, ceramics, and prints. Special emphasis will be placed on religious arts of Buddhism and Hinduism, along with landscape and figural painting of China and Japan.
HAA 130 | INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This introductory-level course examines art historical methods and their application to a broad chronological survey of European art and architecture from pre-history to the twentieth century. Field trips to Chicago art institutions enhance the understanding of historical traditions and critical methods taught in class lectures and discussions.
HAA 145 | INTRODUCTION TO ARTS OF THE AMERICAS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
What is distinctive about art created over time on the American continents? This class begins to answer this question by examining some of the principal developments in art history from the ancient indigenous cultures (particularly those of Meso- and South America), through the period of European colonialism (especially Spanish and English), to the modern art movements across the sovereign nations, including the United States and Canada. Since time permits only a sampling of artistic forms across time, lectures are often issue-oriented, with a focus on selected problems facing scholars. Periodic discussions allow students to weigh in on topics and offer their own critiques. This class argues that the distinctiveness of American visual forms springs from the heterogeneous cultural traditions that simultaneously divide and unify its inhabitants.
HAA 200 | SPECIAL TOPICS ON THE ART INSTITUTE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
In coordination with the University's partnership with the Art Institute of Chicago, this Special Topics class exploits an invaluable resource in our own city, to teach students about one or more specific collections or exhibitions. The class also works to think holistically about the development of the museum itself within the context of Chicago's own social history. With an encyclopedic collection consisting of 11 distinct curatorial departments, the Art Institute is both museum and research institution, thus offering students the opportunity to explore ideas at a variety of important levels. Class lectures and activities will consider specific aspects of the museum's art and architecture, remaining flexible enough in its format to accommodate opportunities provided by any special exhibitions that may be on display during a given quarter. Meetings will take place primarily in the classroom, with intermittent visits to the museum, both during and outside of class time.
HAA 201 | ANCIENT AFRICAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course surveys a selection of artistic traditions from across the African continent beginning with the earliest attempts by humanity to visually represent complex thought until the Portuguese began trading along the coast of West Africa in the mid-fifteenth century. Emphasis is placed on demonstrating connectedness with a larger cultural environment, while also suggesting connections to future artistic traditions.
HAA 202 | CLASSICAL AFRICAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course surveys a selection of artistic traditions from across the African continent beginning with the arrival of the Portuguese along the coast of West Africa in the mid-fifteenth century until the age of African independence in the 1960s. While the impact of a European presence helps define the boundaries of this course, artistic response to that presence is but one theme. Interactions between African cultures and the impact of Islam are equally important considerations.
HAA 203 | POST-COLONIAL AFRICAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course surveys African art from the age of African independence in the 1960s until the present day. The meaning of the term contemporary as it applies to African art is questioned in this course. The position of the artist between African artistic tradition and the global art market is also of vital importance.
HAA 210 | AFRICAN AMERICAN ART: 1800 TO THE PRESENT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course surveys the work of African American artists, from the nineteenth century to the present. Lectures will cover a wide range of visual media, including painting, sculpture, photography, art criticism and performances.
HAA 215 | CHINESE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This is a chronological survey of premodern Chinese art from antiquity to the nineteenth century. Special attention is given to sculpture and painting, but architecture and ceramics are also covered. There is an emphasis on prehistoric bronze vessels, Buddhist sculpture, and landscape painting of the Song through Qing periods.
HAA 216 | JAPANESE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This is a chronological survey of premodern Japanese art, from the prehistoric era to the Meiji period (1868-1911). Topics covered include painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well as decorative arts, prints, and garden design. Special attention is given to Buddhist and Shinto religious arts, along with screen painting and woodblock prints.
HAA 218 | ARTS OF THE SILK ROAD | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the visual history of the Silk Road, focusing on works of art and architecture created in Central Asia. We not only consider the prehistoric, ancient, and medieval arts of this region, but we also investigate the modern development of a romanticized notion of the Silk Road and the imperial interest in acquiring treasures from the Silk Road. Today we frequently hear about the legacy of the Silk Road in promoting multicultural exchange. However, the Silk Road has long been affected by the expansionist agendas of empires. From the time of Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) through the period of Genghis Khan (1162-1227 CE) and onward, there have been military leaders who have led their armies into Silk Road lands seeking territory, riches, and glory.
HAA 219 | JAPANESE FILM ARTS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the development of cinema as an artistic form in Japan, from its inception in the early twentieth century to its explosion as an international phenomenon in recent decades. The Japanese cinematic experience is considered as visual expression that parallels key Japanese arts of handscroll painting and woodblock prints. We discuss such genres as samurai films, fantasy tales, monster movies, yakuza thrillers, and science fiction anime. Among the masterpieces studied are Ozu's Tokyo Story, Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, Itami's Tampopo, and Satoshi Kon's Millennium Actress. Issues addressed in relation to these films include artistic expression, technological progress, national identity, social unrest, and religious concern.
HAA 220 | BUDDHIST ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course explores the traditional visual culture of the Buddhist world, examining art as a reflection of religious belief and practice. The regions covered are South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. An emphasis is placed on painting, sculpture, and architecture made for or related to Buddhist practice.
HAA 222 | ISLAMIC ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the visual culture of the Islamic world, selectively surveying some of the major artistic developments in regions of the world with a significant Muslim population. It will consider art and architecture as interplay between local culture and Islamic tradition. Topics covered will include the origins of Islamic visual culture in the Arabian Peninsula and the spread of Islamic art and religion across the Middle East. Local expressions of Islamic art may be explored in areas as diverse as North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Spain, Sicily, Iraq, Iran, India, and Central Asia. Special attention is paid to architecture, painting, and decorative arts.
HAA 230 | ART AND EMPIRE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course explores the art of the ancient period (ca. 30,000 BCE - 330 CE) from a broad range of cultures and styles: from the Paleolithic cave paintings to the Roman Colosseum, from the pyramids of Egypt to the Parthenon in Greece. We consider how art, religion, urbanism, and writing profoundly affected the development of the ancient Mediterranean and Mesopotamian world. We analyze major stylistic trends and explore the relationship between art, culture, and religion. We also discuss the role of art in the hands of political leaders and the profound interconnectedness of ancient civilizations. Frequent discussions will analyze controversies in the study of ancient art and scrutinize topics such as gender, power, aesthetics, and authenticity.
HAA 231 | CONQUEST & CONVERSION: THE ART OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course treats the art of the early Medieval period, which spans the fourth to the eleventh centuries CE and includes Roman, Celtic, Gothic, Merovingian, Anglo-Saxon, Carolingian, Viking, and Ottonian cultures. In thinking about factors such as historical context, dynamics of production, and audience, we will come to understand the role of art and architecture in announcing power and extent of territory, staging public rituals, proclaiming social status, inspiring faith, and accommodating the dead.
HAA 232 | AGE OF CATHEDRALS: THE ART OF THE LATER MIDDLE AGES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course explores the art of the late Medieval period, which spans the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries CE in countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and England. In our study of the Romanesque and Gothic art and architecture, we will explore issues related to production, display, and function and, thereby, come to better understand a world marked by pilgrimage and the cult of relics, chivalry, pageantry, and conflict.
HAA 233 | THE ART OF CRUSADING | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course focuses on the Crusades. More specifically, it focuses on the world within which the Crusades were born and the Levantine kingdom built as a result of their initial success. Our study will depend on primary artistic, literary, and archaeological materials, as well as the secondary scholarship that has identified and interpreted these materials. Our understanding of this historical moment will be nuanced by the questions we ask of both. The payoff will be an appreciation for the religious, social, political, and artistic forces that defined the twelfth and thirteen centuries in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin, leading as they did to such fascinating phenomena as pilgrimage, the cult of relics, chivalry, holy war, the rise of military orders, and the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem itself.
HAA 234 | BYZANTINE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course explores the art of the Byzantine Empire from the founding of Constantinople in 330 CE to the fall of the city to the Ottomans in 1453. Lectures and readings focus primarily on how contemporaries understood and interacted with a diverse group of monuments and objects now classified as Byzantine art. Significant attention will be devoted to how works of art functioned in the service of imperial and ecclesiastical ideology. Discussions analyze how Byzantine art was appreciated and appropriated in both the medieval Mediterranean and in modern scholarship.
HAA 235 | RUSSIA: MEDIEVAL MOMENTS, IMPERIAL DAYS & WHITE NIGHTS IN NOVGOROD & ST. PETERSBURG | 4-8 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This study abroad program in Russia allows students the opportunity to explore Novgorod, the medieval trading emporium and center of Orthodox spirituality and the Russian imperial gem of St. Petersburg, while studying medieval art and the history of Imperial Russia. Both cities have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites and showcase the best of medieval and modern Russia by providing one of the world's richest ensembles of urban planning, art, architecture, and historical treasures.
HAA 236 | NORTHERN RENAISSANCE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course features the most significant works of art, their artists and patrons, the social and economic aspects of artistic production, and the dominant cultural issues that flowed brilliantly in Northern Europe - above all, in France, the Netherlands, Bohemia, and German-speaking lands - between 1300 and 1600, that is, during the volatile period of the Renaissance and outbreak of the Protestant Reformation. And although Flemish oil painting offers the most evident legacy of the Northern Renaissance to the casual museum visitor, this course also introduces the most important outputs in printmaking; sculpture; and the industrial arts, as in tapestry weaving and the fabrication of luxury articles in metalwork.
HAA 237 | ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course concentrates on the architecture and pictorial arts that flourished on the Italian peninsula between ca. 1300 and 1600, although selected forays are undertaken into comparative European and Asian cultures. Its content focuses on the most significant works of art and architecture, including the technical arts; the key personalities, above all, the artists and their patrons; and a broad range of cultural and political issues that affected artistic thinking and production.
HAA 238 | BAROQUE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Starting in 1600, from the vantage point of the Counter-Reformation and the rise of modern European states, Baroque Art covers the principal works of art and architecture; artists and patrons; and a wide sweep of social, religious, and political, conditions that impacted cultural thinking and production in the seventeenth century. Attention is focused on the most prominent artistic centers in Italy, the Spanish Netherlands, England, Spain, the Dutch Republic, and France. The in-class lectures with discussion are accompanied by field work to the Baroque collections of the Art Institute of Chicago.
HAA 239 | 19TH CENTURY EUROPEAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is an introductory survey of major artists and movements in nineteenth century European art. This was a period of great change, both in the world and in the arts; it determined the modern world. This class primarily explores paintings and sculptures, but printmaking, photography, and architecture are drawn in as well. Artworks are treated as historical objects and texts with their own aesthetic properties, but also as reflective of major events such as the Industrial Revolution, political upheaval, and colonialism. Included is discussion of marginalized artists and populations, and connections to issues in the contemporary world.
HAA 240 | ART FROM 1900-1945 | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the major artists, movements, and issues at play in the visual arts of Europe from 1900 to the outbreak of World War II. Lectures and class discussions address how modern art, often oppositional and contradictory in nature, responds to, reflects, or builds on the effects of modernization (i.e. urbanization, industrialization, and global capitalism). Modern art objects will be read for both stylistic innovation and for connections to specific historical developments. Significant themes addressed include the character and history of the avant-garde, the relationship between high art and mass culture, the changing identities and aims of the modern artist, and the institutional basis of art production.
HAA 242 | ART FROM 1945 - 1975 | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course considers the art and culture of Western Europe and the United States from World War II through the Vietnam War. Beginning with the period of high modernism, major art historical movements and highly distinct aesthetic practices will be examined in order to foreground the complex relations that exist between art making and specific socio-historical contexts. Topics to be addressed include the development of the arts after World War II, the role of art in a consumerist and spectacle-driven society, the dematerialization of the art object, and the shift from late modernist to postmodern sensibilities. Students will be introduced to a range of theoretical models which foreground structural and formal investigations, as well as issues of social and historical analysis.
HAA 243 | MAYA ART AND ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The "Classic Period" Maya (ca. 0-900 CE) are the source of modern interest for their graceful naturalism in a wide range of art forms and for their impressive architecture whose ruins today are found scattered across Southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. This class explores the political, social, economic and religious imperatives behind the soaring temples, intriguing ballcourts, stately public sculptures, delicately painted vases, complex manuscripts and much more. We will situate the art of the Maya relative to other Mesoamerican cultures, particularly those of the Olmec, Teotihuacan and Aztec, and with respect to the Spanish colonial invasion. Other themes include aesthetics, materiality, gender, interpretive methodologies, and the impact of hieroglyphics and calendrics on the study of Maya art.
HAA 244 | AZTEC, MAYA, OLMEC: MESOAMERICAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This survey of art of the ancient Mesoamerica (ca. 1000 BCE - 1520 CE) focuses on the most artistically significant civilizations of Middle America and some of the difficulties encountered in studying them. Lectures explore visual traditions as diverse as the people they reflect; cultures to be covered include the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, and Aztec. We consider the relationship between form and content, and the relationship between art and its social context, as much as we can understand it; however, especially because of the scarcity of primary source texts for the material, the class will also regularly raise questions of methodology in what is often identified as "pre-Columbian" scholarship.
HAA 245 | ART OF THE ANDES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This survey of art of the ancient Andes (ca. 1000 BCE - 1530 CE) focuses on the most artistically significant civilizations of South America and some of the difficulties encountered in studying them. Lectures explore visual traditions as diverse as the people they reflect; cultures to be covered include the Nazca, Moche, Tiahuanaco, Wari and Inca of Peru. We consider the relationship between form and content, and the relationship between art and its social context, as much as we can understand it; however, especially because of the scarcity of primary source texts for the material, the class will also regularly raise questions of methodology in what is often identified as "pre-Columbian" scholarship.
HAA 246 | ART IN THE SPANISH AMERICAN EMPIRE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course offers a critical survey of the art of colonial Latin America (ca. 1520 - 1820), from the Caribbean to Mexico, Central America, and South America. Framed by the Spanish Conquest of the sixteenth century and Independence in the early nineteenth century, lectures will survey state-sanctioned arts of the Iberian colonizers, including the foundations of the Catholic Church across the 'New World' landscape. Race will be a frequent issue of discussion as we consider both indigenous American and African participation in social realities and artistic practice in this colonial context.
HAA 247 | MODERN LATIN AMERICAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This class is a survey of Latin American art created since the Wars of Independence which helped to create the modern nations in the nineteenth century (i.e. 1820s through the present). Lectures consider the struggle of artists to articulate newly sovereign identities through visual production, even as complicated relationships with Europe and increasingly, the United States, continue. Topics covered include Latin American modernism, surrealism, radical arts, and social realism, with a special consideration of post-revolutionary Mexican mural painting.
HAA 248 | MEXICAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This survey situates the art of Greater Mexico in its rich historical context, from the territory on the eve of the Spanish Conquest to the early decades of the twenty-first century. From Aztec imperial art to colonial works, to efforts at nation-building through visual forms, the story of Mexican art is characterized by political and social change. Readings, lectures, and discussion will touch on critical issues of race, class, and gender, and take up themes such as miscegenation, indigenism, nationalism, and Mexico's place in the global art world. We will study famous works, such as the Aztec Calendar Stone, the Catholic image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the post-revolutionary murals of Diego Rivera and the more intimate paintings of Frida Kahlo, but we will also consider less familiar art that has been equally important in the construction of Mexico and its identities.
HAA 250 | THE ART MARKET | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the evolution of the global commercial art market. In this cultural survey, students will be introduced to the roles of auction houses and commercial galleries and how they shape the art world. In addition, the course will consider the rise and popularity of contemporary art fairs and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their significant impact on how art is now disseminated, collected, and exhibited. Field trips to local commercial galleries and auction houses will be organized to give students the opportunity to connect directly with experts in the field.
HAA 260 | AMERICAN ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines American art (the British colonies and United States) from the colonial period to the mid-twentieth century. Works of art are examined both in relation to American social and cultural history and also as aesthetic objects. The overarching themes of the class include the "American-ness" of American art, the relationship between American and European art, the function and production of art, and the expanding definition of American expression through multicultural diversity.
HAA 263 | HISTORY OF INTERIOR DESIGN | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A survey of the history of interior design as expressed in residential architecture, furniture, and the decorative arts from antiquity to the present. The aim of this class is to understand interiors and furnishings throughout history, considering their function, style, materials, and fabrication in relation to their cultures and to the built environment. To this end, students will learn to identify, analyze, and understand historic styles of interior design and furnishings within the larger context of the history of painting, sculpture, and architecture.
HAA 265 | HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is a survey of the major works, artists, and movements from photography's invention to the present day. Emphasis is placed on the major artists, subjects, and technical applications of the medium, as well as on the modernity of photography and its unique aesthetic qualities. This course will also consider the myriad purposes and social contexts for photography and examine a wide range of techniques from the camera obscura to recent developments in printing. Actual photographs are studied in class, on campus, and in field trips to regional collections. The course involves major readings that ask students to consider the role of photography in relations to race, gender, and politics. Many of the photographers under consideration are American and European, but examples of international imagery are included as well.
HAA 268 | HISTORY OF FILM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is a survey of the history of cinema and an introduction to the basic methods for analyzing films. Specifically, this course tracks the development of techniques for creating meaning using film within particular historical contexts and cinematic traditions such as narrative, documentary, and experimental film. We will focus on how meaning in film is conditioned by uses of camera, editing, lighting, mise-en-scene, sound, and acting as well as how these uses have been impacted by new technological developments in film production. Additionally, we will consider the significance of genre, the production system, and the impact of individual "auteurs" throughout the history of cinema.
HAA 273 | ANIME AND MANGA | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the development of anime and manga in Japan from their inception to their explosion as international phenomena in recent decades. We consider anime and manga as forms of artistic expression that depend upon and parallel key Japanese visual forms of handscroll painting and woodblock prints. Students learn the ideas, ideals and values in Japanese cinematic and visual expression, and develop skills at analyzing anime and manga as artistic forms. The processes of drawing/creating anime and manga are considered; both form and content of anime and manga are discussed.
HAA 280 | PREMODERN ARCHITECTURE: ANCIENT SOCIETIES TO THE ENLIGHTENMENT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Social, economic, and political history of European and Mediterranean architecture, from Paleolithic times to the 1789 French Revolution. Topics include: classicism, the status and role of the architect, social struggle, patronage, and architectural technologies.
HAA 281 | MODERN ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
World architecture from the 1789 French Revolution to the present. Examines the influence of industrial, technological, political and social change in the development of modernist and post- modernist architecture.
HAA 288 | COMPARATIVE URBANISM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An investigation of the origins and bases of non-American urban traditions, through the study of the genesis, form, functions, and social-cultural forces that shaped cities such as Paris, St. Petersburg, Istanbul, Calcutta, and Mexico City. This course is based in the Geography Department and is the equivalent of 200-level History of Art and Architecture course.
HAA 290 | ART HISTORICAL THEORY AND METHODOLOGY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course looks at the theories and methodologies that belong to art history. This means that, rather than a given artistic period, geographical area, or theme, our focus will be on the ways in which works themselves have been interpreted and understood since the origin of the discipline, emphasizing the more reflective and critical approaches to art that have emerged as a result of contact with other disciplines (such as philosophy and comparative literature). Each weekly meeting will consist of discussions inspired by informational readings on a given methodological approach (such as structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, post-colonialism, queer theory), as well as a number of specifically art historical texts exemplifying that particular approach. Our main goal for this class will be to develop an understanding of these theories and methodologies and to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of their application.
HAA 291 | MUSEUM AND NON-PROFIT ARTS MANAGEMENT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Chicago is rich with museums and non-profits dedicated to the visual arts and the heritage of the city's cultural communities. Acquire an understanding of the fundamentals of the non-profit visual arts sector by investigating the principal practices of Chicago area museums and dynamic arts organizations as case studies. This course will examine how museums and non-profits are structured, governed, managed, and connect with arts audiences. Current challenges in curatorial and exhibition practice, community engagement, financial sustainability, equity, and impact in a highly competitive arts and culture market will be explored. Site visits and meetings with arts professionals will provide an inside look at how Chicago's non-profit visual arts and museums function and the demands they face.
HAA 297 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN HISTORY OF ART & ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Focused study on a specific topic from the history of world art.
HAA 301 | AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines a wide variety of issues pertinent to the study of architecture in Africa, highlighting above all else the diversity of traditions across the continent. Themes are defined at times by materials, technology, type, geographical region, culture, or specific architectural elements. Examples of subjects studied include: earthen mosques of Mali; subterranean residences in Burkina Faso; nomadic tents; impluvial and courtyard traditions of Nigeria and Senegal; mural painting in Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and South Africa; Ethiopian rock cut churches; imperialist exploitation of Great Zimbabwe's legacy; and coral architecture of the Swahili Coast.
HAA 302 | AFRICAN ISLAM: ISLAMIC ART & ARCHITECTURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Focused study of the impact of Islam on the artistic traditions of sub-Saharan Africa. Rather than necessarily replacing previous art forms, this course investigates in what circumstances preexisting visual culture might be integrated with the requirements and needs of Islam. This approach necessitates an understanding that neither Islam nor African art are monolithic entities, but rather their interactions represent a wide variety of negotiations across the continent. Likewise, this course will consider specific historical circumstances to which Islamic art in sub-Saharan Africa has responded in terms of form and content.
HAA 310 | TOPICS IN ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course addresses issues of archaeology relevant to the study of visual culture from the ancient to the contemporary world. This course is based in the Department of Anthropology and is the equivalent of a 300-level History of Art and Architecture course.
HAA 312 | ILLNESS AND DISABILITY IN CHINESE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course looks at how different bodies have been portrayed through different media and how illness and disability have been understood. Students will examine artworks created under illness and disability and investigate how different bodies affect the creation of artworks and styles. A wide variety of visual materials will be discussed, including painting, calligraphy, embroidery, cinema, footwear, propaganda posters, and performance art. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify important works related to illness and disability in Chinese art, explain their historical contexts using a perspective of disability studies, and analyze issues in defining what counts as disability art.
HAA 316 | GODS AND MORTALS: THE ART OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course looks at the ancient Greek world, focusing on the events, traditions, and beliefs that culminated, on the one hand, in the birth of democracy and the defeat of Xerxes and, on the other hand, in the building of the Parthenon and the sculpting of the Nike of Samothrace. In so doing, we will come to understand above all the heavy burden placed on art and architecture at this time and in this place, charged as it was with soliciting the gods, establishing power, celebrating battles, ritualizing entertainment, and remembering the dead. And along the way we will challenge long held assumptions related to the meaning and function of ancient Greece's most fundamental artistic forms, techniques, and subjects.
HAA 320 | ART AND POWER IN PAGAN AND EARLY CHRISTIAN ROME | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This class focuses on the art of the Roman Empire, an empire that began pagan and ended Christian. In practical terms, it will move from Augustus in the first century BCE to Justinian in the sixth century CE, with geographical coverage ranging from Jerusalem to (modern day) northern England. Our task will be to examine the artistic forms that came to identify this civilization via structures that dwarfed the natural world and figural likenesses that made the absent present to appreciate their efficacy. On the one hand, this examination will provide a deep and broad understanding of the role art plays in the building of empire; on the other, it will provide a vivid sense of art's part in maintaining the appearance of continuity despite radical change. Thus, we will watch as the artistic forms that once defined a pagan world are adopted enthusiastically by its Christian replacement, marking the subtle transformations that articulate new beliefs, facilitate new devotion, and charge spaces for new rituals.
HAA 325 | OLD EMPIRES AND NEW GODS: CULTURAL CONFRONTATIONS IN LATE ANTIQUITY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course focuses on how a clash of cultures and the emergence of new religions impacted the arts of the eastern Mediterranean in late antiquity (300 to 700 CE). It explores interactions between the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, as well as the creation of local and religious identities through art. It also investigates how the diverse religious climate (Christianity, Judaism, Paganism, Zoroastrianism, Islam) contributed to visual expression in the region.
HAA 328 | THE POWER OF PIETY: ICONS, RELICS, AND MIRACLES IN THE MEDIEVAL WORLD | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the intersection of personal devotion, public spirituality, and performance of faith in the medieval world. Probing a range of objects that give material expression to the desire for tangible links to the sacred and reminders of supernatural presence in the medieval world, the course analyzes miraculous objects that we now categorize as works of art. Objects under discussion include a category broadly defined as reliquaries, fragments of the True Cross, images "not made by human hands," and miraculous icons.
HAA 331 | ART OF THE CRUSADES: CRUSADES AS MEDITERRANEAN EXCHANGE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course considers the Crusades from multiple perspectives (Byzantine, Latin, Muslim) and explore how politics, religion, and culture influenced the art of the medieval Mediterranean. The Crusades are analyzed in the broader context of pilgrimage, the search for the divine, and the desire to seize control of and purify holy sites. The course focuses on works of art created when the cultures of the Mediterranean came into both contact and conflict.
HAA 332 | ROMANESQUE ART AND ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Scholars in the nineteenth century designated Western European monuments, especially architecture and sculpture created between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, as "Roman-like" in character or "Romanesque," in order to acknowledge certain linkages they perceived between the characteristics of this era's architectural and visual language and that of the distant Roman past. Recent scholarship emphasizes not only large-scale works of art, architecture, and sculpture, crucial in an age of Pilgrimage and Crusades, but also small-scale works, such as illuminated manuscripts, metalwork, and coins and seals, as essential for an understanding of medieval visual culture. This class considers the broad spectrum of significant works of art produced during this period from shifting points of view, aesthetic or formalist toward function, agency, presentation and reception.
HAA 333 | GOTHIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the art, architecture, history, and culture of the so-called Gothic era (twelfth - fifteenth centuries), the age of the great European cathedrals. Reigning supreme in most of Europe in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Gothic style marks an era of unparalleled building activity and one of the most fertile and productive periods in the history of Western art. Special emphasis will be given to the aesthetic, structural, and spiritual aspects of cathedrals and other great churches and their contents, primarily in France and England, as reflections and embodiments of the sacred aspirations and devout character of the era. The artistic and architectural production (buildings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, paintings, sacred or liturgical objects, stained glass, etc.) of the period will be studied in its original context, with close attention paid to questions of social and political function, cultural meaning, and historical circumstance.
HAA 335 | MICHELANGELO | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the extraordinary life, times and creations of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), one of the most significant figures in the history of Western art. Sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, Michelangelo lived during the Italian Renaissance, an age that witnessed a flourishing artistic, scientific, and humanistic culture. During a career that spanned over seven decades, Michelangelo created famous lasting masterpieces, including the Vatican Pieta, David, Moses, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the papal church of St. Peter's. Who is this irascible and solitary genius, this devout Catholic and fierce Republican Florentine, who cavorted and lived with popes and princes, and fashioned works that profoundly influenced Western civilization? How do his brilliant achievements define, express, and illuminate the time, place, and culture in which he lived? Drawing on a variety of primary and secondary sources, this course seeks to understand an eccentric artist whose dazzling aesthetic productivity left a lasting mark on the art of future generations up to the modern period.
HAA 360 | DUCHAMP AND DADAISM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the artworks and biography of Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) and explores the major world cities where Dadaism occurred. Duchamp was among the most important artists of the modern era, his intriguing and challenging artworks redefining art altogether. No other modern artist influenced contemporary art so significantly. Another focus will be the cultural movement known as Dadaism (1916-24), a delirious anti-art movement begun in Zurich, Switzerland, during the absurd, bloody First World War. After contextualizing Dada in relation to modern art, the course explores its manifestations in various world centers. Along the way, we will encounter the works of many of its most important figures, many of whom were women. Besides the inherent value of looking closely at the cultural moment of an important historical figure, the study of Dadaism has special relevance because of its timeless iconoclasm and spirit of creative experimentation. This class includes close readings of primary and field-defining secondary texts, informed class discussions and lectures, as well as trips to area museums.
HAA 365 | ART SINCE 1975 | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course addresses visual art production of a global context from the end of the Vietnam War to the present. Taking postmodernism as its starting point, the nature of contemporary art practice will be examined as it is redefined by new technologies and media, such as video, installation, performance, and digital art, and through an investigation of critical theoretical models. Traditional media, such as painting and sculpture, will also be assessed as a crucial part of this shifting terrain. Major themes considered include questions of identity and subject formation, the relationship between art and its audience, changing notions of artistic value, and the impact of globalization. Throughout, students will be exposed to the issues and ideas relevant to cultural production today, while simultaneously developing the visual and conceptual tools for critically analyzing contemporary art.
HAA 366 | TOPICS ON WOMEN AND ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Historically courses on women and art were created as a supplement to the canon of art history taught in the standard art history survey, which celebrated the genius of the heroic white male artist. In many ways, however, these classes became a separate canon of women artists that was never truly integrated into the discipline and was narrow in terms of examining questions of class, ethnicity, race, religion, age, ability, etc. This course departs from this model and instead focuses on feminist theories of art applied to specific case studies investigating topics such as, problems of art historical categorization for women artists, performance as sites of resistance against violence, performing gender in visual images, and feminist activist collaborations.
HAA 370 | CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURAL THEORY AND PRACTICE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Study of contemporary debates in architecture and urban planning. This course explores economic, social, and political aspects of architectural theory through a case study of a contemporary monument or city plan.
HAA 371 | HISTORIC CATHOLIC CHURCH ARCHITECTURE OF CHICAGO | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course covers a selection of the jewels among the city's architecturally significant Catholic churches and related sites of interest that date up to ca. 1920. The course encourages us to think about the sacred buildings as extensions of the city's history, while emphasizing the contributions of its various immigrant groups. By thus using architecture and architectural history as the armature of this course, the student is able to explore the fascinating interplays between art, history, religion, and society, and come to terms with what culture does and signifies in one's own milieu.
HAA 372 | CAIRO: MOTHER OF THE WORLD (WORLD CITIES) | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will examine the urban development and architectural heritage of Greater Cairo, Egypt since the reconstruction of the fortress of Babylon in the Roman period, through the establishment of Cairo itself in 969, and until the present. Cairo has always been a crossroads of cultures, set between Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. It has been home to significant Jewish, Christian and Muslim populations who have been impacted by the various ruling dynasties who have held sway there, including the Byzantines, early Islamic rulers, Tulunids, Shi'i Fatimids, and later Sunni Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans. In the 20th century, rapid expansion has produced extreme pressures on transportation networks and housing. The solution to such problems of intense urbanization has been to build satellite cities including a projected new capital to the east that will connect the Nile to the Red Sea shipping industry, following in the footsteps of the past.
HAA 373 | KYOTO (WORLD CITIES) | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course explores the art, architecture, and urban plan of Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. Kyoto became the seat of government and the home of the imperial court in 794 CE, and it continued to serve as the cultural and religious center of the land until the nineteenth century. This course considers major artistic developments as they relate to main sites in Kyoto, especially palaces, temples, and shrines. The eras covered extend from the Heian to the Meiji period.
HAA 375 | MEXICO CITY (WORLD CITIES) | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
From its origins as Tenochtitlan, the preordained capital of the Aztec Empire, through its identification as a "new Rome" dominated by the Spanish Crown in the Viceregal period, to its status as the largest metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere (and the second largest in the world), Mexico City was born to impress the imagination. This class explores the development of the great city of Mexico in light of major historical events and cultural expressions. Discussions will focus especially on urban planning, key architecture, outdoor sculpture, and public spectacles over the centuries.
HAA 376 | ROME (WORLD CITIES) | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Few cities in the world match Rome for its antiquity, imperial heritage, historic, religious and cultural importance, spectacular art and architecture, and rich urban landscape. Traditionally believed to have been founded by Romulus and Remus, descendants of Aeneas, in 753 BCE, and subsequently ruled by Etruscan kings; Rome's public buildings, communal baths, and fortifications suggest that Rome was urbanized as early as the sixth century BCE. After the expulsion of their Etruscan monarchs, Romans established the Republic, which evolved into the Roman Empire when Octavian, grand nephew of Julius Caesar, became Augustus, Rome's first emperor, princeps or first citizen. Along with subsequent emperors determined to turn Rome into a magnificent city worthy to be the capital of a great empire, Augustus used architecture and the built environment as massive symbols of power, authority, and legitimacy. The Catholic Church embraced this lesson when the imperial pagan capital became the capital of Western Christendom and the seat of the papacy. This class explores the city of Rome from its ancient origins through the seventeenth century and focuses on the major art and architectural developments that define this unique urban space.
HAA 378 | HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY JERUSALEM (WORLD CITIES) | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This class focuses on the city of Jerusalem. The uniqueness of Jerusalem stems from its status as a sacred place in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this class we will explore the physical city of Jerusalem with its monuments, contested holy sites, and changing architecture. We will also analyze representations of the imagined heavenly Jerusalem, for which many believers intensely yearned. The class will focus on Jerusalem from the second through the sixteenth centuries: from its destruction by Roman armies to its last pre-modern construction phase during the Ottoman period. We will discuss how different religious groups mapped meaning and marked holiness in the urban fabric of Jerusalem. This class will consider some of the following issues: art and architecture, politics, religion, urban planning, and patronage.
HAA 379 | PARIS AND VICINITY TO CIRCA 1870 (WORLD CITIES) | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is designed to explore the arts and architecture, and urban planning of Paris and its vicinity, from the period of the Old Regime to ca. 1870. This span more or less coincides with the art historical periods from the Renaissance to early Impressionism. The course material weaves artistic works and projects into the greater cultural, political, and social fabric of the realm, and includes, among other outstanding personalities, the towering impact of Vincent de Paul, in order to expose the student to a variety of cross-disciplinary perspectives. Several class sessions are scheduled at the Art Institute of Chicago.
HAA 380 | CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (WORLD CITIES) | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course investigates contemporary historiographic debates and new archival evidence surrounding research on Chicago architecture and urbanism. In addition to participating in lectures and discussions, students also meet separately to discuss scholarly debates as well as their individual research proposals.
HAA 390 | SENIOR CAPSTONE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This is the culminating course of the art history major. Its project is twofold. On the one hand, it continues the critical thinking work of your previous art history courses, turning now to topics that define and occupy the field in general, rather than topics that define and occupy a specific period or geographical area and rather than topics related to methodology. These topics (such as cultural seeing, audience, material, the market, looting, etc.) will allow us to examine a variety of object and monument types in urban and non-urban settings from different cultures and different historical contexts. While some are of longstanding concern and others more recent, together they underscore art history's inherent interdisciplinarity and the breadth of issues that affect the study of art and architecture. On the other hand, this course continues the writing and research work of a single previous art history course, facilitating the expansion of a paper of your choosing. This expansion will be accompanied by readings and staged assignments that are designed to deepen your existing argument, or to push it in new and complementary directions, and to tighten and clarify your prose and your use of textual and material evidence. The result will be a substantial and sophisticated treatment of an art historical object, monument, or subject. Formerly HAA 399.
Declared major in History of Art and Architecture and (senior status required or juniors with instructor permission)..
HAA 391 | THE EVOLVING MUSEUM: HISTORIES AND CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the history and philosophy of museums and provides a framework to consider how the museum's role in society has changed over time. Compelling issues such as the museum's responsibility as a public institution and ethical considerations in collections acquisition and stewardship will be discussed. Case studies, guest lectures, and site visits to museums will inform history and theory by highlighting current museum practice and contemporary challenges in the museum field.
HAA 393 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN MUSEUM STUDIES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Focused study on a specific topic in museum studies.
HAA 394 | MUSEUM STUDIES INTERNSHIP | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is a unique opportunity for students to gain valuable training in the museum field and work closely with professional museum staff on meaningful projects. Students will be matched with museum sites in consultation with the instructor. In addition to internship responsibilities, students will produce a reflective journal and document their field work in a digital portfolio. This course is designed for History of Art and Architecture majors and Museum Studies minors. Students should contact the instructor once they have registered for the class (at least three weeks prior to the start of the quarter) to discuss museum site placement.
HAA 395 | INTERNSHIP | 1-12 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
To be arranged with the Career Center and in consultation with advisory.
Junior or Senior standing and status as an Art, Media and Design major or Art minor or consent of instructor is a prerequisite for this class.
HAA 397 | SPECIAL TOPICS/HISTORY OF ART & ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Focused study on a specific topic from the history of world art.
HAA 398 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | 1-4.5 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Independent work in the student's field of study under faculty supervision. Available only to upper-level students with demonstrated capacity for self-motivated study.
HAA 399 | NEWBERRY LIBRARY SEMINAR | 4.5 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The Newberry Library Undergraduate Seminar (NLUS) provides an opportunity for DePaul undergraduates to participate in an intensive seminar and produce an original research project using the world-renowned collections of the Newberry Library. Seminar topics change annually. Admission is competitive, by application. Instructor permission is required to enroll.
HAA 400 | CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM | 4 quarter hours
(Graduate)
Chicago Architecture And Urbanism.
HAA 401 | GRADUATE TOPICS/HISTORY OF ART & ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Graduate)
Graduate-level, intensively researched investigations into topics from the history of art and architecture taught by an instructor with a research specialty in that topic.
Graduate standing or department consent is a prerequisite of this class.
HAA 402 | DIGITAL MAPPING AND ART HISTORY | 4 quarter hours
(Graduate)
This course explores the questions raised by digital humanities in art history through a specific focus on the digital mapping of art historical questions. Students will focus on advanced discussions of digital mapping but also apply these theoretical and methodological concerns to art historical problems. We will use the Harvard WorldMap program which is a complement to the more advanced GIS work available in the Geography component of the certificate. WorldMap is a tool that has both pedagogical and analytic potential for art history. Students will address the big issues in digital mapping while constructing maps around such art historical subjects as modern architecture in Chicago, women artists in Chicago, muralism in Chicago, and other select topics.
HAA 495 | ADVANCED TOPICS/HISTORY OF ART & ARCHITECTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Graduate)
Advanced Topics in History of Art and Architecture.
Graduate standing or department consent is a prerequisite for this class.