ARTT 290 American Art and Architecture Since Colonialism

This course provides a survey of major artists and movements in American painting, sculpture, and architecture from colonial times to the near present. Attention will be paid to both formal developments and to cultural context, such as how art responds to and influences history, politics, social change, and the development of national and ethnic identities. The course will highlight the country's diversity of peoples and artistic traditions, including avant-garde movements and African-American, Native American, Latin American, and other regional styles.

Credits

Prerequisite

Eligible to enroll in ENGL 121

Hours Weekly

3 hours weekly

Course Objectives

1. Incorporate innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into the analysis of how individual artists
and the art and architecture of America reflected and foreshadowed a changing American
society, affecting ethnic, religious, and geographical boundaries.
2. Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze how American art and architecture has aesthetically
and creatively illuminated the humanistic condition, expressing various ethnic, religious, and
social contexts in search for higher meaning in life.
3. Pose and address questions related to creative expression in the art and architecture of
America and their influence on various cultures and societies beyond its geographical
boundaries, discussing ways they reflect its intellectual, social, historical, and cultural
contexts.
4. Identify and apply critical theories and concepts related to enduring and contemporary
issues of aesthetics and creativity in the art and architecture of America since Colonialism to
contemporary times and how it has involved humanistic expression.
5. Define and correctly employ the specialized vocabulary used by art historians.
6. Identify major art historical developments in the United States from the colonial times to the
near present, with the related dates and period names.
7. Describe the varying functions that works of art and architecture have served in an American
context.
8. Recognize and compare styles associated with individual artists and/or movements, periods,
or regions.
9. Understand the development of major artistic genres in the United States, such as
portraiture, landscape, and abstraction and compare them with their European counterparts.
10. Understand how art responded and contributed to the building of a new nation and the
development of a national identity.
11. Recognize how the artistic contributions of marginalized groups and individuals create a
larger and more nuanced understanding of America.
12. Demonstrate the impact that political, social, and/or economic changes have had on the
visual arts in America (e.g. artistic responses to the Civil War, westward expansion, and the
Great Depression).
13. Research, write, and present a comparative analysis of works of art from differing artists,
periods, and/or regions.

Course Objectives

1. Incorporate innovation, risk-taking, and creativity into the analysis of how individual artists
and the art and architecture of America reflected and foreshadowed a changing American
society, affecting ethnic, religious, and geographical boundaries.
2. Assess, reflect on, and critically analyze how American art and architecture has aesthetically
and creatively illuminated the humanistic condition, expressing various ethnic, religious, and
social contexts in search for higher meaning in life.
3. Pose and address questions related to creative expression in the art and architecture of
America and their influence on various cultures and societies beyond its geographical
boundaries, discussing ways they reflect its intellectual, social, historical, and cultural
contexts.
4. Identify and apply critical theories and concepts related to enduring and contemporary
issues of aesthetics and creativity in the art and architecture of America since Colonialism to
contemporary times and how it has involved humanistic expression.
5. Define and correctly employ the specialized vocabulary used by art historians.
6. Identify major art historical developments in the United States from the colonial times to the
near present, with the related dates and period names.
7. Describe the varying functions that works of art and architecture have served in an American
context.
8. Recognize and compare styles associated with individual artists and/or movements, periods,
or regions.
9. Understand the development of major artistic genres in the United States, such as
portraiture, landscape, and abstraction and compare them with their European counterparts.
10. Understand how art responded and contributed to the building of a new nation and the
development of a national identity.
11. Recognize how the artistic contributions of marginalized groups and individuals create a
larger and more nuanced understanding of America.
12. Demonstrate the impact that political, social, and/or economic changes have had on the
visual arts in America (e.g. artistic responses to the Civil War, westward expansion, and the
Great Depression).
13. Research, write, and present a comparative analysis of works of art from differing artists,
periods, and/or regions.