ARTS 260 Survey of Western Art: Prehistory to Middle Ages

Previously ARTT 282. This course provides a survey of visual arts in the Western tradition from prehistory to the late Middle Ages. Students will learn how to analyze and interpret works of art and architecture from the ancient and medieval worlds. The course will examine objects and monuments in their historical contexts, in order to demonstrate how changes in visual culture are linked to political, social, and economic developments. While exploring the symbolic meanings and functions of works from these periods, students will also be encouraged to make connections with our own culture and the ways in which we use visual expression to shape our world.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

ENGL 121

Hours Weekly

3

Course Objectives

1. Identify and organize information and ideas to develop preliminary concepts as part of the creative process.
2. Generate ideas, explore possibilities, and consider alternatives to reinforce preliminary concepts.
3. Analyze and evaluate ideas or outcomes throughout the creative process.
4. Apply information and ideas gathered through a creative process to other contexts.
5. Define and correctly employ the specialized vocabulary used by art historians.
6. Identify major art historical developments from the beginnings of visual culture in the Upper Paleolithic period to the Late Gothic era in Europe.
7. Recognize and compare styles associated with individual artists, and/or with different regions and periods.
8. Distinguish between different modes of representation, such as stylization, naturalism, realism, and idealism, and explain their historical significance (e.g. the conceptual approach employed in Egyptian and Early Christian visual traditions, versus the perceptual approach developed in Classical Greece).
9. Recognize and explain the meaning of specific iconographic motifs (e.g. religious or mythological subjects).
10. Describe the varying functions that works of art and architecture served in Western visual culture from prehistory to the late Middle Ages.
11. Demonstrate the impact that political, social, and/or economic changes had on the visual culture of these periods.

Course Objectives

1. Identify and organize information and ideas to develop preliminary concepts as part of the creative process.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT1
2. Generate ideas, explore possibilities, and consider alternatives to reinforce preliminary concepts.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT2
3. Analyze and evaluate ideas or outcomes throughout the creative process.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT3
4. Apply information and ideas gathered through a creative process to other contexts.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

   Critical Thinking

   • CT4
5. Define and correctly employ the specialized vocabulary used by art historians.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD
6. Identify major art historical developments from the beginnings of visual culture in the Upper Paleolithic period to the Late Gothic era in Europe.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Program Goal(s)

   Degree: Visual Arts - A.A. Degree (Transfer)

   Analyze and demonstrate historical perspective as it relates to art history from ancient to contemporary art and culture from around the world.

7. Recognize and compare styles associated with individual artists, and/or with different regions and periods.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD
8. Distinguish between different modes of representation, such as stylization, naturalism, realism, and idealism, and explain their historical significance (e.g. the conceptual approach employed in Egyptian and Early Christian visual traditions, versus the perceptual approach developed in Classical Greece).

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD
9. Recognize and explain the meaning of specific iconographic motifs (e.g. religious or mythological subjects).

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • TBD
10. Describe the varying functions that works of art and architecture served in Western visual culture from prehistory to the late Middle Ages.

    This objective is a course Goal Only

    Learning Activity Artifact

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • TBD

    Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • TBD
11. Demonstrate the impact that political, social, and/or economic changes had on the visual culture of these periods.

    This objective is a course Goal Only

    Learning Activity Artifact

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • TBD

    Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • TBD

    Program Goal(s)

    Degree: Visual Arts - A.A. Degree (Transfer)

    Analyze and demonstrate historical perspective as it relates to art history from ancient to contemporary art and culture from around the world.