Interested in the development of modern art in the twentieth
century? AHI 185 covers a variety of styles crucial to our
understanding of modernism, including Cubism, Expressionism,
Dada, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism.
From the birth of a national school of British painting in the
eighteenth century, through Pre-Raphaelitism, the Aesthetic
Movement, and other forms of modernism in the late 1800s, this
course examines British art in the context of social,
cultural, and political developments. We will
devote particular attention to gender and the changing
position of women in society, and to contemporary views on
race and ethnicity as affected by the politics of the British
Empire.
Art History is the study of the visual arts in civilization. It
examines changing values in all fields of visual culture,
including painting, sculpture, graphics, photography,
architecture, film, the mass media, and forms of popular
expression. Its interdisciplinary reach encompasses literature,
history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, gender studies,
critical theory, and cultural studies. Art History emphasizes
visual as well as verbal and written literacy, providing more
than the standard advantages to a liberal arts education.
