ART 151: History of Western Art I

Course Syllabus

ART 151 is a general introduction to the history of Western European art. It is designed for the beginning student, and assumes no previous experience in art or art history. We will examine art produced between 25,000 BCE, the prehistoric era, and 1300 CE, the beginning of the Renaissance. In addition to introducing you to many of the major surviving monuments of painting, sculpture, and architecture, ART 151 will teach you the fundamentals of visual analysis and provide you with the vocabulary and concepts for discussing works of art. No less important, the enormous geographical range and long time span covered by the course provide a unique opportunity for investigating the relation between works of art and the varied cultures in which they were produced. In addition to learning creative thinking and visual skills, understanding human cultural diversity is a major goal of this course.

Below you will find all of the necessary information you need to participate in and complete this course. This syllabus is a contract between you and me, outlining what each will do during the semester. You should read each section carefully, and note procedures for grading and any other issues that affect you as the student. My policies about these issues are presented here, and in taking the course you are effectively accepting them.

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Course Components

The course consists of ten lessons and a final examination.

A reproduction of every key work of art discussed can be found either in the required text or via links to Web sites provided in the lesson.

Each of the ten lessons has reading assignments, Web sites to visit, and a portfolio to write and turn in for grading. It is fundamental that you pace yourself and submit your portfolios on a regular basis. The work load can become overwhelming and discouraging if you allow assignments to pile up toward the end of your nine-month period. In working through each lesson, make sure to read the comments and the full assignment before beginning. There are several tasks to complete in each lesson; reading each fully prior to beginning will give you a better framework for the whole lesson.

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Readings and Resources

Required Text

The text for this course is Stokstad, Marilyn, Art History, Vol. 1, revised 2nd edition (2005). The Introduction, Starter Kit, and Use Notes are invaluable to getting a good start on the course. The book includes a glossary and a bibliography if you want to read further.

The required text can be obtained from the Higher Grounds bookstore at the Friday Center in person, by ordering online, or by printing and mailing the book order form.

Optional Useful Works

• J.H. Minor, Art History's History, 1994.
• W. Strunk and E.B. White, The Elements of Style.
• The Bible--Douay Rheims Version On-line, Revised Standard version online
• Mythology in Western (Greek) Art

Glossaries

You will learn to use a variety of terms that have special importance for art historians. Many of these are historical ("city-state," "Pharaoh"); many of them identify materials and technical procedures ("fresco painting," "modeling," "casting"); many identify familiar artistic conventions or elements used in works of art ("perspective," "pediment"); some are borrowed from plane or solid geometry ("perpendicular," "ratio," "hemisphere"). You may need to brush up on concepts of elementary geometry (plane and solid). They are important for a grasp of basic artistic approaches to architecture, sculpture, and painting. If the glossaries in Stokstad and the other recommended books do not list a term you are not familiar with, be sure to ask me about it.

Web Resources

Many of the works of art and architecture discussed in the course are viewed on Web sites. Direct links are provided in the Lessons section below and on each lesson page. 

In addition to the sites listed with each lesson, you are encouraged to explore the Web on your own and discover Web sites that complement the course. Three places you might begin your "art historical" surfing are listed below:

• Mother of All Art History Links Pages
• Art History Resources on the Web--this page is comprehensive and easy to use
• E-Reference Links on the UNC Libraries site is a helpful tool, as are the various search engines available, such as Altavista.

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Portfolios

Your lesson portfolio assignment is designed to demonstrate your mastery of the material. With each lesson you will be asked to respond to several questions. Your response should be an organized, formal essay of approximately three to five double-spaced pages.

Submitting work for this course

Your portfolio assignment should be typed, double-spaced, using Microsoft Word. If you use other software, please save your work in Rich Text Format (.rtf). Use a filename that includes your last name, such as "portfolio3-Smith.doc."

Submit your portfolios for grading by clicking the "Submit Assignment" button located at the bottom of each lesson page. This button opens an e-mail message that is pre-addressed to me and to Student Services with the correct subject line. This is important because the assignments must be sent to both me and Student Services to make sure you get credit for your work. Note! If you use an e-mail service (such as hotmail.com or yahoo.com), the "Submit Assignment " links may not work for you. If the links do not work, you will need to send a regular e-mail message that is addressed to both me (millett@email.unc.edu) and Student Services (stuserv@unc.edu).

Send your assignments as attachments. The subject line will automatically contain the course name and number and the submission number, making it easier for your instructor and Student Services to track your progress and keep your work separate from that of other students. Please add your name to the subject line.

I will send you a confirmation e-mail when I receive your work.

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Final Exam

You should take the final exam after you have completed Lesson 10 and received your graded portfolio back. Let me know you are ready, and I will send it to you via e-mail. You have one week to complete it and return it to me, so do not request the exam until you are prepared to complete it within that length of time. The exam is, of course, open book, and designed to evaluate your mastery of the material. Material taken from books and the Internet must be properly acknowledged, and never simply copied or paraphrased. Late exams will be graded down a full grade per day (a late B will become a C).

The exam will cover work discussed in the readings and portfolio assignments with some combination of the following:

• Definitions. You will be expected to provide a short definition for, and an example of, terms that have been discussed in the readings. (As you prepare for the exam, if you are unclear about the meanings of terms, you should consult the glossary at the back of the Stokstad text or contact me.)
• Comparisons. Two works of art will be selected from the textbook. You will be asked to compare and contrast the two works, drawing on information you have learned from the textbook, the Internet assignments, and your portfolio assignments. In such comparisons, it is important to address specific qualities or features of the work of art, and use them as evidence to support more general conclusions. (Note: Even here, information drawn directly from any source must be cited appropriately.)
• Unknowns. You will be asked to discuss a work of art or architecture that you have not seen before in this course. Based on the knowledge you have acquired (and not on any information gained from research or the source of the image), you will discuss the medium, the subject, the style, and the possible function of the "unknown" work of art.

Submitting your final exam: Send your final to both me and Student Services (for tracking purposes). In the subject line of the e-mail message, enter "SpC ART 151 final exam" and your last name (example: SpC ART 151 final exam--Smith).

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Grades

Grades will be determined on the basis of a C-scale, with C's given for average work. B's will be given for above average work, and A's for excellent work. 

The final portfolio will carry more weight than the others because it serves as an evaluation of your understanding of the entire course. 

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Course Mechanics

The primary method of communication in Self-paced Courses online is electronic. You will communicate with me and submit your assignments via e-mail. It is essential to inform me and Student Services of any change in your e-mail address.

Contact me with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress. There is an e-mail link to me at the top of every lesson page.

Contact the Instructional Designer at the Friday Center with problems with this Web site, including bad links.

If you have any nontechnical logistical questions as you work through the course (credits, transfers, withdrawal, extensions, and so on), contact Student Services at the Friday Center for Continuing Education, telephone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669.

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Art at UNC-Chapel Hill

If you are interested in learning more about the Department of Art at UNC-Chapel Hill, click on your area of interest:

• Art History
• Studio Art
• The Sloane Art Library

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Museums to Visit

If you are able to visit an art museum or gallery in person, it will certainly enhance your course experience.

Two excellent museums local to the Chapel Hill area are:

• North Carolina Museum of Art
• Ackland Art Museum

Two that are also excellent but not so local are:

• Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum
• Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte

And finally, you might want use the Web to visit some virtual museums:

• WebMuseum, Paris
• Vatican Museums--Christus Rex
• Museums Around the World

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Honor Code

Remember that as a student of UNC-Chapel Hill, you are bound by the University's Honor Code: "It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University students or academic personnel acting in an official capacity." An especially serious Honor Code violation is plagiarism. If you are uncertain about what needs to be cited, please ask me.

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Lessons

The course schedule is up to you. You can complete the course in as few as twelve weeks or take as long as nine months. The important thing is to get a good start, then maintain your momentum.

Since this course is not held in a classroom, I will probably never meet you in person. Still, I would like to know something about you so that I can associate each e-mail message from you with something more than a screen name. Therefore, your first task is to send me a Personal Information Sheet: Save this Word Document to your hard drive (or copy and paste from this Web page into your word processing program), fill it out, and attach it to an e-mail to me. This also gives us a chance to make sure our communication lines are working, and that we can send and receive attachments.

Then go on to Lesson 1.

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Lesson 1