ART 154: Home Page

ART 154 is a general survey of the rich and diverse artistic heritage of Islamic civilizations from the seventh century to the present day. It is designed for the beginning student and assumes no previous knowledge of art, art history, or Islam. The geographic range of this course will include Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. In addition to introducing you to the major surviving monuments of painting, architecture, and the decorative arts, this course will teach you the basics of visual analysis, giving you the vocabulary and concepts for discussing works of art. Studying the visual culture of the Islamic world presents you with a unique opportunity to observe the tangible results of contact among different cultures. I also hope you expand creative thinking skills through your discussions of the resulting art. My goal is to provide you with an understanding of how the arts have functioned and continue to do so in Islamic cultures.

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

Course Objectives

Grades

Grades will be determined on the basis of a C-scale, with C's for students doing average work, B's for those who perform above average, and A's for students whose performance is excellent.

Participation in the discussion forum and Internet assignments are both required elements of the course and will be considered in your portfolio grade. Your contributions to the discussion forum will be evaluated in terms of quality and quantity (see Class Discussions).

Note: Late portfolio assignments will be graded down appropriately. Assignments over one week late will receive no credit.

Required Readings

Textbooks:

The texts are available from Friday Center Books & Gifts at the Friday Center. You can order the books online, or you can print out the book order form to fax or mail with payment for texts as indicated on the form.

E-reserve articles:

Acquaint yourself with the textbooks before you begin the course. They contain useful maps, charts, bibliographies, and glossaries. You will refer to these often throughout the course.

E-reserves are available via the UNC-Chapel Hill library homepage. All students will receive a PID when registering that allows access to the library.

Optional useful works

Portfolios

Your weekly portfolio will consist of written work that demonstrates your mastery of the material, including, in part, questions, definitions, and reading floor plans. With each week's lesson, you will be asked to respond to several questions and submit your response to me by e-mail. Please write your portfolio using Microsoft Word (.doc) or save as Rich Text Format (.rtf). Use a filename that includes your last name, such as “Portfolio3-Jones.doc.” Submit your assignment as an attachment. In the subject line of the e-mail, enter “CCO ART 154 Portfolio #” and your last name. Portfolio entries are due on the last day of each lesson.

Class Discussions

Each lesson has a start date and a finish date. You should complete the assigned readings for each lesson prior to the start date. Once you have completed your assigned readings, post your responses to that lesson's discussion forum (there will be a direct link in each lesson). Our discussion forums are held in Blackboard. For details, see Course Mechanics below.

The format of the discussion forum is flexible. In some weeks you may be asked to discuss the relevance of an Internet assignment or e-reserve reading, or to pose questions raised during your engagement with the material. At other times, your instructor will begin with a few suggestions or opening questions for discussion. Contributions to the discussion forum are not expected to be formally written documents, but rather responses to the issues raised in the weekly lesson. Your participation in the discussion forum is meant to simulate class participation in a traditional classroom. The quantity of messages you contribute will be less important than the quality, but you should contribute on a regular basis. Everyone must contribute to the discussion board 48 hours prior to the due date of the portfolio to receive a passing disussion grade for that lesson. Please note that you are expected to submit only contributions that are both on-topic and respectful in tone. Students who are unable to keep a professional attitude in the discussion forum should note that their grade will be adversely affected. If you have any questions regarding the use of the forum, do not hesitate to e-mail me. Participation in the discussion forum is a required element of the course and will count for a portion of your final portfolio grade.

Midterm Exam and Final Exam

The midterm and final exams will cover work discussed in the weekly readings and portfolio assignments with some combination of the following:

I will send the midterm exam and final exam to you by e-mail. You will have 72 hours to complete the work and return it to me by e-mail. The exams are, 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 became a C, and so on). See the Course Schedule for the exam dates.

Study Tips

Textbooks and E-reserve readings

It is important to keep up with the readings in the textbooks and e-reserves. You will learn to use a variety of terms that have special importance for art historians. Many of these are related to the historical and religious context (“imam,” “hegira”); many identify materials and technical procedures (“casting,” “true arch”); many identify familiar artistic conventions or elements (“perspective,” “compositon”). Use your glossaries or other recommended books to find these terms. If you cannot, be sure to ask me.

Weekly lessons

It is fundamental to stay up to date with the assignments. The workload can become overwhelming and discouraging when one or more lessons are overdue. In addition, late assignments can lower your final grade. In working through each lesson, make sure to read the comments and the full assignment before beginning. There will be several tasks to complete each week; reading each lesson fully prior to beginning will give you a better framework for the whole lesson.

Web sites

Many of the works of art and architecture discussed in the course can be viewed on Web sites. Direct links are provided in the Course Schedule and on each lesson's 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
• ArchNet: Islamic Architecture Community (you must create a user name and password to access site)

Attachments, sources of information, and instructions

Engaging in this course assumes some degree of computer skill. Here are a few hints to put everyone on the same level:

Policy on computer difficulties

Enough time has been allotted in the course schedule so that any computer difficulties can be addressed and fixed prior to the due date for each assignment. Should emergencies arise, it is important that you notify me prior to the deadline for the assignment. If you wait until after the assignment is due, your assignment will be graded down regardless of computer difficulties.

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:

Museums to Visit

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

Honor Code

As a student at 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 e-mail me.

Course Mechanics

Blackboard

Some of your class components (discussion forums, exams, and announcements) are accessed through a software package called Blackboard, and you will need to log in to Blackboard using a unique identifier known as your UNC Onyen (Only Name You'll Ever Need) and Onyen password.

There is a link to the Blackboard site in the gray navigation bar at the top of every page in this course. Click on that link, and then use your Onyen to log in to Blackboard. Click on the "ART 154" link, and you will see navigation buttons on the left side of the screen labeled Announcements, Discussion Forum, and so on.

If you experience problems accessing Blackboard, this is what you should do:

If you do not already have a UNC Onyen, go to the Onyen Web site and follow the instructions for creating an Onyen.
If you have an Onyen but have forgotten it (or the password), you will find help on go to the Onyen Web site.
If you have your Onyen but can't log in to Blackboard, contact Janice Durham or Donnyell Batts at the Friday Center.
If you can log in to Blackboard but can't find this course listed, contact Janice Durham or Donnyell Batts at the Friday Center.
If you can't locate an exam or discussion forum in Blackboard, contact the Instructional Designer.
If you have other technical problems while using Blackboard, contact Blackboard Help (use the Help button in Blackboard, or call 919-962-HELP).

Library Services and E-reserves

Students enrolled in Carolina Courses Online can access online library resources from the UNC Library System by linking to Library Services for Distance Education Students. This site includes information on using general online reference works as well as accessing e-reserves. If you are using an off-campus computer, you will need to consult this page for instructions on how to access the resources. The UNC library staff is available to assist any students who have difficulties accessing online library resources.

E-mail

All communication from your instructor will go to your UNC Onyen e-mail address (the one that appears when you post to the discussion forum). Off-campus users can access their UNC e-mail using Webmail. You can have your e-mail forwarded to a different e-mail address by clicking “Forward e-mail” at the Onyen Web site.

If you use a filter on your e-mail account, you are responsible for ensuring that it does not prevent you from receiving messages from me, the course listserv, or Friday Center staff. Hotmail users should be aware that Hotmail will block messages sent from within Blackboard because Blackboard uses “blind carbon copy” to protect privacy. We recommend that you use your UNC Onyen e-mail account rather than forwarding to Hotmail for this course.

Submitting Assignments

It is extremely important for you to save copies of any work you send to me via e-mail. If I don't receive your work, you must have a duplicate copy, indicating the date sent, to prove that you submitted the assignment on time. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered.

Please check your e-mail software to see how it manages sent and saved messages. Some software automatically deletes messages one month after they have been sent; others only save messages if they are filed in folders; others save messages received but not those sent. You may need to send yourself a copy of your e-mailed assignment at the same time you send it to your instructor, or you may need to print a copy of the e-mail message and any attachments to keep in your paper files. No matter how your system works, make sure you know how to save a copy of all work that you submit to your instructor and that you save the copy for several months beyond the end of the course.

ART 154: History of Islamic Art