This course is a general introduction to the history of Western art, its ancestry, and its heritage. It is designed for the beginning student, and assumes no previous experience in art or art history.
In addition to introducing many of the major surviving monuments of painting, sculpture, metalwork, and architecture from circa 2500 BC to circa 1300 CE, this course will teach the fundamental skills of visual analysis and provide you with 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. As much as learning about creative thinking and skills, understanding human cultural diversity is a major goal of our education.
You may purchase the textbook at Friday Center Books & Gifts in person, online, or by mailing or faxing in the book order form. Refer to the online ordering site for current book prices. Please see Textbooks for textbook purchase dates. Friday Center Books & Gifts sells only the correct edition of this text (of which there are many). If you purchase elsewhere, be sure to buy the View of the West version of the textbook—match the ISBN. All assignments are based on this version.
This course introduces students to digital photography. Students are encouraged to be in control of their cameras and technology, to develop an artistic style moving beyond the snapshot, and to learn to describe and critique work with a command of digital and artistic vocabulary.