Learning Objectives

Students will:

Gain a broad understanding of the historical development of the visual arts from the 18th Century through a wide range of cultural artifacts.

• Gain a broad understanding of the historical development of the visual arts from the 18th Century through a wide range of cultural artifacts.
• Build a basic art history vocabulary and conduct “close looking” visual and formal analysis on a variety of works of art and cultural artifacts using that vocabulary.
• Format and structure an Art History response paper after a museum visit.
• Discuss works of art and cultural artifacts in their appropriate contexts: aesthetic, historical, archaeological, philosophical, social, economic, political, etc.
• Demonstrate an ability to critically analyze a variety of texts in order to complete class assignments and develop close analysis skills of text and objects in conjunction with each other.

Required Textbook

Marilyn Stokstad & Michael W. Cothren, Art History, Vol. 1 = first half of survey, Vol. II = second half of survey], 2 nd , 3 rd or 4 th Edition. (New York: Pearson/Prentice Hall). 2010.

Look for secondhand copies of
the text to minimize your textbook costs. If you find the cost of the latest edition of Stokstad too prohibitive, you may purchase an earlier edition. It is your responsibility to make sure you find images of objects we discuss in class and familiarize yourself with them should your edition of Stokstad not contain them.

Additional readings will be posted on Blackboard.

Course requirements

Complete one written paper and in-class writing assignmentsComplete one midterm exam and one final exam

Attend all classes punctually

Complete all class readings and/or homework assignments on a weekly basis

Grading & Make Up Policy

I do not offer make up exams or alternative exam dates, and no course incompletes will be given. If you miss one of the exams or fail to submit your paper to Turnitin.com on time you will be failed (F grade) for that exam/paper unless you have a medical note or another significant and provable emergency excuse.

Late papers will be marked down 1/3 of a letter grade for each day they are late (e.g. if an A+ paper is three days late, it will be given an eventual grade of B+). You can track your grade progress on Blackboard. Your final grade is final. If you have concerns about your grade during the semester, make an appointment to 2 see me well in advance of the end of the semester and your final exam.Mid-term exam: 30% Final exam: 30% Term paper: 25%Participation: 15% Grades in this course fall roughly along the following scale:

A original and thoughtful work that is professionally executed; no typographical or grammatical errors; strong, clear, coherent, and compelling arguments; addresses or acknowledges obvious objections to the arguments; scrupulous attention to crediting sources of ideas and facts that are not the author’s own

B Well done work, but not particularly original or thoughtful; a few typographical or grammatical errors are present; work lacks some clarity or coherence in thought; fails to address some seemingly obvious objections to the argumentation; some crediting of sources missing; sources of facts are weak (e.g., cursory web searches).

C Average work; numerous typographical and grammatical errors present; fails to address or ignores any objections to the argumentation; few sources credited or poorly done, particularly for factual claims when clearly needed

D Careless work with no attention to detail and failure to follow assignment
guidelines; few and or poorly done citation

F Failure; plagiarism or other academic misconduct; zero effort expended to meet academic standards

Attendance

I place great emphasis on students participating in class, so class attendance is important.

Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. If you are late twice, this will count as one absence. More than two absences will negatively affect your participation grade. If you miss more than four class meetings, you will be dropped from the course with a WU grade, which counts as an F. This is a fast-paced course and you cannot miss more than two classes and maintain a passing grade. If you would like to withdraw from the class with a W grade, please notify me, and then you must see the Registrar prior to the deadline in order to complete this process.

Class Notes

Taking notes is an important skill that must be practiced throughout the semester.

Anything discussed in the class lectures, films and supplementary materials looked at in class, museum visits, readings and discussions may appear on exams so it is prudent to make clear and detailed notes for revision purposes. If you miss a class, please get notes from a fellow student. Within your first class this semester, please get contact information from two of your fellow students for this purpose.

Laptop Use

I have found that if students have laptops in class, the urge to multitask and check email while in class often means full attention is not on the lecture. Therefore, I do not allow the use of laptops or any other electronic devices in the class.

Blackboard

The syllabus, class assignments, information for each class and any last minute changes will be posted on Black board. Please check Blackboard before each class. If a handout is posted for a particular lesson it is your responsibility to print it and bring it to the appropriate class.

Class Etiquette

I am looking forward to working with you in a mutually respectful classroom environment. Please do not check your cellphone or make a call during class, or leave a class early without prior arrangement.

Academic Honesty

It is a requirement that students follow the guidelines for academic honesty set by Baruch College. These guidelines can be found at http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/academic/academic_honesty.html. Please review these guidelines early in the semester and before you undertake any written assignment. The guidelines state in part that: “Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery, plagiarism, and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the college’s educational mission and the students’ personal and intellectual growth. Baruch students are expected to bear individual responsibility for their work, to learn the rules and definitions that underlie the practice of academic integrity, and to uphold its ideals.

Ignorance of the rules is not acceptable excuse for disobeying them. Any student who attempts to compromise or devalue the academic process will be sanctioned.”

Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research, or writing as your own.

If evidence of cheating or plagiarism is found, an F will be given for that assignment and a report of suspected academic dishonesty will be submitted to the Office of the Dean of Students. This report becomes part of your permanent academic file.

Make sure the work you submit is your own. While it will be a goal of your written assignments to acknowledge ideas and sources outwith your own words and thoughts, when you make reference to other texts and writers you must ALWAYS make a full and correct citation using quotation marks if appropriate and a footnote or endnote. If you do not understand how to do this, or have questions/concerns, please make an appointment to see me. I will be more than happy to go over citation practices in full.

Course Calendar

As we move though the course, it is your responsibility to read the areas of the textbook and/or the readings on Bboard that correspond to the week’s themes and subject areas in order to reinforce what you see and discuss in class.

I will indicate particular areas of reading focus below in the course syllabus
when necessary. Sometimes I will substitute reading for films that you can
watch online.

There is a lot of material to cover, set aside a dedicated time to read for this
class each week. This approach should hopefully be less overwhelming than
attempting to read every detail of the survey textbook. Stokstad is particularly useful for exam revision, and for her glossary of art history terms in the back of the textbook.