Course Descriptions

This introductory class explores the production, dissemination and consumption of art, architecture, and visual culture up to and including the 1600s. In a series of case studies drawn from differing cultures and geographies both local and global, it will consider a range of questions including: What is the role of the artist, builder and designer in society? What are the media, genres and contexts for communicating thought, and how and when do they engage in cultural, social and political action (if they do)? What does it take for art and visual culture to open up a space for relating to the world we live in, differently? How does the study of art, architecture and visual culture from the past generate curiosity, expand understandings, and ask new questions, in the present moment? This class will engage with these and other demanding questions.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours

This introductory class explores the production, dissemination and consumption of art, architecture, and visual culture from the 1700s to the present day. In a series of case studies drawn from differing cultures and geographies both local and global, it will consider a range of questions including: What is the role of the artist, architect and visual culture in society? What are the media, genres and contexts for communicating thought, and how and when do they engage in cultural, social and political action (if they do)? What does it take for art and visual culture to open up a space for relating to the world we live in, differently? How does the study of art, architecture and visual culture (past and present) generate curiosity, expand understandings, and ask new questions, in the present moment? This class will engage with these and other demanding questions.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours

In a series of case studies, this class will explore a wide range of visual media including painting, photography, digital imaging, the internet, video, advertising, cinema, television and architecture to ask how and why visual technologies have become so central to contemporary everyday life.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120.3 and ARTH 121.3; or 6 credit units in Art History, Studio Art or cognate courses; or permission of the department.

The computer was originally designed for numerical calculations, computer networks for communication between academic researchers, and video games for light-hearted entertainment. In this class we examine how artists have used, hacked, modded, and otherwise subverted these and other digital technologies as part of their artistic practice.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s):ARTH 120.3 or ARTH 121.3

An introductory survey of Indigenous art history within the Canadian regions of the West Coast, Plateau, Western Sub-Arctic and Artic.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): 3 credits in 100-level ARTH or INDG courses; or permission from the instructor.

An introductory survey of Indigenous art history within the Canadian regions of the Plains, Woodlands, Eastern Sub-Arctic and East Coast.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): 3 credits in 100-level ARTH or INDG courses; or permission from the instructor.

A survey course which reflects the great change in Canadian art and architecture from ancient Aboriginal art to the origins of modernism in the late 19th Century. In this class we will consider the major accomplishments of pre-European art, Colonial Art and Architecture and the growing maturity of 19th Century cultural production. The art and architecture of Canada will be considered from the perspective of both particular outgrowth of this place as well as sharing similarity with the cultural forms of neighboring communities and imperial centres of production. The emergence in Canada of centres of artistic and craft production, cultural institutions and art and professional organizations will also be looked at.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120.3 and ARTH 121.3.

A survey course which reflects developments in Canadian art and architecture from the closing years of the 19th Century through to the present day. In this course we will consider the major movements in Canadian art as well as significant contributors and social factors (race, religion, gender, class), which have influenced art of this period.

Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120.3 and ARTH 121.3, or a course in the areas of fine arts or humanities.
Note: Students with credit for ART 257 will not receive credit for this course.

What is Modernism? Modernity? Modern Art? How have these ideas affected our understanding in the nature of art and the role of the artist in society? How has Western art production of the past 100 years affected contemporary visual culture? What is the role of art and the artist in the 21st Century? This course will study the visual culture of the 20th century within the social and historical contexts in which it was created. It will also examine the critical vocabularies that have developed around the artistic and cultural legacy of Modernism.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120.3 and ARTH 121.3

Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours

Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours

This course will survey the history of Medieval art and architecture from its early Christian origins to the end of the Gothic period, roughly the third to the late fourteenth centuries. Beginning with the development of Christian imagery and architectural forms, participants will study the many functions of art and architecture throughout the Middle Ages. Toward the end of the course we will examine the church building, especially the cathedral, as an integral work of art that incorporates sculpture and painting with architecture. We will also address some of the theoretical issues influencing the interpretation of Medieval art (e.g., How are medieval monuments viewed from feminist or postmodern perspectives?)

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours
Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120.3 and ARTH 121.3; or 6 credit units HIST courses; or CMRS 111.3 and permission of the instructor.
Note: A foundational knowledge of both the critical study of art (formal and contextual analysis) and medieval European history would be the best of all possible backgrounds for this course; the instructor recognizes, however, that most students will be more familiar with one or the other, but not both fields. A list of recommended background reading is included with this syllabus. Students should expect to be confronted with unfamiliar terminology and historical information and must be prepared to inform themselves through additional research.

The High Renaissance, Mannerism, and other trends in European painting and sculpture will be considered in the context of the Reformation; special emphasis will be placed upon Raphael, Michelangelo, and Dürer.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120.3 and ARTH 121.3.
Note: Students with credit for ART 306 or ART 308 will not receive credit for this course.

Exhibition Technique addresses the evolving network of social and historical relations that generate multiple and increasingly hybrid meanings in the production and reception of art. When Brian O'Doherty coined the critical term white cube in the 1970s, artists were already paying attention to the circumstances in which their work was presented. The situation of an artistic gesture is the subject of this inquiry. Who does an artwork call on to secure its meanings – what are its aesthetic allegiances and precedents? How do institutional structures, political currents and popular trends inform the significance of aesthetic work? What is the role of patrons? Who are the curators? What use is the canon?

Prerequisite(s):ARTH 120.3 and ARTH 121.3
Note:This course is offered for Art History credit but students may opt to use this for Studio credit should they so choose (with selected difference in evaluation criteria).

A theoretical and practical course which explores the historical context of various art media through readings as well as hands-on studio projects. Students will gain experience researching and using older and sometimes forgotten techniques to develop an understanding of the larger theoretical frameworks that impacted art media over time. Specific media and emphasis will vary depending on the expertise of the instructor and might include photography, printmaking, sculpture or painting.

Weekly hours: 1 Lecture hours and 3 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): By permission of the department.
Note(s): ART 350 and ARTH 351 are cross-listed course offerings. Art History and Studio Art majors will receive studio art credit for ART 350, and Art History credit for ARTH 351. Students may not take both versions at the same time. Costs in addition to tuition may apply to this course. Students may take this course more than once for credit, provided the topics covered in each offering differ substantially. In such cases, students must consult the Department to ensure that the topics covered are different.

This seminar will examine contemporary Indigenous art, from the mid 1900s up until today. Emphasis will be on Canadian artists.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): 6 credit units ARTH or INDG courses, or permission from the instructor.

What is the postmodern project? What constitutes the postmodern in art? How have artists articulated the condition of postmodernity across the categories of nation, gender, race, sexuality and globalization? This course will engage critically with these and other demanding questions. Materials to be examined include painting photography, architecture, cultural theory, film, new media, popular culture, performance, sculpture, installation art and fashion.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120 and 121.

Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations to cover, in depth, topics that are not thoroughly covered in regularly offered courses.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours

Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours

A survey of contemporary international art which includes film, video, performance, as well as more traditional media.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours
Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120 and 121 and a second or third-year course in art history.
Note: Students with credit for ART 418 or ART 420 will not receive credit for this course.

For senior students who are interested in practical professional practice experience in careers related to the study of the history of art and visual culture. The course will be divided into four components focusing on careers in Academe: Commercial and Public Gallery management; Architecture; and Collections and Curatorship. Each of these areas of study will be facilitated through seminars, workshops, site visits, invited speakers and assigned projects.

Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120.3, ARTH 121.3 at least two senior Art History courses, and/or permission of the instructor.

The medium and the message refuse to be divorced. We will study works from fine presses, both historical and contemporary, artists’ books, chapbooks, and graphic novels, and there will be the opportunity for interested students to introduce other visual forms of text to the class, such as video games, electronic poetry or street art. We will study the theory of textual objects and gain further insight by becoming, ourselves, makers of textual objects. The final assignment, which can be collaborative, will be a critical essay, a textual object, or some combination of the two.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours
Prerequisite(s): ARTH 120.3 or ARTH 121.3, and 3 credit units ART or ARTH courses at the 300-level or above; or permission of instructor
Note: Students with credit for ARTH 498.3: The Book as Object Fine Printing Artists Books Chapbooks and Graphic Novels may not take this course for credit.

This seminar will examine contemporary Indigenous art, from the late 1900s to the present day. Emphasis will be on international artists and exhibitions.

Prerequisite(s): ARTH 355.3; and 3 credits ARTH or INDG courses or permission from the instructor.

Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours

Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.

Weekly hours: 3 Seminar/Discussion hours

Offered occasionally by regular and visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in this course should contact the department for more information.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours

Offered occasionally by regular and visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in this course should contact the department for more information.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours

Students writing an M.A. thesis must register for this course.