Mar 29, 2024  
Academic Catalog 2015-2016 
    
Academic Catalog 2015-2016 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

HART491 Seminar: Topics in the History of Art History 3 cr.


Today there are numerous approaches to the thinking and writing of art history each claiming, or implicitly assuming, greater validity than its rivals. The inquisitive student might very well ask “how did this situation come about?” Further curiosity might lead to the question “what is art history, really?” In this course we will not aim primarily to answer the second, ultimate question, which would entail philosophical approaches to our subject. We will, however, come closer to answering the first question. Our approach to art history will be itself historical. Throughout its history and development art history has been many things; that is, art history’s axioms, or basic assumptions, have varied greatly throughout its history, and the multiple “varieties” of older art history underlie the art histories of the present day. In order to study the history of art history effectively we will read with extreme care examples of art historical writings from the past 125 years in order to penetrate to the level of the writers’ assumptions about what constitutes art historical understanding.

Prerequisites: HART100 and any 200 or 300 level HART course

Lecture/Seminar
Culturally Diverse Content
Senior Elective