HistArt 201.001 introduces students to the disciplinary practices and goals of art history via encounters with selected great monuments of visual culture ranging from magic-charged cave art of prehistory to compelling Christian, Jewish, and Islamic monuments of medieval life, piety, and power down through the fourteenth century CE. We place each monument in dialogue with a cluster of thematically associated creations that enrich our understanding of how art expresses ideas and elicits meaning in its era of production. We also consider how to 'read' a famous monument across time - as its fame may have the power to produce new meanings in new historical contexts.

Course requirements:
1 essay (8 double-spaced pages minimum) - 15%;
Midterm exam - 25%
Final exam - 35 %
Attendance of, and participation in, class (attendance sheets will be circulating) - 25%.
NB: All three elements -that is (1) the essay, (3) the final exam, and (3) attendance of, and participation in, class -have to be completed with a passing grade in order to pass the course.

Course book: Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition, vol. 1, 8th edition (Upper Saddle River &c.: Prentice Hall, 2010), portable edition, vols.1-2: The Ancient World; The Middle Ages; ISBN 10:0-205-16110-3, 0-205-16113-8. Bought new, the volumes come with an access card to www.myartslab.com.

Online study gallery: PDFs of the PowerPoint presentations shown in class and material discussed in sections be posted on our CANVAS site.

This course fulfills the LSA Humanities distribution requirement.