This course will utilize the visual arts of Europe and the United States from the 14th century to the present as a platform for exploring significant political, social, cultural, intellectual and economic developments that have shaped the world we live in. Our goal will be to attempt to understand the role that art has played and continues to play in the shaping of history and culture. Rather than simply viewing artworks as windows into the past, we will see how art reveals the nature of different peoples and cultures, along with examining the role art has played in the shaping of history. This broad period of history produced the rise of science, liberalism, industrialism, nationalism, socialism, imperialism, fascism, and communism - all of which challenged and altered the core beliefs of traditional Western culture. Visual arts engaged with of each of these major ideological movements, thus we will spend time considering the nature of that engagement and how to effectively connect art with history. In the present world, where visual sources constantly bombard people, this course aims to provide students with a set of critical filters to examine works of art from the past and different sorts of visual sources that they encounter in today's world.

Estimated cost of materials: $50 or more, but less than $100.