Minor in Art History & Visual Culture
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US Credits
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UK Credits
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- COM 3100 Foundations of Mass Media & Communication
This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.
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3 |
12 |
- AVC 4200 Introduction to Art Across Cultures
Throughout history and across cultures, humans have always found meaning and pleasure in translating their own natural, political and religious environment into images. This course focuses on key visual moments of this process, and explores their art-historical significance in relation to the specific societal context in which they were produced. It includes an examination of the most innovative and prolific artistic ideas non-Western and Western cultures, and explores creative exchanges across and within artistic communities. Art-historical canonical constructs, such as those of the Primitive, the Orient, and Eurocentrism are considered and debated with a view to critically respond to the structures and remains of colonialism. The course also highlights the oft-neglected influence of non-European visual cultures on the development of modern European art. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with various topics during in-class discussions and visits to London鈥檚 rich offerings of museums and gallery collections.
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3 |
12 |
- AVC 4205 Introduction to Visual Culture
This course explores images and representations across cultural and historical contexts: the way meaning and ideologies can be decoded from such cultural artifacts as advertising, photography, cinema, modern art, sculpture, architecture, propaganda and comic books. Through varied examples, it takes an introductory route through some of the most important cultural theories and concepts.
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3 |
12 |
| plus FOUR of the following: |
Minimum of 12 |
Minimum of 48 |
- AVC 5200 Museums & Galleries of London
Considers the nature of museums and art galleries and their role and function in our society and culture. Students study the workings of the art market and a variety of other topics that impinge upon it, such as conservation, restoration, the investment potential of art, and art world crime. Students visit many of the great London galleries and museums with their rich intercultural collections, as part of this course. A university-level survey of the history of international art is strongly recommended as a prerequisite.
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3 |
12 |
- AVC 5205 Art in Context
This course critically engages with some of the major themes, methods, and approaches associated with the production, reception and interpretation of contemporary art. Beyond purely aesthetic considerations, students are encouraged to appreciate the historical narrative/s embedded within works of art. This course does not follow a standard art history chronological trajectory; rather, it is framed thematically in order to reveal the contextual interconnections that exist across time, space and media. Weekly visits to museums, galleries, and exhibitions, with their rich intercultural collections, provide an opportunity for students to engage directly with original art works and their display in order to exercise independent and informed critical judgement in analysis.
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3 |
12 |
- AVC 5210 History of Design
This course examines the history of designed objects of all types and their place in material and visual culture studies. This includes product design, objects of technology, graphic design and typography, industrial design, textiles and spatial design. The course considers the relationship between people and the objects that comprise the fabric of the lived environment, the aesthetics of the built environment, and engages with critical perspectives on design-related debates
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3 |
12 |
- AVC 5215 Art History: Theory & Methods
Explores a range of theories and methods which situate art in its historical context, from the more traditional methods associated with formal analysis and connoisseurship (formalist, biographical, and iconographic) to more recent theoretical approaches (such as postcolonial, semiotic, feminist, queer, psychoanalytic, and Marxist perspectives). Students examine a variety of thinkers and their theories and methods, and apply this thinking to visual examples, which may range from the Renaissance to the present.
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3 |
12 |
- AVC 6102 Non-Western Visual Cultures
This course explores issues that relate to the interpretation, perception, and representation of the visual arts of non-Western cultures, with a focus on indigenous (ethnographic) and prehistoric (archaeological) art. The course investigates issues that relate to engaging with art across cultures and considers colonial/neo-colonial/postcolonial encounters. The course takes a critical and self-reflexive approach to the representation and display of non-Western visual cultures in the West. A range of case studies will be examined which usually range across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.
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4 |
16 |
- AVC 6101 Working in the Art World
This course engages students with a broad practical and theoretical appreciation of what it takes to work in the 21st century art market. Students will engage with current discourse related to curatorial practices, management skills, the international art market, arts policy, as well as the educative, social, and regenerative potential of working within the arts. Making use of London as a 鈥榮econd classroom鈥, the course will involve analyses of and trips to a number of arts organizations; these include not for-profit arts institutions as well as commercial galleries, auction houses, and art fairs. The course takes a self-reflexive and critical approach to analyzing issues connected to inclusion/exclusion as well as diversity initiatives at various international arts organizations. The class will also integrate a number of guest lectures from leaders in the art market today as well as young and inspiring art world professionals.
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4 |
16 |
| Minor Requirements |
18 |
72 |
