Undergraduate Program

Teaching assistantship in Visual and Cultural Studies

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Graduate research assistantship in Visual and Cultural Studies.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This course overviews Western painting, sculpture, architecture, film, performance and installation and its dialogues with the wider world. We will examine various practices in historical contexts, while paying particular attention to the narratives, sociabilities, and materials that bear upon them, such as the influence of the past, religion, gender, colonialism, race, ideology, technology, ecology, and politics. The course will attempt to familiarize students with the way some principal monuments of world art from about 400 BCE onward were made and understood, and to develop visual literacy, that is, the ability not only to identify, but also to discuss art works as central elements of culture. Museum, gallery, and archive field trips are key components of the course.

Location

(TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

As an introduction to the art of film, this course will present the concepts of film form, film aesthetics, and film style, while remaining attentive to the various ways in which cinema also involves an interaction with audiences and larger social structures.

Location

(TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This course provides an introduction to modern architecture starting with its nineteenth-century roots and continuing to the present day. We will explore the impact of technological, economic, political, and social change on architecture, as well as study major figures of modern architecture such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Location

(TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

The Ancient Near East, a geographical and historical region encompassing the cultures that flourished in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Basin and what is now the Middle East, is best known for the development of agriculture, the rise of complex societies, and the establishment of powerful empires. In this introductory course, we will explore the major architectural and artistic developments that accompanied these societal accomplishments in Mesopotamia, Persia, the Levant, and Anatolia. We start our investigation when writing was invented in the region, ca. 3300 BCE, and end with the arrival of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. The course adopts a regional approach and provides a basic understanding of the contextual factors—geography, religious beliefs, and social-political structures—that influenced artistic production.

Location

(MW 6:15PM - 7:30PM)

This course is a survey of courtly art and monumental architecture in South Asia from 2500 BCE to the present. It spends some time exploring where, when, why, and for whom these examples of art and architecture were made to understand what they mean in their historical and geographical contexts. This course is also designed to help improve students’ “visual literacy” by looking at the art and architecture of South Asia. Students will develop their analytical skills by comparing and contrasting formal, spatial, and material aspects of artifacts and structures in discussions during the lectures and assignments at home. They will also develop their critical thinking and research skills through weekly readings and semester research projects. By the end of the course, students will not only have a clear sense of South Asian art and architecture in Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic contexts but will also be able to “see” and perceive objects and buildings of their multicultural world in a different light.

Location

(MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This introductory course surveys the rich and complex arts of Europe in relation to the broader world between ca.AD 1400-1700. Painting, sculpture, textiles, architecture, urbanism, printmaking, and cartography are just some of the media surveyed. Visits to Special Collections and the MAG, lecture and discussion.

Location

(TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

As the recent destruction of archaeological sites in Syria and the removal of Confederate statues in the U.S. show, historical objects, monuments, and sites are not relegated to the past; instead, they are the building blocks of modern identities and politics. This course examines current issues concerning the ownership, protection, and presentation of cultural heritage, including particularly archaeological and historical objects, monuments, and sites.  The course begins with introductory information about archaeology, museum studies, and cultural heritage law.  We then consider such questions as: Who decides what cultural heritage is significant? Who should determine how archaeological and historical sites are presented to the public?  Should private individuals be allowed to purchase objects of historical or archaeological significance?  What moral and ethical responsibilities do museums have?  Who owns cultural objects taken in the context of warfare? There are no prerequisites for this course.

Location

(MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

From biblical times to the present, the visual arts have played, contrary to common opinion, a vital role in the making of Jewish civilization. Judaism has, indeed, a rich tradition of architectural, decorative, liturgical, and pictorial expression, and a history of discourse (and debate) on the role that art and iconography should play in religious life. This course explores the nature and function of the visual arts in Judaism from the standpoints of social and cultural history, and material culture. Through the discussion and contextualization of artifacts from ancient to modern and contemporary time (including ancient mosaics, liturgical objects, illuminated manuscripts, paintings and photography), it will interrogate the definition of Jewish art itself, the forms in which Jews over the century have reacted, as a minority, to surrounding artistic expressions, and the ways in which artists have integrated, reinterpreted, or grappled with aspects of Jewish culture in their works.

Location

(TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Since the 1960s, the body has become the medium for artists to challenge dominant social systems and gender norms. Artists use bodies to subvert gender and racial stereotypes or reveal social and political violence. This course will introduce students to key concepts in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies by examining global performance art from the 1960s to the 2000s, as well as the critical theory surrounding artists’ practices. We will examine the history of performance art, from feminist to decolonial practices, primarily in the US and East Asia, to understand how artists negotiate ethnic identities and social assumptions about the gendered body. We will explore various ways in which artists challenge the boundaries of race, gender, and class, such as revealing the vulnerability of the body and manipulating their appearances and behaviors. We will discuss performances by artists Adrian Piper, Ana Mendieta, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Yoko Ono, Tehching Hsieh, Marina Abramović, and others. Through these case studies, we will gain insight into how artists transform bodies into a wounded site, a social catalyst, and a conceptual object that reflects trauma, racial stereotypes, and the complexities of capitalism. By examining documentation in photography, film, and written work, students will learn how to analyze performances and various aesthetic manifestations that demonstrate how the body can be a crucial site for subverting racial and gender norms and assumptions.

Location

(MW 11:50AM - 1:05PM)

This course is an introduction to art exhibition practices including research, curation, planning, art handling, installation, and hands-on experience in galleries. Students will install exhibitions in the teaching galleries and spaces on campus, including (but not limited to) Hartnett Gallery and Frontispace Gallery. Studio Art lab fee applied.

Location

(T 11:05AM - 1:45PM)

This course seeks to improve students' writing and analytical skills through analysis and experimentation with different styles of writing about contemporary and historical arts. Students analyze prose by artists, historians, cultural critics, poets, and others who have written on the visual arts, with an eye towards how writing on art can be a tool for improving expression in many areas. Slide lectures, discussions, and writing projects on objects of diverse media and historical eras will be augmented by visiting speakers and field trips to museums and galleries. This course fulfills one-half of the upper level writing requirement for both studio and art history majors. Permission of instructor required.

Location

(MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

The first of a two-course sequence, this class approaches The Divine Comedy both as a poetic masterpiece and as an encyclopedia of medieval culture. Through close textual analysis of Inferno and the first half of Purgatorio, students learn to approach Dante’s poetry as a vehicle for thought, an instrument of self-discovery, and a means to understand and engage with historical reality. The course also provides insight into Biblical, Christian, and Classical traditions as they intersect with Dante’s wide-ranging concerns, spanning literature, history, politics, government, philosophy, and theology. A visual component, including illustrations of the Comedy and other artworks related to the narrative, complements the study of the text. Classes combine lectures, discussion, and a weekly recitation session, with intensive participation strongly encouraged. Dante I may be taken independently of Dante II.

Location

(MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

From ancient counterfeits to modern knockoffs, this course examines art’s most skilled imitators. What defines “original,” and who decides? Is a forger a bitter artist, a clever conman, or someone else? We will question our obsession with authenticity, trace when imitation became immoral—or illegal—and uncover the political and economic forces behind such judgments. Moving across cultures and centuries, we’ll see how fakes drove trade, colonial ambitions, and capitalist art markets, even while they were condemned. Through case studies and voices of connoisseurs, scientists, and historians, we’ll explore how truth, value, and deception intertwine—and why fakes reveal more than they conceal.

Location

(MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course equips students with essential tools and strategies for securing internship opportunities,
emphasizing professional growth for career and advanced degree readiness. While specifically
designed to help students apply for internships in New York City as part of the Art New York program,
the skills gained in this course such as resume building, cover letter writing, workplace
communication, portfolio development, and effective job searching are transferable to all
disciplinary paths. Through a combination of group and individual meetings, as well as independent
work, students will refine their application materials, learn how to research opportunities, and develop
the confidence to navigate the competitive internship landscape.

Location

(F 11:50AM - 1:30PM)

A history of the Americas in collections of objects. Topics discussed include the role and aesthetics of

archaeological illustrations; the invocation of the past in the formation of national identities; contemporary artists responding to Indigenous history; the techniques used in the faking and restoration of ancient objects; the aesthetic, didactic, and ethical considerations of museum display and exhibition design; the reconstruction of ruined cities into tourist destinations; and the deployment of Indigenous cultures of the Americas in spiritualisms, conspiracy theories, and popular entertainments.

Location

(TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

Advanced seminar/workshop on postcolonial and decolonial methods. One part is close, collaborative, readings of key essays by Hartman, Guha, Glissant, Spillers, Bhabha, Spivak, Das, and others that help us with the shape of intellectual work in our present. The other part is written assignments that encourage formal experimentation and critical speculation through a combination of prompts, guided object/archive studies, workshopping, and revision.

Location

(W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course provides undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue in-depth, independent exploration of a topic not regularly offered in the curriculum, under the supervision of a faculty member in the form of independent study, practicum, internship or research. The objectives and content are determined in consultation between students and full-time members of the teaching faculty. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.  Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed through the Independent Study Registration form (https://secure1.rochester.edu/registrar/forms/independent-study-form.php)

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Under the guidance of a faculty advisor, Seniors identify a topic, develop a project plan, conduct substantive work, and present their findings or creations in a final written report, portfolio, performance, or presentation. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This course provides undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue in-depth, independent exploration of a topic not regularly offered in the curriculum, under the supervision of a faculty member in the form of independent study, practicum, internship or research. The objectives and content are determined in consultation between students and full-time members of the teaching faculty. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department. Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed through the Internship Registration form ( https://secure1.rochester.edu/registrar/forms/internship-registration-form.php)

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This course provides undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue in-depth, independent exploration of a topic not regularly offered in the curriculum, under the supervision of a faculty member in the form of independent study, practicum, internship or research. The objectives and content are determined in consultation between students and full-time members of the teaching faculty. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This seminar offers an in-depth exploration of selected topics in art history, with themes varying annually.

Location

(M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)