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Art Courses
ART 100 The Language of Art +
Description:
The course teaches students to begin to understand the processes of artistic creation. It enables the student to grasp the expressive content of works of art in a wide variety of media and to analyze how the artist creates his/her effect. It is not an historical survey. Through lectures, discussions, field trips, and museum visits, the student studies paintings, sculptures, and buildings; examples are chosen as often as possible from the Boston area. The course addresses such concepts as elements of composition, rhythm, symmetry, and space; and the possibilities of differing interpretations of subject matter. It offers a solid introduction to the arts by developing the student's ability to see and analyze forms as the result of aesthetic and interpretive decisions. More Info
Offered in:ART 101 Ancient and Medieval Art +
Description:
The course offers an historical survey of art and architecture of the ancient world, giving particular emphasis to Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures. Students are also introduced to the arts in Medieval Europe, with a special focus on the Romanesque and Gothic styles. More Info
Offered in:ART 102 Renaissance to Modern Art +
Description:
An historical survey of Western art and architecture from the fifteenth century to the twentieth century. The course deals with different aspects of the art of the Renaissance in Italy and the North, the Baroque and Rococo, Neoclassicism and Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism. (Course offered in the spring only.) More Info
Offered in:ART 104L Introduction to East Asian Art +
Description:
This course is an introduction to East Asian art, focusing on Japan and China. It is divided into three historical segments: early forms of Buddhism, paintings of the scholar class, and the interaction of tradition with imported Western cultural forms. These topics provide a comparative context for exploring style, culture, class and gender. More Info
Offered in:ART 105G Eyes on the Ball: The Art of Play +
Description:
This course will focus on the broad definition of play in contemporary culture as experienced through the eye, body, and mind. It will seek to activate and heighten your senses and acumen in the artistic arena using the notion of play in various categories. We'll look at how play and games figure prominently in daily life through language, art, film, sports, and athletic competition. In addition to critical reading and writing there will be exercises and projects designed to make you more aware of our kinesthetic response to the daily visual stimuli all around us. The goal of this course is to enliven your notion of curiosity in order to make manifest the layered richness of your surroundings, develop critical visual literacy, and to play. You will also learn basic video skills and explore the poetic, empirical, experiential, and mundane. The course will be broken into three sections: Open Your Eyes: The Notion of Play; Mind Play and Mental Gymnastics: Playing Philosophical Ping-Pong with Language, and Win/Lose: Sports and Play. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 175 Visual Techniques +
Description:
This course is an exploration of the fundamental concepts of two-dimensional art: Color, Design and Subject. It will include a series of short studio assignments to experiment with color organization, color application, color function, composition, line, shape, virtual space, flatness, mark-making, genre and metaphor. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 199 Visual Thinking +
Description:
This course serves as an introduction to the visual arts by emphasizing how one thinks visually. It provides training and exploration in the organization of sensory experiences - experiences which are already ordered in forms of art and design or which are encountered haphazardly in the world around us. Writing assignments complement studio exercises , lectures and selected reading dealing with issues such as space, light, color, and composition. More Info
Offered in:ART 207L Queer Visual Culture: Sexuality, Gender, and Visual Representation +
Description:
This course explores visual representations of gender and sexuality and the socio-historical contexts of their production. Non-heteronormative viewpoints area a specific focus, as are the scholarly frameworks of feminism, LGBT, (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Studies, and Queer Theory. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 208 Introduction to Contemporary Practices in Fiber Art +
Description:
Introduction to Contemporary Practices in Fiber Art is a studio art class that will explore broad examples of material studies using fiber media. Embroidery, knitting and machine knitting will be introduced. We will discuss the historical overlaps of computing and textile technology and look at artists' methods of interfacing digital media and fiber. More Info
Offered in:ART 210 Special Topics +
Description:
Topics vary from semester to semester according to the needs of the program and opportunities to engage visiting specialists. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 212L Traditional Japanese Architecture +
Description:
Traditional Japanese Architecture introduces major forms of Japanese architecture, garden, and building practice prior to contact with the west. Students learn about Japan's two major religions, Shinto and Buddhism, and discover how its architecture gives from to ideas about divinity, ritual, and national identity, by closely studying both the ways that Japanese city plans, and government buildings, illuminate notions of class identity and power, and the distinctive aesthetic principles embodied in residential and leisure sites. All of these examples show how culture provides a vital framework for thought and form. The study of its architecture prior to Japan's opening to the West helps us understand how modern Japan builds upon its traditions as its engages with issues of contemporary life. More Info
Offered in:ART 220 Introduction to Graphic Design +
Description:
ART 220 is an introduction to the field of Graphic Design. Lectures, discussion, and readings will give students an informed appreciation of visual communication strategy. Class projects will hone students' practical ability to create visual solutions and messaging with clarity and effectiveness. Throughout the semester, students will gain mastery of various technical skills so that they can freely express their design intent. More Info
Offered in:ART 222 Survey of American Art +
Description:
This course introduces students to the history of painting, sculpture, and architecture in America from the 17th century to the present day. Art works will be presented within the context of American culture and includes such topics as the reliance of early American art on the norms of Europe, the quest for a distinct American cultural identity, and visual arts as expressions distinct ethnic, cultural, and gender groups. More Info
Offered in:ART 224 Museum Practices +
Description:
This course is an introduction to museum studies for undergraduates interested in exploring the fundamental components of museum and collections work. We look at museum functions as well as the humanistic values underlying their missions, programming and displays. As there are many kinds of museums, the course is appropriate to many majors, including Anthropology, Art, History, and Science. The course features individual and group assignments based on classwork and field trips, culminating with a project developing a virtual exhibition. The class is conducted in seminar format, meeting once per week for 3 hours. This is a hands-on, interactive course designed with the support of the Mellon Foundation. More Info
Offered in:ART 226 Baroque Art and Architecture (c.1580-c.1750): A Global Sensation +
Description:
This course surveys the development of the artistic style known as the Baroque as it spread from Italy throughout Europe and eventually across the world, becoming the first truly ''global'' artistic movement. The course examines the era's artwork within the contexts of global exploration, commerce, colonialism, and political and religious conflict. Students will learn to recognize and interpret the formal characteristics and iconography of a range of artworks in these historical circumstances. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 229 American Prints, Politics, and Popular Culture +
Description:
This lecture course introduces students to the history of American graphic arts, photography, print media, and visual uses of the Internet through topics in politics and culture. From the first publications of graphic arts in the 16th century, the mass-produced image and its presentation have played a vital role in shaping the way Americans view and represent themselves. Superior examples - those that rise to the level of aesthetic excellence - afford deep and rich opportunities for engaging these ideas. Topics include: American prints, politics, and war; American photography, gender, and identity; race and representation in American culture; and the rise of mass media, the World Wide Web, and advertising in the United States. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 230 Architecture, Design, and Society +
Description:
This course introduces students to Western and non-Western architecture and design. It explores the social, economic, and political roles of the design professions while tracing theory, technique, and form from ancient times to the present. Although the contributions of architecture are emphasized, the course also examines landscape architecture, urban design, and interior design. Sophomore standing is recommended. More Info
Offered in:ART 235 History of Global Design +
Description:
This course is a survey of the global history of design (including furniture, clothing, utilitarian and decorative objects, and printed works) from 1400 to the present day. We shall study specific objects, places, makers, and consumers in order to understand the role of designed objects in the early-modern and modern era. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 245 Great Directors +
Description:
This course introduces students to a selection of film directors deemed important to film history. It will consider how the selected directors are important to film history, theory, and aesthetics, and will explore issues at the heart of authorship studies, including what it means to be the author of a film, how canons of film masterpieces come into being, and what cultural, economic, political, and other conditions help promote the notion of great directors. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 250 Art of the Twentieth Century +
Description:
This lecture course examines the development of twentieth-century painting and sculpture as well as the newer mediums of photography, video, and performance. Students will learn about specific works and major movements in art through formal (visual), critical, and historical analyses. We will also interrogate ideas about authorship, originality, and myths of the artist. More Info
Offered in:ART 251L African-American Art +
Description:
This course surveys the history of art by artists of African descent in the United States since the 18th century. The primary focus will be the analysis and contextualization of works of art made between the late 1800s and the present by Black U.S.-based artists. This course examines how and why Black artists have employed assorted forms of artistic expression in all media to assert and question personal, racial, and national identity. We will consider the relationship between African-American art, art in the U.S., and art in the wider Black Diaspora as well as interrogate the usefulness of the racialized category of ''African-American art.'' Via critical analysis of work in all media, students will explore the continuities and disruptions of major traditions in art and analyze concepts of race and racism, from the times of colonialism through to our contemporary moment. More Info
Offered in:ART 252 American Art in Boston +
Description:
Survey of painting, sculpture, architecture, graphic arts,photography and urban planning in Boston from 17th century to 20th century. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 256 The Arts of Japan +
Description:
This course is a chronological survey of Japan's major artistic traditions. Painting, sculpture, ceramics and architecture are set in historical, religious, and cultural contexts, with particular emphasis on identity issues deriving from Japan's periodic participation in continental Chinese culture. The course is organized to foreground issues of social class in terms of patronage, power, and representation. More Info
Offered in:ART 258 The Arts of China +
Description:
This course surveys major artistic traditions of China, beginning with its earliest history. Topics include ritual bronzes, sculpture, ceramics, and the major genres of painting. The course material focuses on the central problem of culture and class identity: how culture, and more specifically art objects and style, are used to shape class identity and power. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 262L Greek Art and Architecture +
Description:
An introduction to the art and architecture of ancient Greece, from the Late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period, with special attention to social and cultural contexts. Through careful study and analysis of key works we will explore the visual codes and cultural expectations that informed their original creation and reception, as well as the qualities that have contributed to their enduring influence and prestige. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 269L Anthropology of the Objects and the Objectified: an Interdisciplinary Approach to Things +
Description:
We have all heard of, or used the term object to refer to things outside ourselves: the object of one's desires, the objectification of other cultures and peoples, works of art vs. ethnographic objects. In this course we deconstruct familiar discourses about things through an examination of the world of material possessions, places, people, ideas, and space in cross-cultural perspective. Our aim is to gain more nuanced understanding about the apparent human tendency to create our identities through assigning personal and cultural significance to objects around us. Course readings will be drawn primarily from anthropology, art history, art criticism, cultural studies, and curatorial/museum studies. We will also share our observations, experiences, and reflections of particular object worlds through museum site visits, class discussions, and individual projects. Our own milieu of the Western museums will offer valuable case studies about the historical and political implications of particular histories of collecting, classifying, displaying, and interpreting the wider world as a collection of objects. More Info
Offered in:ART 278L U.S. Documentary Photography +
Description:
This course examines U.S. documentary photographs as constructions of the past that articulate the social and political assumptions of their times. We will assess the impact of these photographs on their contemporary audiences and how they have shaped Americans' collective memories of such events as the conquest of the West, mass immigration, the Great Depression, and 9/11. More Info
Offered in:ART 281 Drawing I +
Description:
A comprehensive introduction to basic materials and techniques, with emphasis on drawing as a primary means for the description and interpretation of people and their environment. Problems in still life, landscape, and life drawing. Fundamentals of visual language are also addressed. More Info
Offered in:ART 283 Introduction to the Materials, Techniques and Concepts of Painting +
Description:
Art 283 is an introduction to the discipline of painting. Students will be exposed to many different painting materials and explore the techniques and ideas of painting through a combination of lecture and hands-on practice. This course is taught in the painting studio; students should expect to paint every class meeting. More Info
Offered in:ART 286 Materials, Processes, and Ideas: Introduction to Contemporary Sculptural Practices +
Description:
This course presents the concepts, processes, and materials that form the foundation of sculpture and its evolving definition. It will explore the possibilities for autobiographical, aesthetic, conceptual, and formal expression through the practice of sculpture. Methods and approaches to the sculptural practice will include object making, conceptual art, video, installation, public art, and performance. This course will introduce new ways of visual thinking, development, and awareness through individual meetings, critiques, readings, discussions, and current exhibitions. More Info
Offered in:ART 287 Introduction to Printmaking +
Description:
Intro to Printmaking examines process, creativity and exploration involved in the creation of a number of different printing methods, including relief and intaglio. It involves the practice of learning to 'see' through the activity of making prints. Students apply drawing, visual design, digital image making and painting fundamentals to this medium and work in black and white and in color. It is a hands on studio course that promotes the conceptualization and expression of a visual idea and the refinement of visual aesthetic unique to each student. More Info
Offered in:ART 293L Photography I +
Description:
An introduction to basic issues in photography. The mechanics of the camera, the techniques of the darkroom, and matters of creative and personal import are addressed through illustrated lectures, class critiques, and assigned lab hours. Some attention is given to the history of photography. More Info
Offered in:ART 295L Introduction to Video +
Description:
This studio course is an introduction to working creatively with moving images within a personal, historical, and critical framework. Through technical workshops using iMovie and Final Cut Pro on the Macintosh, students explore the potential of digital non-linear editing and examine the characteristics and strategies of various genres and forms to inform and enrich their own production.ART 295L and CINE 295L are the same course. More Info
Offered in:ART 297 Introduction to Digital Media Art +
Description:
Introduces students to an informed and critically engaged art practice using digital imaging software tools in a Macintosh environment. This course serves as a basic introduction to digital imaging, web media and influential themes in digital arts culture. More Info
Offered in:ART 305 Early Medieval Art +
Description:
This course is a chronological survey of the are and architecture of western Europe and Byzantium from the Early Christian period to the rise of the Holy Roman Empire (c. 200-c. 1100 C.E.). Lectures, readings, and discussions will focus on the religious, political, and socioeconomic contexts in which are objects were produced. Important themes of the course include the origins of Christian images, the debate over the place of images in religious worship, the role of patrons and politics, the impact of pilgrimage, the cult of relics and saints, and the changing depiction of Christ. More Info
Offered in:ART 306 Romanesque and Gothic Art +
Description:
This course is a chronological survey of the art and architecture of western Europe from the Romanesque to the late Middle Ages (c.1100-c.1500). Lectures, readings, and discussions will focus on the religious, political, and socioeconomic contexts in which are objects were produced. Especially important are key themes such as the impact of monasticism, the experience of pilgrimage, the cult of relics and saints, the role of patrons and politics, the relationship between text and image, issues of gender and viewership, the liturgical function of the art object, and the rise of private devotional practices. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 310 Special Topics +
ART 311 Early Italian Renaissance Art +
Description:
This course focuses on early Renaissance art and architecture in Italy, 1300-1500. Focusing on Tuscany, it assesses how the visual arts were informed by humanism, politics, monastic reform, and the emergence of a wealthy mercantile class. The course also considers artists' growing self-awareness as professionals contributing to intellectual developments. Artists to be studied include Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Alberti, and Botticelli. More Info
Offered in:ART 312 Late Italian Renaissance Art +
Description:
This course concerns Italian Renaissance painting and sculpture of the sixteenth century, the age of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Bronzino, Giambologna, and Titian. It studies artistic style and theory in the High Renaissance, Mannerist, and Maniera periods in light of religious, political, and social developments. Emphasis is given to art produced in Florence, Rome, and Venice. More Info
Offered in:ART 313L The Art of Early Modern Venice: Myths and Realities of a Floating City +
Description:
This course examines the history of Venice and its art within a broad Mediterranean and European context. It demonstrates the artificiality of the geographic boundaries still often placed upon the study of culture and identity formation. Venice, with its long history of multicultural interaction and exchange, as well as its penchant for self-celebratory mythmaking, is an ideal forum in which to challenge preconceived notions of nationhood, ethnic identity, and cultural unity. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 315 Eighteenth-Century European Art +
Description:
This course explores an extraordinary period in the arts in which experimentation and innovation produced some of the most peculiar objects int he history of art. We shall study a wide range of media, from painting, sculpture and architecture to porcelain, furniture, wax, and shells, as well as the styles of the Rococo, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism. Since the 18th Century was an age of global expansion and cross-cultural contact, this course examines the visual and material culture of Europe specifically in relation to other parts of the world, particularly Asian and the Americas. More Info
Offered in:ART 318L Women and Experimental Cinema +
Description:
Focused on experimental moving images, this course addresses the ways in which some female film artists, lacking support for or interest in commercial and mainstream modes of production, distribution and exhibition, have turned instead to alternative networks. Whether in fully experimental mode, through the larger art world, or through alternative narrative filmmaking, such filmmakers engage a unique perspective - often in dialogue with feminist movements from the suffragists to 1970s feminist film theorists to more recent movements like #TimesUp. More Info
Offered in:ART 326 Materials, Materiality, Meaning +
Description:
In this course, students will examine the technical processes employed when using paints and pigments, marbles, metals, and wood, in conjunction with the meanings attached to those materials and processes. We will investigate how notions of natural philosophy, religion, matter, technical work and labor, the creative act, and the artistic mediums--painting and sculpture in particular--informed the self-fashioning of artists and their identity. This ''material turn'' has been important--and successful--for how it opens the field to multiple issues and areas of study likely to remain consequential for the foreseeable future, among which: gender and sexuality (materials, and matter itself, often have been gendered); distinctions or hierarchies of class and labor (as mechanical labor, the visual arts were held in low esteem historically); notions of local, national, or ethnic identities (mediums and materials, even on a mineralogical basis, took on connotations of place-hood). The primary goals of the course are to broaden students' understanding of artistic mediums and their development through history, and to deepen their own thinking about the intertwined mental and material processes of art-making. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 327L Hellenistic Art and Culture +
Description:
This course introduces students to the Hellenistic period--the three centuries between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the defeat of Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BC--particularly primarily through a close examination of the visual arts. Hellenistic art and architecture are examined in their political, social, religious, and multi-cultural contexts, in order to arrive at a fuller portrait of the age. More Info
Offered in:ART 368 History of Photography: 1839-Present +
Description:
This course surveys the history of photography as a modern and contemporary mode of visual communication from its incipience until the present. While our primary focus will be on photography as an artistic medium in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, we will explore a range of its functions in society. More Info
Offered in:ART 369 American Women Photographers +
Description:
This course explores American women photographers and their contributions to the discourse and evolution of photography in America from the nineteenth to early twenty-first centuries. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 370L Studies in Experimental Film and Video Art +
Description:
This course surveys the history of experimental forms of cinema. For as long as cinema has been in existence, filmmakers and artists of many different backgrounds have used the medium to test the limits of its expressive tools. Thus, beginning with early cinema and continuing to the present day, experimental film and video have thrived, developing their own set of concerns and aesthetic interests. These oppositional, radical, creative, and revolutionary films challenge not only the dominant commercial form of the cinema-- they also open up new horizons of expression for political, social, and aesthetic issues. By looking at the development of different forms of experiments over the course of cinema history, this course gives students a historical and theoretical background to hone their appreciation and understanding of the meanings produced by film and video art.ART 370L and CINE 370L are the same course. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 375 Contemporary Art: c. 1989-Present +
Description:
This course examines major developments in contemporary art since 1989. Via lectures, readings, discussions, and a field trip, students become familiar with recent trends in art. We analyze works in traditional media, such as painting, sculpture, and photography, as well as those that span media or employ newer artistic techniques, like installation and performance. We will additionally critically assess the roles of art markets, museums, galleries, art fairs, biennales, curators, and critics in the increasingly globalized art world. More Info
Offered in:ART 380 Special Topics +
ART 381W Drawing Workshop +
Description:
A continuation of Drawing I, this course introduces wet media and color and involves assigned visual problems which emphasize individual pictorial statements. More Info
Offered in:ART 383 Painting Workshop +
Description:
This advanced course addresses problems in painting, emphasizing the articulation of personal pictorial statements. Different media and techniques are tested against traditional and non-traditional approaches, both formal and conceptual. More Info
Offered in:ART 386 Sculpture Workshop +
Description:
This course will act as an advanced forum for visual artists with an emphasis on sculpture and its evolving definition. It will push students to question conventional ideas about contemporary art and define it for themselves. The class will challenge every student to develop a critical self-awareness about his or her own work and better understand the issues and contexts that inform art-making today. The approach will be multidisciplinary, from varied perspective, and students will further develop a personal artistic vocabulary with the source material that informs it. Individual meetings, critiques, readings, discussions, current exhibitions, and exposure to past and present modes and methodologies of art making will be used to introduce new ways of visual thinking, development, and awareness. More Info
Offered in:ART 387 Printmaking Workshop +
Description:
This course explores diverse printmaking techniques, combining and incorporating them into other visual disciplines such as painting, photography, and digital media. Students are challenged to develop their imagery and concepts and to articulate their ideas. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 393L Photography Workshop +
Description:
This workshop is designed to expand knowledge of photography learned in Photography I through individually initiated projects. While technical improvement is essential, emphasis is always given to the ideas and intentions behind the projects. Topics vary each semester. More Info
Offered in:ART 395L Video Workshop +
Description:
This course helps foster the development of a personal vision within a historical and critical framework of emerging digital technology. Workshops may be devoted to specific genres and/or specific technical or conceptual concerns. Topics and digital projects to be explored and discussed include notions of ''Documentary'', ''Animation'', ''Experimental Film and Video'', ''Video Performance and Projection'', ''Sight and Sound'' and ''Time and Motion'', as well as non-conventional production methodologies. More Info
Offered in:ART 397 Digital Media Workshop +
Description:
An exploration of digital media in the process of making art. Students utilize imaging software at an advanced level, building on skills learned in ART 297 and ART 377. The course expands the understanding of digital art as it relates to contemporary art practice and to traditional art processes such as drawing and painting. More Info
Offered in:- TBA
ART 478 Independent Study +
Description:
This course is an independent investigation in Art History under the supervision of qualified faculty that is open to a limited number of students in any semester. More Info
Offered in:ART 479 Independent Study +
Description:
This course is an independent investigation in Studio Art under the supervision of qualified faculty that is open to a limited number of students in any semester. A written prospectus of the project is required of applicants. More Info
Offered in:ART 481 Seminar in Visual Studies +
Description:
Designed primarily for the art major, to provide advanced work in areas and topics not normally offered in existing courses. Course content varies with instructor. More Info
Offered in:ART 482 Art History Capstone +
Description:
Art History Capstone is the culminating experience for Art Majors concentrating in Art History. It introduces students to the major methods and theory of research in Art History and focuses on practical research skills and writing. A substantial research project conducted in stages over the semester is the major graded outcome. More Info
Offered in:ART 488 Special Problems: Field Work +
Description:
An independent project with an off-campus project focus under the supervision of a qualified professional. . A written prospectus of the project, and a written final report, are required of all applicants. More Info
Offered in:ART 489 Special Problems: Field Work +
Description:
An independent project with an off-campus project focus under the supervision of a qualified professional. Open to a limited number of students in any semester. A written prospectus of the project, and a written final report, are required of all applicants. More Info
Offered in:ART 491 Honors Project +
Description:
This is the first semester's work of two leading to consideration for the award of Honors in Art. Course work includes an approved creative and/or research project under faculty supervision. Grades are to be awarded by supervising faculty as in regular independent study courses. More Info
Offered in:ART 492 Honors Project +
Description:
Continuation of work begun in ART 491. Candidacy for continuation in the Honors Program will be determined by the Honors Committee prior to enrollment in this course. More Info
Offered in: