Art History

Starting with Linda Nochlin’s 1971 essay WHY HAVE THERE BEEN NO GREAT WOMEN ARTISTS?, this course considers the key global currents of fifty years of feminist art around a number of themes. These include feminist art about the body and sexuality, women’s domestic labor, feminist approaches to identity, motherhood and childcare, violence against women, feminism, and the art historical canon.

The course investigates the relationship between twentieth-century political-social movements and the artistic imaginary that these contribute to create, disseminate, transform and by which they are in turn influenced. Each artistic expression (from painting to design, from theater to music, from architecture to literature) has its own specific relationship with the historical conditions in which it was born and which in turn it contributed to create. The course presents a series of specific conjunctions between artistic forms and political-social events of the last 150 years. By the end of the course, students are expected to know the history of Italian and international social movements of the last century; how to analyse the cultural and artistic forms of these movements; how to relate the political transformation to the production of the artistic imagination; and to recognize the influence of social movements on contemporary art forms.

This course introduces Chinese and Western art concepts, explain the definition of art, understand the characteristics of art and artworks, and understand the status and role of art in culture. The whole chapter uses critical thinking to highly explain the current social issues caused by design, and guides students to become consumers with reasonable aesthetic abilities and aesthetic standards for design works.

This course examines ancient Chinese calligraphy before the Qin and Han dynasties. In addition to the training of writing skills, the knowledge of paleography will also be introduced. 

This course trains students to identify and contextualize diverse cultural and artistic productions (focusing on photography) in relation to genres and major literary trends, from both a historical and comparative perspective (situate them on the scale of France, Europe, and the world).

Along with an introductory survey of the most important art of the period, the course covers various controversies regarding the works' essence. The central aspects and artists of the period are introduced in the first seven weeks. Based on the textbook, lectures, and excursions, students are challenged to create a kind of survey for themselves. The second part of the course gives representative examples of the methods and fields of research that are central to the subject of seventeenth-century Dutch art. An attempt is made to offer a complete survey of the important painters from the seventeenth century, but of course a selection has to be made. There is an emphasis on Rembrandt, not only because he was the most important seventeenth-century Dutch artist, but also because his work has been researched in a number of ways. Additionally, there is an emphasis on painters and art historians from Utrecht, because their work is close at hand in the museums in this city, and because knowledge of Utrecht culture might contribute to a feeling of home. Prerequisites for this course include a course on art history or museum studies.

This course analyzes economic, political, cultural, religious, and ideological factors and their reflection on European society and art of the Modern Age. Topics include: formation of European society in the 15th and 16th centuries; centers of power and art; artist training; philosophy, religion, literature, and their impact on art; political and social changes in Renaissance and Baroque Europe; new centers of art; prestige of music and theater.

This course provides a survey of painting, sculpture, and architecture in Europe and beyond from c. 1280 to c.1580. It follows a roughly chronological course, from Giotto at the beginning of the 14th century, to Dürer, Michelangelo, and Titian in the 16th century. Attention is paid to the issues relating to the wider artistic situation of the Late Medieval and Renaissance periods, including those of patronage, iconography, materials, technique and types of commission. Although the primary focus of the course is on Western Europe, lectures also address how European art formed alongside non-Western traditions, including the important role played by global trade.

The Visual Literacy course equips students with a new language to communicate with the world: visual language. Simply put, visual literacy can be described as the "ability to construct meaning from images." Through this course, students learn the components and rules of visual language, enabling them to read, understand, and analyze various types of images. Beyond analysis, the course also focuses on developing the ability to create intentional images using visual language and articulate these images in verbal and written forms. The course combines theoretical lectures with practical exercises, including art appreciation and essay writing. A significant component of the course involves field trips to museums or galleries to observe and analyze artworks. Additionally, students participate in hands-on activities where they create images using the syntax and principles of visual language. For example, assignments may include expressing narratives using basic shapes, helping students internalize how images communicate meaning. This course is designed for a broad audience—not only for students majoring in art or design but also for those who wish to develop an appreciation for art, effectively use digital platforms, or write about art. Starting from the fundamentals, the course provides a step-by-step exploration of what visual literacy is and why it matters in contemporary society. 

This course is an introductory survey of architectural history in a range of global settings between c. 1775 and 2000. It is not just about buildings and designs, but seeks to place architecture in its historical contexts. What can architecture tell us about wider developments in social, political, cultural, and urban history? How did those contexts inform design and practice? The idea of "modernity" appears throughout the course. How has this idea informed architectural debate and production? The course begins with the stylistic revivals that dominated western architecture in the early 19th century. It also discusses the 19th century development of new typologies along with the new materials and technologies that made them possible. In the second part of the course, students turn to 20th-century Modernism in global contexts, including Europe, Africa, and Latin America. They explore how architects and their clients sought to invent new architectures, and the ways in which the results balanced international agendas with local and national concerns. The course concludes with the revision of Modernism in the 1950's and 60's and the emergence of a Post-modern consciousness.