Art History

This course analyzes the changing roles and functions of museums in a digital era. Students examine virtual museums, mobile applications, e-learning, and digital strategies. We also explore trends and horizons of museum technology to shape a museum of the future. Students complete article reviews and a project for a better understanding of the museum of our age. 

Topics include What is a museum, Museums in the digital age, Museum informatics, Digital collections management, Digital preservation, 3D applications in museums, Interactive museums, Case studies, Trends, HCI in the museum context, Virtual museums. 

This course studies the arts of Flanders, Germany, and England during the 15th and 16th century, with special emphasis on painting and sculpture dated up to 1603, the year of Queen Elizabeth I's death. Important components of this course are the investigation of how the term Renaissance is applicable to the artistic styles of these regions during these times, and the extent to which the taste for Gothic survived and was amalgamated within the new Renaissance aesthetic.

This course discusses the theoretical tools to understand the history of the processes of artistic development in Latin America, specifically during the 19th century.  The course integrates a concept of Latin American art based on a historical, aesthetic, and formal understanding of its transformations and offers students a set of resources for critically analyzing and evaluating contemporary Latin American art in accordance with regional development and the specific characteristics of each country.  It also reviews the necessary tools to learn how to view and analyze a work of art—whether painting, architecture, or sculpture—in terms of its formal qualities and to be able to describe it and formulate the most appropriate questions for a better understanding.

The course covers the following topics: the Age of Enlightenment and Neoclassicism; history of the Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos in New Spain; the foundation of other art academies in Latin America; the origins of the French Artistic Mission in Paris and its arrival in Brazil in 1816; the independence movements and historical painting; traveling artists in the Americas: Alexander von Humboldt and Mauricio Rugendas, and Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in Europe and their repercussions in Latin America.

This hands-on course covers the theory and practice of calligraphy.  

Through the appreciation and practice of calligraphy, students enhance their eye for evaluating handwriting and learn practical applications for everyday life. 

Using direct engagement with Late Antiquity and medieval artworks housed in Berlin’s Staatliche Museen, this seminar introduces students to a solid method of interrogating images and objects. It focuses on the particularities of the Christian image, namely its capacity of figuring the invisible and its relationship with the Hebrew Scriptures. The way the Hebrew Scriptures were transformed into the “Old Testament” in images serves as the seminar’s guiding thread. By examining specific distinct objects, students trace the emergence of Christian imagery, explore the contradictions it struggled with, and consider the dynamics of artistic creation in the Middle Ages. The first sessions offer a brief introduction to the central themes. In the following sessions, students visit the Bode Museum and other state museums. During these sessions, each student presents an assigned object, followed by an open group discussion. The class also addresses questions regarding the ways of exhibiting medieval objects in museums.

This course critically examines key conceptual frameworks such as decolonization, postcolonialism and anti-colonialism - particularly in relation to art, museums and heritage. Emphasis is placed on challenging Western systems of knowledge and exploring alternative perspectives on seeing, curating and narrating. The course includes guest lectures from scholars and practitioners as well as field visits to museums and exhibitions.

This special topics course includes the following topics: How filmmakers use their depictions of robots, androids, and AI to comment on contemporary science, society and culture; How developments in real-world science and technology have influenced cinema, and how the real science of AI has been influenced by science fiction; How to analyze and interpret science fiction films in terms of their themes and symbolism (what is the message of this movie?) and historical significance (why was this film important, and what events from history influenced its creation?) 

Students explore film analysis, terminology, and methodology through films, readings, group discussions, and debates. 

This course focuses on ancient Mexican art throughout Mesoamerica and its diverse regions.  In ancient Mexico, works of art played a particularly important role in the diverse rituals associated with the earth, the underworld, and death, but also with fertility and political power. By associating works of art with their archaeological context and original ritual function, the course introduces students to the wealth of information that the study of artistic works offers.
 

This course introduces selected Japanese masterpieces in the hand-scroll (emaki ) format from the late-classical and medieval periods, while referencing other types of narrative imagery. The course considers how scholars approach these images from a variety of perspectives; how historical developments shape images and are reshaped by them, and visual storytelling techniques.