Art History Courses for First Semester Students
Welcome to CWRU.
If you are interested in studying art history, you have come to the right place,
for your professors are all professionals who have worked in museums as well
as in universities, and our classes incorporate the works of art that can be seen in the
Cleveland Museum of Art. Think of the CMA as your art history laboratory, one that is
open free of charge for the permanent collections, and where you can go and look at just
one work or hundreds at a time. Whether you take one course with us, or decide to major or
minor in art history, we welcome you to study of art history at CWRU.
If you are thinking of majoring in art history you will need to take both ARTH 101 (first semester) and ARTH 102 (second semester) unless you have AP credits at levels 4 and 5 that would exempt you from this requirement. We encourage all students, however, to take ARTH 101 and 102, even if you did study art history in high school AP courses. We take a different, object-centered approach to teaching art history through our weekly visits to the Cleveland Museum of Art galleries, and we go into greater depth than AP classes are able to do.
Typically, art history courses at CWRU do not have prerequisites, even on the 300 level. However, it is always a good idea to email the Professor of a 300 level course to see if she or he thinks it is an appropriate choice for you in your first semester at the university.
Here are the courses we are offering in art history this fall.
ARTH 101. Art History I: Pyramids to Pagodas.
Professor Scallen
The first half of a two-semester survey of world art highlighting the major monuments of the
ancient Mediterranean, medieval Europe, Mesoamerica, Africa, and Asia. Special emphasis
on visual analysis, and socio-cultural contexts, and objects in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
ARTH 250. Art in the Age of Discovery.
Professor Benay
A survey of developments in Renaissance art and architecture in
northern Europe and Italy during a new age of science, discovery and exploration, 1400-1600.
ARTH 270. American Art and Culture Before 1900.
Professor Adams
Survey of the development of American art from colonial times
to the present that explores how art has expressed both American values
and American anxieties. Painting is emphasized, but the course also considers
architecture, the decorative arts, film, literature, and music.
ARTH 358. Medieval Body.
Professor Gertsman
This course will explore the meanings and representations of the
body in western medieval culture. We will explore the complex rhetoric
of embodiment as it manifests itself in the ambiguous discourse--both
medieval and contemporary--on the relationships between the material
and intangible, spiritual and physical, somatic and mental, corporeal and ethereal.
ARTH 362. Issues in Renaissance Art.
Professor Benay
For fall 2012: Sex, Violence, and Religion in the Art of Caravaggio.
The year 2010 marked the 400th anniversary of the death of Michelangelo
Merisi da Caravaggio. This seminar will focus on the artistic production of
Caravaggio and the seemingly endless production of art historical literature
that has been generated since his death.
ARTH 383. Gender Issues in Feminist Art: The 20th/21st Centuries.
Professor Landau
An in-depth thematic approach to issues affecting works of art by and about women.
Focus on the late 20th century. Emphasis on a specifically modern use of feminine
myths, subjects and modes of production, and feminist criticism.
ARTH 390. Introduction to the Art Object and its Explication.
Professor Adams
A basic introduction to the museum and gallery worlds as institutions with a focus on the
work of art, and on the institution's responsibility to the art object. Skills are to be
developed in stylistic and conceptual analyses, problem solving, and critical thought.
Emphasis will be placed on written and verbal expression to be developed to articulate
visual works of art. The institutional function of the museum or gallery is studied as
driven by the acquisition, care, and explication of the object as an entity, or in connection
with others of like kind. The course is intended as a pre-professional, experiential introduction
to the functioning of the art museum with site visits and presentations by museum professionals.
The following 300 level art history courses listed for fall 2012 are ones normally taken after your first semester or more of study in the department.
ARTH 395 (internship) is best taken after your first year of study, and ARTH 398 (independent study) is best taken by majors in their third or fourth year of study. The honors thesis, ARTH 399, is reserved for majors and is taken in the final year of study. All three of these courses require the permission of the instructor, and ARTH 399 also requires the permission of the department chair.
Click here for information about majoring or minoring in Art History at CWRU.