This course introduces students to visual art and architecture from prehistory to the medieval era with a focus on art from Europe, North Africa, and the near East. The course will further consider global interactions involving these regions. Tracing the earliest mark making and constructions of prehistoric humans towards some of the earliest examples of individual creative expression during the medieval era, this course covers more than 30,000 years of social, cultural, political, and material history, while building an understanding of the very study of art history itself – its methods, purposes, restrictions, and what the study of “Art” can tell us about our world and what it means to be human. No credit if taken after ARTH C1100H or ART 001A. Formerly ART 001A. Total of 54 hours lecture.

This course provides an overview of art and architecture from the Renaissance to the contemporary period with a focus on art from Europe. The course will further consider global interactions involving this region. Examination of stylistic, thematic, conceptual, and technical developments in art and architecture as the modern world emerged from Humanist engagements with ancient objects and texts, through periods of significant cultural shift that established the formation of an artistic canon in the west along with the very idea of “Art,” to the disruption and unraveling of notions of universality, grand narrative, and utopia in the contemporary period. Course will cover more than 600 years of social, cultural, political, and visual history, while building an understanding of the very study of art history – its methods, purposes, restrictions, and what the study of art can tell us about human groups, cultural frameworks, and power. No credit if taken after ARTH C1200H or ART 001B. Formerly ART 001B. Total of 54 hours lecture.