The discipline of art history embraces aspects of a broad array of academic areas, including history, politics, philosophy, aesthetics, religion, anthropology, sociology, and literature. The visual culture of various parts of the world is investigated through a variety of perspectives in order to gain insight into human values, beliefs, and self-identity. Whitman College offers major and minor study programs in art history and visual culture studies.
A student who enters Whitman without any prior college-level preparation in art history will have to complete 36 credits to fulfill the requirements for the art history major. Courses completed in the major apply to the fine arts and alternative voices (selected courses) distribution areas.
The major: A minimum of 36 credits, including Art History 103, 490, at least one 300-level course and one nonwestern course, and two studio art courses. A maximum of eight credits of approved coursework from outside the department may be used to satisfy major requirements. This includes credit from off-campus programs, transfer credit, and appropriate Whitman courses that focus on the functions of visual culture. The senior assessment, administered during the student‘s final semester, is a two-hour oral exam that focuses on course work in the major completed at Whitman.
The minor: A minimum of 18 credits, including Art History 103 and one studio art course.
For the art history major with an art studio minor, no course in art may satisfy both the major and minor requirements. When the same class is required in both the major and minor, an additional class will be required after it has been approved by the art history department.
The P-D-F option may not be used for the major or minor.
103 Introduction to Art History and Visual Culture Studies
3, 3 Staff
Using a variety of works in various media from antiquity to the present-day, this course introduces the historical discipline of art history and the contemporary study of visual culture. Emphasis is placed on historical, social, and interpretive issues relevant to the critical analysis of artistic production and meaning. Topics to be explored include: the problem of the canon and the museum; patronage and power; and the visual construction of race, gender, and sexuality. Short papers and/or presentations and exams required. Required for the art history and visual culture studies and studio art major and minor. Open to seniors by consent only.
208 Art of the Americas
4; not offered 2009-10
This course examines the art and visual culture of North and Latin America from the era of conquest and colonialism to the signing of the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA). Each year will focus on one particular theme, such as: the visual culture of conquest, the cultivation of independent and distinctly national identities apart from Spain, France, and England in the late-colonial periods; the role of art in sustaining nationalist historical narratives; the appropriation of pre-conquest history and myth and contemporary indigenous and/or peasant culture; and the uses of art to resist and critique political regimes and powerful elites. Distribution area: fine arts or alternative voices.
218 Renaissance Art 1300-1500
4; not offered 2009-10
A study of the production and reception of visual culture in Late Medieval and Renaissance Europe within the context of the municipality, the court, the church, and the private citizen. This course will call into question traditional approaches to Renaissance art, and focus on recent approaches. Various primary and secondary readings, regular response papers, and a book review are required.
220 History of Photography
4; not offered 2009-10
A survey of 19th and 20th century photography, emphasizing its relation to aesthetic and cultural practices and values, as well as technical developments that have shaped the nature of the photographic image. We will examine such issues as “pictorialism,” “straight” photography, “the documentary mode,” and the “snapshot aesthetic” and will consider various strategies of photographic interpretation, especially as these reflect notions of sight and insight, the photograph as window or mirror. By focusing on the history of the medium and some of its most influential practitioners, we will explore how photographers have used images to shape attitudes and values in our culture. Examples may include the work of Matthew Brady, Jacob Riis, Lewis Hine, Gertrude Kasebier, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Weston, Edward Steichen, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Robert Frank, Helen Levitt, Minor White, Diane Arbus, Judy Dater, and others. Papers, class presentations, and exams. Open to all students.
224 Greek and Roman Art
4; not offered 2009-10
An exploration of the arts of ancient Greece and Rome, from the Bronze Age of Greece to the end of the Roman Empire. Particular emphasis will be placed on sculpture, painting, and architecture. We also will investigate the cultural contexts from which the art forms arise. May be elected as Classics 224. Open to all students. Offered in alternate years.
227 European Art: 1780-1880
4; not offered 2009-10
A study of the period in which art first became a public issue in cities throughout Europe due to regularly staged, state-sponsored exhibitions and the opening of state art collections. Emphasis on the political structures of the European art establishment and various artists’ attempts to produce vital work regardless of the establishment. Issues to be discussed include: the competing concepts of the public, the role of art criticism; the politics of landscape painting in Germany and England; art and socialism; modernity and the painting of La vie moderne. Three exams, a paper and class participation are required. Recommended: completion of Art History 103.
228 Modern Art: 1874-1945
x, 4 Crockett
This course approaches the history and historiography of Modern Art as problems in need of reevaluation. Beginning with the first history of modern art in 1904 a canon of movements, artists, artworks and theoretical writings was quickly and firmly established. The Museum of Modern Art, founded in 1929, institutionalized this canon. The theory and practice of Modern Art became further entrenched with the emergence of studio art programs in American colleges and universities. During the past four decades, however, many historians have focused on questions ignored by traditional historians of Modern Art. Some images will be studied, but primary and recent theory will be emphasized. Several short papers, presentations, and exams are required. Recommended prerequisite: completion of Art History 103.
229 Art Since 1945
4, 4 Reynolds
This course examines some of the issues raised by artists and critics since the end of World War II, including: the changing nature of the art object, how Modernism differs from Post-Modernism, the influence of technological developments on aesthetic practices and the role of popular culture, mass media and new methods of scholarship in challenging the distinctions between high and low art, the universality of meaning, the genius European male artist, the precious museum work. While the majority of the material is devoted to movements and figures from the United States and Europe, the course also will investigate “the margins” — those artistic practices that may have been overlooked by the mainstream, but which nevertheless have a broad cultural base in their respective communities. Recommended prerequisite: completion of Art History 103.
241 Environmental Aesthetics
4; not offered 2009-10
Beginning with an examination of the claim of the beautiful in Elaine Scarry’s On Beauty and Being Just, we will turn to experiment with the perception of sculpture in space working with reflections by Kant and Heidegger and public artworks on campus. This will lead to an examination of architecture in Karsten Harries’ The Ethical Function of Architecture, and the Japanese garden in Marc Keane’s The Art of Setting Stones. Beyond the opening exercises in the aesthetic perception, you will design your own home with a garden. May be elected as Philosophy 241.
243 Buddhist Art in Asia
4; not offered 2009-10
This course will examine the development of Buddhist art throughout Asia, from the creation of the first Buddha image to the transmission of Indian Buddhism and its artistic tradition to East and Southeast Asia. Topics will include: the absence of the Buddha image, the artistic interaction between Buddhist and indigenous elements in East and Southeast Asia, the royal patronage of Buddhism. Two exams, several written assignments, and class participation are required.
245 Art of East Asia
4, x B. Kim
A survey of art production in various media in China, Japan, and Korea from the Neolithic period to the 20th century. This course will investigate the intersections between art and society, specifically considering the roles of politics and patronage. Two exams, several written assignments, and class participation are required.
246 Art of South and Southeast Asia
4, x B. Kim
A survey of art production in South and Southeast Asia, exploring three major religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. This course will examine the effects of religion and social structures on art production. Two exams, several written assignments, and class participation are required.
247 Monuments in Asia
4; not offered 2009-10
This course will explore a variety of monuments with different religious backgrounds in India, China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Special emphasis will be placed on how these monuments have functioned within specific cultural, social and religious contexts. Two exams, several written assignments, and class participation are required.
248 Ways of Seeing: Japanese Art and Aesthetics
x, 4 Takemoto
This class on Japanese aesthetics will focus on the literary, visual, and performing arts of Japan. As we survey the traditional arts of Japan, we will ask questions about what it means to be a craftsman, an artist, a performer, an archer, a monk/poet, or any person who has developed the skill “to see.” More specifically, this class will address the relationship between two subjects — Japanese Buddhism and the arts of Japan, and in particular, the arts related to the serving and receiving of tea. We will pay special attention to the relationship between the artistic process and Buddhist spiritual disciplines. Classes will meet for slide lectures, discussions, and demonstrations of the Japanese tea ceremony in “Chikurakken,” the Whitman College tea room. Two examinations, oral presentations, and several short essays will be required. Two periods a week.
249 Aesthetics
4; not offered 2009-10
After developing a critical vocabulary through an examination of Hume’s notion of taste, Kant’s “reflective judgment,” and Heidegger’s reconceptualization of the work of art in “Building Dwelling Thinking,” we apply this vocabulary to architecture using Karsten Harries, The Ethical Function of Architecture to help us critically assess the “aesthetic” governing Whitman’s Penrose Library renovation project. Then moving from the “public” to the “private,” we consider the sense of “aesthetics” at work in building your own home, using as a guide Witold Rybczynski’s The Most Beautiful House in the World. May be elected as Philosophy 239.
257-260 Topics in Visual Cultural Studies
257A ST: Asian/American
Visual Culture
x,4 Bernabe
This course will locate "the Asian body," in all its corporeal,
material, symbolic, and theoretical formations, within the American and Asian
American visual archives, starting from the 19th century and working through to
the present. Using both historical and thematic interdisciplinary
approaches, the course will move through the history of Asian im/migration to
the United States, domestic
American and international expansion, and the emergence of U.S. empire in order to critically
examine processes tied to formations of Asian/American racial identities and
their political and cultural mobilizations through visual production. The
course will look at the myriad ways "the Asian body" has shaped
visual disciplinary technologies, American popular culture, and art
practices. The course will also introduce students to contemporary Asian
American art practices and criticism that addresses such issues as race,
gender, sexuality, citizenship, post/colonialism, trans/nationalism, and
diaspora.
258A ST: Queer Sexualities and Visual Culture
x, 4 Bernabe
The visual archives are sites where power relations are contested, bodies are disciplined and managed, and identities are constructed and mobilized. This course will examine issues of sex and sexuality within the study of art history and visual culture studies. In particular, this interdisciplinary course will pay close attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer issues as they relate to queer historiography, modern and contemporary art practices, and theoretical approaches to the study of disciplinary visual regimes and "the body," power and subjectivity, the politics of race and representation, issues of in/visibility, homoerotics and homosociality, and queer spaces and desires. We will also critically examine the intersections of queer sexuality and race, ethnicity, gender, trans/nationalism, and citizenship within art practices, criticism, and the study of visual culture.
329 Gender in Contemporary Visual Culture
4; not offered 2009-10
This course examines how concepts of masculinity and femininity are produced and defined visually. We will examine how artists of the late 20th century developed new techniques (installations, performance, video, etc.) to examine how gender mediates modern identities (class and race); ideals of nationhood; key spaces such as the museum and the domestic interior; and the cultural politics associated with the body, sexuality, and the self.
351 Los Angeles: Art, Architecture, Cultural Geography
4; not offered 2009-10
This seminar will study the emergence of Los Angeles as a center for cultural production since 1945. It will assess the relationship between urban space and the visual arts — including painting, photography, architecture, film and video. And it will investigate the role of representation in shaping the social topography of the city. This course will ultimately seek to answer a series of questions: How has Los Angeles established itself as one of the most important global art centers? How do the city’s history and landscape create the conditions for certain artistic movements and styles? And how do Los Angeles’s ethnically and economically diverse communities use the arts to address issues of social justice and marginality? Prerequisite: Art History 103 or consent of the instructor.
352 Public Art
x, 4 Reynolds
Public Art has been defined as “original works of art in any medium for temporary or permanent placement in outdoor (or indoor) settings and accessible to the public for their enjoyment.” This seminar will examine specific works and key concepts to question some of our shared assumptions about the value and role of art in public spaces. Who is “the public” for which the art is made? How are projects funded and built? Why do some works cause great controversy? To address these questions, we will discuss public art’s history as well as more recent important theories such as site-specificity, relational aesthetics, the Imaginary Museum and the role of public art in urban revitalization. In so doing, we will examine specific projects in global art centers like New York, Paris, and Berlin while also paying attention to public art programs and works closer to home, in places like Seattle, Portland and Walla Walla. Prerequisite: Art History 103 or consent of the instructor.
355 German Visual Culture: 1871-1937
4, x Crockett
The painting, prints, sculpture, architecture, design, popular illustration, photography, and film of German Europe during a period which witnessed the establishment of an Empire, a lost World War, a failed revolution, a failed economy, a failed democracy, and the establishment of another Empire. Emphasis is placed on the art theory and the artists’ status within this rapidly transforming political spectrum. Two exams, several short papers and class participation are required. Prerequisite: Art History 103 or consent of instructor. Offered in alternate years.
357-360 Seminar in Visual Culture Studies
4
Special studies not generally considered in other courses offered by the department. The specific material will vary from semester to semester and may cover various subjects from early times to contemporary developments in art.
421, 422 Individual Projects
2-3, 2-3 Staff
Projects for the advanced student in art history under supervision of the particular teacher concerned. Prerequisites for art history projects: Art History 103 and a 200-level art history course in the area of the project. Consent of the supervising instructor.
490 Senior Seminar in Art History
4, x Reynolds
Weekly discussions and critical papers based on: 1) selected primary and secondary readings in the history of western art theory (ancient, medieval, renaissance, the academy); 2) primary and secondary readings in the methodology of modern art history; and 3) primary readings in contemporary approaches to art. Emphasis will be placed on the role of the art theorist/historian in the history of art. Required for the major.
493 Thesis in Art History
4, 4 Staff
Open only to senior art history majors except those registered for Art History 498. Taken during the spring (or final) semester of the senior year. Devoted to the completion of a substantial written project under the supervision of at least one faculty member.
498 Honors Thesis
4, 4 Staff
Designed to further independent investigation leading to the preparation of a written thesis or research project in art history. Taken during the spring (or final) semester of the senior year. Required of and limited to senior honors candidates in art history and visual culture studies.
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