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2024-2025 Academic Catalog
Art History Courses
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Art History
ARH 103 - Introduction to Art History 4 credits (Fall and Spring)
A thematic and cross-cultural study of art and architecture as expressions of diverse social, intellectual, religious, and aesthetic values, primarily in Western societies since antiquity, with reference to certain East Asian and African traditions. Emphasis on developing critical skills. Use of Grinnell College Art Collection.
Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 115 - Art of India and South Asia 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course will survey the art of South Asia (including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh) from the 5th century to BCE to the modern period, including the art of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Islam, as well as modern secular art, including film. Basic principles and skills of art historical analysis will be covered.
Prerequisite: None.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Mackenzie
ARH 160 - An Introduction to Museum Studies 4 credits (Spring)
Introduction to Museum Studies explores a number of issues of museum history, theory, and practice, using public scholarship and research along with intensive class discussions and visits to area museums. The content is directly applicable to students in art history, anthropology, education, history, studio art and sciences.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Baley
ARH 211 - Arts and Visual Cultures of China 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course explores the arts and visual cultures of China from the Neolithic period through the nineteenth century. We will consider diverse media including painting, prints, textiles, ceramics, metalwork, jade, and architecture, as well as works in the College Art Collection. A central theme will be the role that various (non-Han Chinese) ethnic groups played in shaping the arts of the Chinese court, with special emphasis on cultural exchange with Central Asia and the Steppe.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Shea
ARH 212 - The Global Mongol Century: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
In this class, we will explore the arts and visual cultures of Mongol-controlled lands in Eurasia at the turn of the fourteenth century. Loosely following Marco Polo’s travels, we will travel from Italy to China, recreating the visual landscape of particular urban centers. Using primary sources and visual material, including illuminated manuscripts, textiles, paintings, ceramics, and metalwork, we will come to a clearer understanding of the interwoven networks in Eurasia during this period.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Instructor: Shea
ARH 213 - Gender and Sexuality in East Asian Art 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: EAS 213 . This class explores themes of gender and sexuality in the arts of China, Japan, and Korea from the beginning of the Common Era to the present day. This class does not aim to be comprehensive but will rather focus on a series of examples that allow insights into culturally specific moments. We will be looking at a variety of media and will interrogate the diverse cultural contexts in which this art was produced and consumed.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Shea
ARH 214 - Monastery and Cathedral in Medieval Europe 4 credits
Study of major developments in architecture and art from the Carolingian through Gothic periods (9th–14th centuries). Primary focus on architectural design and structure (as at Durham, Canterbury, Lincoln, Cluny, Paris, Chartres, Amiens), including the roles of sculpture and manuscript painting within their social, political, religious, and intellectual climates. Option of executing projects in architectural design or doing reading in French, German, Italian, Latin, or Spanish.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 215 - Collecting the “Orient” 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: EAS 215 . The United States and Europe are home to world-class collections of Asian art, from murals and architectural elements to sculptures, ceramics, paintings, and textiles. This class examines the origins of such Asian art collections, from the nineteenth century to the present day. We will explore the changing practices of archaeological excavations, the antiquities market, and looting, as well as consider the ways, licit and illicit, that these collections were built.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Shea
ARH 221 - European Art 1789-1848: Figures & Ground 4 credits
Examination of 19th-century Romantic and Realist painting as critical responses to the period’s dramatic political, industrial, and cultural transformations and as the foundation of artistic “modernity.” Emphasis on issues of high and mass culture; art and political voice; representations of non-Europeans; relevance of the canon; tensions between the urban and natural worlds; and creation of the Avant-Garde. The French Revolution of 1789 marked the entrance on the world stage of a new concept of the modern, self-determining subject. During the first half of the nineteenth century, artists in France, England, Spain and Germany sought to discover an artistic language that would represent this new individual’s relationship to the natural and the built environment, a dialogue of figure and ground that this course studies in the mediums of painting, sculpture, printmaking, and photography.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 222 - Impressionism and Post-Impressionism 4 credits
A study of major artists, works, and issues in European Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting (ca. 1865–1900). Specific movements include Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Not offered every year.
Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 231 - From Beasts to Revolutionaries: Modern Art in Europe, 1900–1940 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An examination of major movements in European art from 1900–1940, including Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, Constructivism, and Socialist Realism. Focus upon the historical contexts of art production and reception. Readings range from contemporary criticism to historical analysis. Investigation of recurrent problems such as primitivism, gender, authorship, and cultural politics.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
Not offered every year.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 232 - Global Abstract Expressionism: Art Since 1945 4 credits (Spring)
An examination of developments primarily in American, European, and Asian art since 1945, from Abstract Expressionism to current trends such as the globalized art market. We will trace Abstract Expressionism’s progeny in Pop, Happenings, Black Art, Minimalism, Conceptualism, Earth Works, Feminist Art, and Installation. Readings range from contemporary criticism to historical analysis from a variety of perspectives (e.g., formal, multicultural, deconstructive, postcolonial).
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Foreign language option available in French or German for course and +2.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 233 - American Art 4 credits
A survey of American art within its cultural, philosophical, and social contexts. Topics include: colonial portraiture; history painting, landscape, and vernacular expressions in the 19th century; and the sources and development of modernism and postmodernism.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 234 - Caribbean Art and Visual Cultures 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course provides a broad survey of Caribbean art and visual culture, focusing on the Caribbean archipelago and surrounding territories into consideration, as well as the Caribbean diaspora. With material ranging from the Pre-Columbian era into the contemporary, this course includes close readings on topics such as slavery in the Caribbean, religious expression, the African diaspora, migration, colonialism, nationalism, postcolonialism, and the politics of tourism.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Not offered every year. Foreign language option available in Spanish and French for Plus-2 only.
Instructor: Rivera
ARH 248 - Greek Archaeology and Art 4 credits (Spring)
See CLS 248 .
ARH 250 - Roman Archaeology and Art 4 credits (Spring)
See CLS 250 .
ARH 270 - Modern Architecture and Globalization 4 credits (Fall or spring)
This course offers a survey of developments in modern architecture from the 19th century to the mid-20th century, with a focus on globalization. We discuss the aesthetic, political and social contexts of architecture, including colonialism, urbanization, industrialization, authoritarianism and nationalism. We will use visual materials (floor plans, renderings, photographs, etc.), texts by architects, scholars and critics, and local/regional examples of architecture to examine the built environment, architectural movements, urban planning, landscape design and architectural technologies.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available. Foreign language option in Spanish available for Plus-2 option only.
Instructor: Rivera
ARH 272 - Contemporary Architectures 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course centers contemporary architectures within the context of social justice, providing a broad overview of architecture from the 1960s onwards. In this class we consider the economic, aesthetic, socio-political and semiotic functions of architecture, landscape design, interior design, and urban planning. We ask: How do architecture and design impact our everyday lives? In an ever-complex world, how does the built environment and infrastructure contribute to our understanding of place, power, and agency?
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Rivera
ARH 295-01 - Special Topic: Art and Identity in Medieval Iberia and the Spanish Empire 4 credits (Spring)
For nearly 800 years Christians, Muslims, and Jews interacted in Iberia, negotiating shifting identities informed by myth-making and cultural memory embodied in art and architecture. These identities and their associated artistic traditions were exported to Spain’s colonies where they continued to evolve to suit their new cultural contexts. This class will examine visual expressions of identity from the 8th century through early Spanish colonialism in the Americas and the continued relevance of these expressions today.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Crites
ARH 295-01 - Special Topic: Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art 4 credits (Fall)
The course is an introduction to some of the most well-known artists and artworks, and also to the relationship between the history of modern India and South Asia, pre- and post-Independence and Partition. We will study the development of easel painting especially, and the development of modernist architecture, and also the myriad forms of contemporary art. We will also be briefly introduced to the academic writings of postcolonial theorists.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Mackenzie
ARH 295-02 - Special Topic: Black Art and Visual Culture 4 credits (Spring)
This course is a survey of Black art and visual culture, with a focus on modern and contemporary art in the United States and among the African diaspora globally. Our explorations of Black visualities includes topics such as artistic responses to race and racisim, transnational connections among artists, writers and intellectuals, African diasporic religious practicies, Afro-Futurism, and the politics of popular culture, among others.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade S, C, or better; or second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Rivera
ARH 295-02 - Special Topic: The Camera and the Body 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: AMS 295-01 . This course examines photography’s role in the production of authoritative knowledge about the human body in the U.S. - including by advancing pseudoscientific theories of racial hierarchies, propagating ethnic stereotypes, informing medical diagnoses of the disabled body, delimiting aesthetic ideals for gendered life, and creating spectacles of violence against Black bodies. We will also look at how artists and activists have used the camera as a tool of resistance to resignify marginalized bodies with political power.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 or AMS 130 ; with a grade of S, C, or better, or second-yr standing with instructor permission.
Instructor: Reznick
ARH 295-03 - Special Topic: Haitian Art and Visual Culture 4 credits (Spring)
This course provides a survey of Haitian art and visual culture from the precolonial era to today, exploring topics such as the Haitian Revolution, Haiti’s Indigéniste and modern art movements, urban art and politics. We will also explore the relationship between the visual arts and Vodou as an expression of cultural memory, identity, and sustainability. Students will engage with Haitian art collections at the Waterloo Center for the Arts and the Figge Art Museum.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Note: Plus-2 option available.
Instructor: Moise
ARH 295-03 - Special Topic: Reframing Medieval Art, Blessed to Bawdy 4 credits (Fall)
Using the recently published textbook on medieval art, co-authored by Anne Harris, this course reframes traditional surveys of art and architecture (750-1450) by applying current theoretical approaches to a broad spectrum of artistic production ranging from cathedrals to combs created across Europe and parts of Africa and West Asia. In this course, you will develop your own research in a paper, blog, or medieval-inspired design project.
Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Instructor: Crites
ARH 295-04 - Special Topic: Cinemas of Disability 4 credits (Spring)
See FMS 295-01 .
ARH 295-05 - Special Topic: From Edo to Istanbul: Cultural Exchange from the 15th to 19th centuries 4 credits (Fall)
Cross-listed as: EAS 295-01 . The 15th century marked the beginning of a period of cultural exchange on an unprecedented scale and ushered in the foundations of modern globalization. In this class, we will look at specific moments of cultural exchange across Asia, the motivations behind such exchange, and its consequences. Our focus will be artistic, with examinations of painting, printmaking, porcelain, and textiles forming the core of the material we study.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 with grade S, C, or better.
Instructor: Shea
ARH 360 - Exhibition Seminar 4 credits (Fall)
An exploration of the materials and methods of primary art historical research and museum practice through the organization and presentation of an exhibition. Students work directly with art objects, using works in the Grinnell College Art Collection and/or borrowed from lenders. For current offerings review the variable topic course listing below or use the course search to filter by variable topic type. Course may be repeated once for credit.
Prerequisite: One 200-level art history course with grade, S, C, or better.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 370 - Architecture and Urbanism in the Developing Worlds 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
Cross-listed as: GDS 370 . This workshop seminar explores architecture and urbanism in the “developing world”, using comparative urban case studies to discuss debates from the colonial era to the contemporary. Students will analyze architecture, urban policy, and forms of urbanization, and will chart urban phenomena through close visual readings of pertinent primary sources, including maps, floor plans, urban plans, and other visual representations of place.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 or GDS 111 and one 200-level ARH or GDS course.
Instructor: Rivera
ARH 380 - Theory and Methods of Art History 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
This course studies the theory and methods of art history. We will explore historical and philosophical approaches as well as contemporary methods. The point is to think through how and why we approach art and architecture the way we do and to learn to do so more conscientiously and fruitfully.
Prerequisite: ARH 103 and one 200-level Art History course.
Note: Not offered every year.
Instructor: Anger
ARH 395-01 - Advanced Special Topic: Madness and the Moving Image 4 credits (Spring)
See FMS 395-02 .
Instructor: Ely
ARH 400 - Seminar in Art History 4 credits (Fall)
The seminar emphasizes research skills and art-historical methodology. Each student, in consultation with the professor, will select a special topic for research and critical evaluation. Final projects are expected to result in scholarly contributions equivalent to those of traditional senior thesis. Students are encouraged to find a public forum for presentation of their research.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing in art history major.
Instructor: Staff
ARH 400-01 - Seminar in Art History 4 credits (Fall)
The seminar emphasizes research skills and art-historical methodology. Each student, in consultation with the professor, will select a special topic for research and critical evaluation. Final projects are expected to result in scholarly contributions equivalent to those of traditional senior theses.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing in Art History major.
Instructor: Rivera
ARH 499 - Mentored Advanced Project — Art History 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
The preparation, writing, and public presentation of a piece of advanced art-historical research in any area of art history. Students must obtain approval of a department member as faculty director. The MAP application must be completed with the required project statement and with all faculty signatures before submission to the Office of the Registrar. All applications are subject to the approval of the associate dean of the College.
Prerequisite: Senior standing.
Instructor: Staff
ART 320 - Advanced Studio: Site Specific 4 credits (Fall or Spring)
An intensive practice based course in which the problem of place and location is examined in relation to the development of a student’s individual body of work.
Prerequisite: 12 credits of 200-level studio art with grades, S, C, or better.
Instructor: Staff
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