PREREQUISITE: Art 2201 or Art 2202

REQUIRED TEXT: You may use any of the standard art history survey texts: Gardner, Janson, Stokstad, Adams, Hartt, or such. If you are unsure if the text you have is appropriate, ask me, or ask for a loaner text for the class. I have several available. These are needed only for background reading, as you will conduct scholarly research in a number of areas related to the museum works and sites in France or Atlanta, using scholarly library and scholarly internet resources.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This upper-level Art History course focuses on select assigned art works in the museums and galleries of northwestern France – primarily in Normandy and the Île-de-France, as well as various works of architecture in these regions. Related works from the High Museum and from Atlanta and those that can be investigated through print and internet sources will be explored in relationship. These were created in various eras and styles and will be studied with regard to their contexts of creation and use. This course will be conducted in seminar style, so that all students will share their research goals and findings with your classmates, partially in the classroom and partially online through CourseDen.

COURSE GOALS AND PROGRAM GOALS: Students will examine and respond to the select works in France or Atlanta, creating written expressions and oral presentations about those works. Both presentations and papers will show understanding and insights and will be presented in language that is unified and coherent and demonstrate sound principles of visual presentation.

Students will understand and be able to apply given principles of analysis to works of art: description of formal elements, analysis of features, and placement in cultural and historical context of creation. These ideas will serve as the basis for all writing and oral assignments. The class will treat these levels of interpretation in the assignments listed below. The final paper will bring all three principles together in a coherent analysis of a single work or group of works. Writing and visual presentation will be evaluated for grammatical correctness, stylistic elegance, and the application of these principles of art historical analysis.

The students who travel to France will write on select works you will see there. These will be chosen in advance, and you will formulate a theme/thesis for a group of them; you will research before you go, then amplify your study with first-hand observations during your visit, complete the project with an oral presentation and a written paper.

A similar and related course of research and presentation will be conducted by the students who stay here. Students who do not go to France will be required to go to the High Museum of Art or another venue in Atlanta and select a work or works from a pre-selected group and to prepare your project on those works. The process will be the same as that for the students travelling to France. You will complete all of your preliminary research in the weeks before the France trip and then go to Atlanta while the others are in France to complete your research and observation, prior to completion of the project. You will also present your findings to your fellow students during those final two days of class, July 27^th and 28^th. The written Term Project will be turned in July 28^th. These projects will reflect mastery of the principles of art historical commentary: description, analysis, and placement in cultural context.

Students will demonstrate knowledge of art history and will place designated works within an art historical framework. They will show a clear understanding of the historical and cultural context of the society in which works were created and how their own or any select work arises from and expresses its context of creation.

Writing Across The Curriculum: Please note that this course has a "W" designation, which means it is a Writing Across the Curriculum course.  WAC accepts as a guiding principle the idea that writing is valuable tool for learning and communication.  Therefore, the writing components of this course are designed to help you learn the material and to communicate what you have learned.  As a WAC course, it demands a variety of writing assignments which are intended to stimulate "writing to learn" (WTL) as well as "writing to communicate" (WTC).  These requirements will be fulfilled through note-taking exercises, analysis papers, online discussions, and the term project. Oral presentations will also reflect sound writing practices.

Plagiarism: Because this is primarily a museum research course, adherence to high principles of intellectual honesty and personal integrity and individual achievement in scholarship are paramount. Accordingly, any hint of transgression in this area will be dealt with harshly. Plagiarism in any of your writing assignments or other work will result in failure of the course. Thus, you are responsible for knowing what constitutes plagiarism and you may not plead ignorance. If you have any doubts, ask me or a librarian. To review the principles, take the time to visit these sites:

You are responsible for understanding and heeding what is presented there.

Citation of sources for art history must be according to the Chicago Style, and must be presented in footnotes (preferred) or endnotes, NOT parenthetical references.

The Oral Reports will be on a topic selected from the museums, and approved by the instructor. They will be 5-7 minutes each and will include visuals to support your treatment. You will research the topic and hand in a thesis statement and bibliography. The thesis statement will also be presented to the class on June 19^th or 26^th, as assigned. The final projects will be presented the last 2 days of class, July 27^th and 28^th. The final written term project will be turned in on July 28^th, at class.

Students With Disabilities: UWG adheres to requirements of Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need accommodation under this Act, contact the Disability Student Services at 770-836-6428.