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ART 101 DRAWING I
This introductory course will focus on learning to see and
learning to translate what is seen into two dimensions.
Learning to see often requires overriding what the brain
knows and learning to trust one’s growing skill at visual
response. Translating visual information to the page involves
developing skill with line, shape, space, form, and
composition. The intent is to develop a broad visual
vocabulary which allows communication of the subject
matter with sensitivity in charcoal, pencil, ink, and collage.
This involves working from life, including the figure, and
using slides to clarify and enrich what we do through
references to art history. Studio supplies fee: $20.
Flanagan, Fox, Miller, Read, Staff/Three credits
ART 106 SCULPTURE I (INTRO TO 3-D DESIGN)
This course is an introduction to the concepts and the forms
of three-dimensional design. It is based upon the recognition
that the origins of and inspiration for much of design stems
from nature. The course is not a class in the use of materials.
Consequently, projects will start with an idea, and then the
appropriate medium will suggest itself. Studio supplies fee: $60.
Orlinsky, Staff/Three credits
ART 111 PAINTING I
This course is an intensive introductory investigation of
basic painting problems. Using oil paint, students will
thoroughly examine questions of composition, issues of light
and color, and problems exploring uses of the paint material.
In weekly in-studio and outside of class assignments,
students will also consider both contemporary and historical
approaches to painting. Prerequisite: ART 101 or permission
of the instructor. Studio supplies fee: $60.
Flanagan, Fox, Read, Rye, Staff/Three credits
ART 115 INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN WITH COMPUTERS
This course will offer an introduction to visual design, and
multimedia graphic design. Students will be introduced to
the elements and principles of design as well as critical
analysis and visual problem solving skills. The interrelationship
between visual and verbal communication will be
explored along with the study of typography. The computer
application Adobe Photoshop will be used as a tool for
design in this course. A working knowledge of basic
Macintosh computer skills will be helpful but not necessary.
Studio supplies fee: $75.
Glushien, Staff/Three credits
ART 122 HISTORY OF WESTERN ART I
A survey of the development of Western art from Prehistoric
times to the end of the Middle Ages. A broad historical and
stylistic approach frames the course, but the students will
learn a select number of works in closer detail. This course
acquaints the students through lectures, discussions, and
visits to local collections, with the tool of visual analysis, the
ability to decode visual images from the past and present.
Close studies acquaint the students with the elements of
visual language and help them to develop critical skills
which can be used to further their understanding of the
visual arts.
Beall, Norris/Three credits
ART 123 HISTORY OF WESTERN ART II
A survey of the development of Western art from the Late-
Gothic period to the 21st century. A broad historical and
stylistic approach frames the course, but the students will
learn a select number of works in closer detail. This course
acquaints the students through lectures, discussions, and
visits to local collections, with the tool of visual analysis, the
ability to decode visual images from the past and present, an
* May be taken to fulfill requirement in ART/MUS/THA.
ART AND MUSIC
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essential skill for our digital age and one that will aid
students in comprehending and navigating their
environment. Students will develop critical skills that can be
used to further not only their understanding of the visual
arts, but also the history of Western culture.
Beall, Norris/Three credits
ART 124 ART HISTORY SURVEY I (MUSEUM-BASED)
This course provides an introduction to the study of art and
architecture in western as well as non-western cultures,
including Islamic, Asian, African and Pre-Columbian, and
privileges the collection at the Worcester Art Museum.
Proceeding chronologically from the Paleolithic period (c.
2500 BCE) and culminating with the fourteenth-century,
students will learn basic terminology for visual or formal
analysis and methodologies for the study of art and the
history of art. In addition this course will emphasize
thematic issues within the artistic, cultural and historical
contexts in which the art and the architecture were created
such as the representation of the human body, the role of
women in art, the changing role of the artist, shifts in
patronage, the use of art and architecture to express secular
and ecclesiastical aspirations, the relationship of art and
ritual, the initiation of new visual systems and the art and
architecture where differing cultures intersect.
Beall, Norris/Three credits
ART 130 INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE
An introduction to the principles, methods, and meaning of
architecture. Reflection on the nature of architecture (as well
as city planning and landscape architecture) to acquire a
method for the study of architecture by a close analysis of
selected major works in the art form: the Parthenon, Hagia
Sophia, St. Peter's (Rome), University of Virginia
(Charlottesville), the city of Brasilia, the Seagram Building
(New York City), etc.
Beall, Staff/Three credits
ART 150-151 FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN
CIVILIZATION: ART AND POLITICS
A two-semester interdisciplinary course in politics and art.
The two semesters concentrate on the study of the worlds of
politics and art in multiple periods of Western Civilization.
The first semester studies Ancient Greece through the
Renaissance. The second semester studies Modern Europe
through 21st-century Europe and the United States. Both
semesters emphasize the reading and interpretation of texts
about the major political and artistic principles in each
historical period as well as the viewing and analysis of major
artistic works. Students earn three credits in Politics and
three credits in Art. (Same as POL 150-151.)
Beall, Wallace/Three credits each semester
ART 175 INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
This project-based studio course serves as an introduction to
digital photography as it applies to the fine arts. Students
will explore technical and aesthetic foundations of
photography through the latest digital technology. Digital
cameras, scanning, and image manipulation software will be
covered as well as an examination of the history of
photography and its role as a form of artistic expression. We
will also read and discuss critical issues in photography and
the history of photography.
Studio Fee: $150.00.
Glushien, Leeman, Staff/Three credits
ART 201 DRAWING II
The course will concentrate on the drawing as an object and
on the physical activity involved in making it an expressive
phenomenon. Students will exploit a variety of materials and
will explore ideas, formal issues, and art history for inspiration,
as well as natural phenomena. Work with the human figure
will emphasize context and environment, and encourage the
student to develop more personal attitudes toward content.
Studio supplies fee: $20. Prerequisite: ART 101.
Flanagan, Fox, Read, Staff/Three credits
ART 205 BASIC PRINTMAKING
This course will explore printmaking techniques with wood
and linoleum block, collage, xerography, and artists' books.
Studio supplies fee: $60.
Staff/Three credits
ART 206 SCULPTURE II (THE ART OF ASSEMBLAGE)
This course is an examination of the Art of Assemblage: the
current practice in sculpture in which collaged objects are
made from debris of the contemporary world. Questions of
memory, history, fragmentation, association, ecology, and
language will be explored through the making of
Assemblages from found, recycled, harvested, and created
images and objects. Studio work will be supplemented by art
historical presentations, museum visits, and readings. Studio
supplies fee: $60. Prerequisite: ART 101, ART 106, ART 111 or
ART 115.
Orlinsky, Staff/Three credits
ART 211 PAINTING II
A continuation of ART 111, this course will deal with both
figurative and nonfigurative approaches to painting.
Depending upon the instructor’s preference, students will
work with the figure, the landscape, still life, or a
combination of the three. Students will be directed in more
advanced painting problems using varied techniques and
conceptual frameworks. Studio supplies fee: $60. Prerequisite:
ART 101, ART 111.
Flanagan, Fox, Staff/Three credits
ART 215 GRAPHIC DESIGN WITH COMPUTERS II
This class will be a continuation of the study of graphic
design with computers. Students will further explore the use
of typographic symbols as a crucial element to design.
Design history and critical issues in design will be explored.
* May be taken to fulfill requirement in ART/MUS/THA.
Students will work in a series of projects that emphasize
visual expression, composition, and problem solving. The
computer applications QuarkXPress and Adobe Illustrator
will be introduced. Studio supplies fee: $75.
Prerequisite: ART 115.
Glushien/Three credits
ART 221 ANCIENT ART
This course examines the art and architecture of the ancient
world, beginning with the prehistoric cultures of the Aegean
(c. 3000-1200 B.C.) and concluding with Constantine the
Great's recognition of Christianity in the 4th century A.D.
Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art will be placed in historical
context through a study of not only the monuments of
antiquity, but also the religion, literature, and archaeological
record of the ancients. The material includes religious and
secular architecture, sculpture, ceramics, painting, mosaics,
and decorative arts in both private and public realms.
Lectures, discussions, and readings will focus on issues such
as the role of archaeology and its dating methods, the use of
art and architecture as imperial propaganda, and the effects
of urbanization on ancient societies. There will be at least
one trip to the Worcester Art Museum.
Beall, Norris, Staff/Three credits
ART 223 RENAISSANCE ART AND ARCHITECTURE
This course introduces students to the art and architecture
of the Italian Renaissance from the 14th through the 16th
centuries as well as theories used since the late 19th century
to study these works. Proceeding chronologically, the
course emphasizes the artistic, cultural, and historic context
in which this art was created. The primary material studied
includes religious and secular painting, architecture, as well
as manuscripts and printed books created for public and
private use. Lectures, discussions, readings and visits to the
Worcester Art Museum stimulate discussion on issues such
as the changing role of the artist, shifts in patronage, the use
of art to express secular and ecclesiastic aspirations, experimentation
with visual systems, innovations in print-making
and printing, and the legacy of art of the Italian Renaissance.
Beall, Staff/Three credits
ART 227 REALISM TO IMPRESSIONISM
This course seeks to explore the major avant-garde
movements in Western Art in the second half of the 19th
century. Concurrent with the evolution of a modern society,
as well as technological advances such as photography,
Realism in England, France, Germany and other European
nations, as well as in America, sought to combine an
awareness of the changing social milieu of new urban
centers and redefined rural areas with a penetrating modern
vision and style. Subsequent formal and thematic innovations
in Aestheticism and Impressionism redefined ideas of the
subject of art and its means. This class will explore these
works in terms of contemporary criticism, painting practice,
and the construction of Modernism in this period.
Norris/Three credits
ART 229 ART SINCE 1945
Art since 1945 is the study of movements in Art in Europe
and the United States from the end of the Second World
War until the present. It will involve visits to local
collections to see works and institutional constructions of
the period. Through a study of Modernism and Contemporary
Art students will learn how to approach the art of the
present from a multiplicity of viewpoints and in terms of a
broader visual culture.
Staff/Three credits
ART 231 ISLAMIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE
This course is an examination of Islamic art and architecture
that introduces the student to a non-Western tradition,
encouraging the student to study art forms within cultural
and societal contexts that greatly differ from those of the
West. This course examines four areas of artistic achievement
within the Islamic world: ceramics, architecture, textiles, and
arts of the book. An overarching theme of the course is the
role that representations of the Koranic verse played in the
formation of all four art forms, thereby underscoring the
fusion of faith and art within the Islamic world. Although
the course is designed as a geographic and chronologic
overview, certain art forms will be focused on in greater
depth, such as Turkish ceramics ad Iranian manuscripts. The
closing segment of the course examines 20th century Islamic
architecture, that of mosques as well as secular buildings.
Staff/Three credits
ART 245 LANDSCAPE PAINTING
This course deals with the landscape as subject matter in
painting. Through studio work, class trips to paint on
location and work outside of class, students will develop a
body of work focusing on landscape. Using oil paint,
students will be directed in more advanced painting theory
and techniques related to the unique challenges presented
by the landscape. Questions of the composition, color, light,
and issues of deep and flat space will be explored in
reference to contemporary and historical examples of
landscape painters. Prerequisite: ART 111. Studio Fee: $60.
Rye, Staff/Three credits
ART 275 DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY II
This course will serve as a continuation of the study of digital photography as if applies to the fine arts. Students will continue to explore the technical and aesthetic foundations of photography through the latest digital technology. Digital cameras, scanning, and image manipulation software will be covered. Also an examination of critical theory, and of the history of photography and its role as a form of artistic expression will be investigated.
ART 299, 399 OR 499 INDEPENDENT STUDY IN THE
VISUAL ARTS
Each of these numbers designates a specific level of
specialized study on a relevant topic that has been designed
by the student in conjunction with a faculty member of art
history or studio art. Permission of Chair required.
Staff/Three credits
ART 300 INTERNSHIP IN THE VISUAL ARTS
This upper level, field-based course is designed for juniors
and seniors to explore and develop professional opportunities
and apply concepts and skills learned in their
coursework in art history and/or studio art. Permission of
Chair required.
Staff/Three credits
* May be taken to fulfill requirement in ART/MUS/THA.
ART 301 DRAWING III
This course will begin to deal with the issue of personal
expression in drawing. It will include a reevaluation of the
elements of drawing from that point of view. Working
problems will take into consideration the individual's
inclinations as he/she begins to formulate his/her own
rationale for making art. Specific artists will be studied with
a focus on the nature of the expression in their work. Studio
supplies fee: $20. Prerequisite: ART 101 and ART 201, or
permission of the instructor.
Flanagan, Fox, Read, Staff/Three credits
ART 311 PAINTING III
This course explores advanced problems in painting.
Students will be directed in a more in-depth examination of
the extensive possibilities of the oil painting medium. Both
abstract and figurative approaches will be explored.
Emphasis is on thematic self-direction and group critiques.
The focus of the course shifts annually to reflect the
perspective of the faculty teaching it. Prerequisite: ART 111
and ART 211, or permission of the instructor. Studio
supplies fee: $60.
Flanagan, Fox, Staff/Three credits
ART 375 GRAPHIC DESIGN III
This course will present students with a variety of complex design problems. Students will apply their growing knowledge of the interaction between typography and other visual forms to these specific problems. Research and methodology are vital components of this course, as well as a class presentation on a designer of historical importance.
ART 400 SENIOR ART HISTORY SEMINAR
Advanced projects in Art History as a culmination of an
intensive program of study for the Major or Minor in Art
History. The course will work through various historiographic
and theoretical methodological approaches to the
history of art through selected texts of the field including
the writings of Hegel, Wölfflin, Riegel, Panofsky,
Gombrich, Schapiro, Greenberg, Benjamin, T.J. Clark,
Baxandall, Nochlin, Crow, Foucault, and others. By special
permission, students majoring in other disciplines may
enroll. Permission of the chairperson required.
Beall, Norris/Three credits
ART 401 SENIOR ART STUDIO SEMINAR
Advanced project in Studio Art as a culmination of a
program of study for the Major or Minor in Studio Art. This
project is completed by an exhibition of student work
mounted in the spring. Studio supplies fee: $60. Permission
of the chairperson required.
Flanagan, Fox, Staff/Three credits
20% of Assumption undergraduate students are first-generation college students.
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