Art History Curriculum

The curriculum in Art History and Critical Studies is designed to appeal to students who wish to engage in depth with issues in contemporary visual culture while practicing their own art. The program allows you a focused studio concentration along with the art history curriculum. You will graduate from AIB with the critical art historical tools and the studio skills to pursue graduate study or a career path in a variety of art-related professions.

Studio/ Art History BFA

Please note: The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University reserves the right to unilaterally add, withdraw, or revise any course offering in the above-mentioned program of study, including policies, provisions, requirements, and fees. Current students may visit the Academic Advising Office to obtain the official program requirement sheet that corresponds with their year of enrollment. 

Select Course Descriptions

IAHIS 1200

Art of the Western World I
3.0 credits
Semester begins with an introduction to the art of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages, and then explores European art from the time of Giotto until the beginning of the Romantic period in greater depth.

IAHIS 1210

Art of the Western World II
3.0 credits
Semester continues the story in Europe and America from the early nineteenth century until about 1960. The course considers the visual, social, psychological and aesthetic components shaping artistic expression through a chronological study of pivotal styles and artists. Knowledge and understanding of the history of art supports student's creative efforts. The course draws extensively on the rich visual resources of the Boston/Cambridge area.

IAHIS 1235

Art of the Western World II - Honors
3.0 credits
This course will follow the same chronological survey as IAHIS 1210 but seeks to develop in more prepared students a deeper understanding of art and the historical forces that shaped it through smaller class size and additional focused readings.

IAHIS 2100

History of Modern Design
3.0 credits
The course examines transformations of form during the Modern period (c.1850 to the present), with emphasis on the crosscurrents between the various fields of design, industrial design, and architecture and their impact on developments in the fine arts. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 2200

History of Photography
3.0 credits
This course will examine the primary issues in the history of photography from the medium's invention in the 1830s until the appearance of Postmodernism in the 1970s, including the dynamic interaction between technological and aesthetic discovery. Through slide lectures, critical readings, class presentations, and discussions, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the formative history of the medium within the era's social, cultural, and theoretical context.

IAHIS 2210

History of Documentary Photography
3.0 credits
Since its inception, photography has had the dubious distinction of being the principal documentarian of modern historical events and cultural movements. The documentary tradition in photography that has developed over the past hundred and seventy years has created iconic images that have defined and helped shape the world they describe. This course will examine the evolution of documentary photography from its earliest days to the digital present, taking into account historic trends and technological advances and including contemporary debate regarding the medium's ability to provide an objective record.

IAHIS 2220

German Film and Photography
3.0 credits
This course explores visual and cultural meanings in German film and photography of the 20th century. The history of modern Germany has been marked by tremendous social and political upheaval, including economic depression, two devastating world wars, and a country divided from 1945 until 1989. The re-united Germany now struggles with an identity that seeks to come to terms with the shame of the past while looking to the future. We will study the work of German photographers and filmmakers in the light of this complex history. Discussions about their artistic productions will be complemented by relevant philosophical, literary, and critical texts. Highlights of the course will include work by August Sander, Fritz Lang, Leni Riefenstahl, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, Anselm Kiefer, Thomas Struth, Thomas Ruff, and Andreas Gursky.

IAHIS 2300

Modernism
3 credits
This course explores key movements and figures in art from c.1890 up to the outbreak of World War II, a time often known as the Modern period. Emphasis is on European painting and sculpture. We study artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Duchamp, Arp, Mondrian, and Brancusi, who questioned long-standing assumptions about the appearance and purpose of art and strove to forge radically new artistic languages to express their individual experiences of the rapidly changing modern world. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210, or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 2400

Illustration Survey
3.0 credits
An historical survey of illustration from its earliest beginnings to the present, including important social and technological changes that have directly affected the illustrator's art. Through slides, assignments, and a term project, students become familiar with both the work of important illustrators and stylistic trends of the past. This information is used to enhance individual creativity.

IAHIS 2460

History of Animation
3.0 credits
No longer perceived as "a children's media," animation has a rich, diverse history and is now experiencing an exciting revival. In this course, animation and the evolution of the art form are viewed and examined, from early Disney works to contemporary hits like The Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, and MTV. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200, IAHIS 1210, or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 2700

Theory and Methods Seminar
3.0 credits
This course is required for art history majors and is intended to equip them with the basic methodological and critical tools for pursuing advanced undergraduate studies in the discipline. The seminar should be taken in the sophomore year after the introductory requirements are fulfilled, but before more specialized courses. Through seminar-style discussion and critical writing, students will explore the key theoretical approaches to the study of the history of art, including iconographic, formal, social and political, psychoanalytical, and semi-logical. They will learn to locate the differences between theories and methods and examine historiographical issues related to the study of art.

IAHIS 2800

Ancient and Medieval Art
3.0 credits
This course will explore the history of the visual arts (emphasizing architecture, sculpture, and painting) from the Stone Age through the late Middle Ages, with emphasis on Western Europe.

IAHIS 3025

Cinema Eye, Cinema Art
3.0 credits
A survey of masterpieces by major film directors, which situates each film within the historical and cultural context of its time. Topics will include cinematography, mis en scene, montage, narrative strategies, and genre. Classes are organized around the personal style and innovation of directors such as Welles, Hitchcock, Fellini, Coppola, Kubrick, Zhang, and Almodóvar. In addition to film screenings, class discussions, and written essays, participants will develop narrative sequences of their own using a medium of choice (drawing, animation, photography, or video).

IAHIS 3200

Art and Nature
3.0 credits
Students examine the complexity and ambivalence of humankind's relationship to the natural world and the rich variety of artistic responses it has inspired. Taking a thematic approach, the course explores selected topics across chronological, geographic, and cultural lines, including varieties of landscape painting in the West and the East, the expressive shaping of landscape across the centuries from Neolithic earth formations, landscape design, and development of the Olmsted urban park systems to recent Land Art and the rise of a modern-day ecological consciousness with its expression in art. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and IAHIS 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3210

Twentieth-Century Sculpture
3.0 credits
This course explores the major turning points in the perception and definition of sculpture in the twentieth century, with special attention to its relation to the modernist and postmodernist discourses in painting, photography, and architecture. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and IAHIS 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3211

History of Documentary Photo
3.0 credits
Since its inception, photography has had the dubious distinction of being the principal documentarian of modern historical events and cultural movements. The documentary tradition in photography that has developed over the past hundred and seventy years has created iconic images that have defined and helped shape the world they describe. This course will examine the evolution of documentary photography from its earliest days to the digital present, taking into account historic trends and technological advances, and including contemporary debate regarding the medium's ability to provide an objective record.

IAHIS 3280

Contemporary Art in East Asia
3.0 credits
This course offers an overview of contemporary art movements in East Asia, focusing primarily on China, Japan, and Korea. The variety of influences on contemporary art in the three countries will be explored, considering the specific political and cultural histories that have come to define art in each. Furthermore, the various manifestations of contemporary art; from anime to painting, performance, photography, and new media will be considered on thematic levels.

IAHIS 3290

Art and Photography in Contemporary China: A Travel Course
3.0 credits
This course exposes students to the historical and aesthetic conditions that have come to define contemporary Chinese Art. Students will become familiar with traditional art forms and methodologies (including a range of painting, printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture) as well as more recent social and political contexts that have influenced current Chinese work. Students will visit four cities; a number of museums, galleries, and cultural sites; and several art schools.

IAHIS 3304

The Art of India and Islam
3.0 credits
The artistic heritage of India and the Islamic world spans three continents, a multiplicity of cultures and belief systems, and a history of over five thousand years. This class will introduce this vast field of art history through lectures and discussions focusing on key monuments and objects, as well as through the examination of actual works of art from the collections of the Sackler Museum at Harvard. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and IAHIS 1210.

IAHIS 3310

Women in Art
3.0 credits
This course explores both the history of the struggle of female artists from the Renaissance to the present and the representation of women by men in works of art over the centuries. Students read and discuss feminist critical theory as well as art historical accounts of the careers of women artists. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210, or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3311

Gender in Focus: History of Women in Photography
3.0 credits
Women photographers play a major role in defining the contemporary landscape of photography, but the history of women in photography is filled with varying modes of representation and expression. In this one semester advanced photo course, we will examine the social and cultural shifts regarding women and photography, including how the portrayal of women changes with the power to use the camera to self-express. Divided into two sections, the initial half, "The First Century," will serve to inform how historical constructs help define the female photographer and images of women in "The Modern Era." Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3360

History of American Art
3.0 credits
This course will explore the development of the visual arts in America and their role in American society from its colonial beginnings to eve of the Second World War. During this period, American artists moved rapidly beyond their initial limited role as provincial imitators of European high styles to explore questions of "national identity" through a wide variety of subject matter and styles. We will consider painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography in the context of a developing American society, including examining issues surrounding representations of gender and race. We will take advantage of the many opportunities that the Boston area provides to explore historic buildings and original art works. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3380

New Media: History and Process
3.0 credits
Digital, video/video installation, and performance art are becoming ever-greater parts of the experience of art making and viewing. Rather than being seen as oppositional to traditional forms of art making, these media can act as tools for students and artists. They can be understood as opportunities for the next movements in art, with the option of working in conjunction with traditional media. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210, or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3420

Intro to the Art and Thought of Asia
3.0 credits
This course surveys selected topics in the art and thought of India, Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. The goal is to provide students with the keys to understanding the foundations of Asian tradition. The paintings and sculpture of each geographic area are studied in their philosophical, spiritual, or sociopolitical context. An extensive reading list includes such philosophical sources as the Upanishads, Tao Te Ching, and the Buddhist Pali Canon, as well as literary classics such as Lady Murasaki's Tales of Genji. The course takes advantage of the extensive holdings of Asian art in local museums. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200, IAHIS 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3450

The Arts of Africa
3.0 credits
The class examines selected case studies of artistic practices from different historical eras in a range of cultures across the African continent. It analyzes, on a comparative basis, how different worldviews contribute to the shaping of diverse aesthetic models. The class also examines the choice of specific formal and technical means and how art plays a crucial role in rituals of transformation, regeneration, power, and identity.

IAHIS 3530

African-American Artists: The Harlem Renaissance through the Civil Rights Movement
3.0 credits
The primary goal of this course is to study the responses of African-American artists of the twentieth century to the issues of power, otherness, and selfhood. Following a brief glance at the history of African-American cultural representations from the eras of slavery and the Civil War, the course pays critical attention to the five decades between the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement. The class first studies the "New Negro" awareness among artists in the years between the world wars, moving up through the Civil Rights Movement, when more complicated questions of gender, class, and political identities profoundly affected the strategies of African-American artists. The semester concludes with a quick look at the more recent contributions of African-Americans to the discourse of contemporary art. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200, 1210, IAHIS 2300 (recommended).

IAHIS 3600

Art Since 1945
3.0 credits
This course explores the rapidly changing work of post-war art, emphasizing developments in the United States. After an introductory overview of the formative early modern period in Europe and America, in particular the rise of abstraction and the emergence of surrealism, the course examines such artistic movements as Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Minimalism, Earth Art, Realism, and Conceptual Art. In addition to the artistic movements themselves, the course also considers such issues as the place of art and the artist in contemporary society. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200, IAHIS 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3610

Design Discourse
3.0 credits
Is design's purpose to communicate clearly, to advocate for a particular point of view, or to sell specific products? Does a designer have any responsibility to society beyond the normally accepted boundaries of ethical behavior? Is legibility a moral issue or simply a practical virtue? These are just a few of the issues we research, discuss, analyze, and write about in this course. The emphasis is on constructing a coherent written argument and developing a personal point of view about contemporary issues that inform design practice. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200, 1210 and 2100, or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 3800

The Nude
3.0 credits
This class examines the image of the nude from Greek sculpture and vase painting to contemporary popular images. While both sexes receive attention, the female nude will be central to the discussion of gender discourse in post-Enlightenment West. The class also analyzes the age-old controversy over the "nude" versus the "naked" (which leads to the question of art versus pornography) in light of such contemporary debates as the one over Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs. Finally, in addition to the readings and written assignments, the course offers a studio component. Students organize an exhibition of their own works on the theme of the nude. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 4010

Thesis I: Seminar
1.5 credits
The Thesis Seminar is offered to Art History majors to work toward completion of the required senior thesis. It is the first semester of a two-semester sequence, to be followed by a Theis II to complete the project. The seminar format offers candidates both the experience of group learning, peer review, and individualized attention. Each student will produce a thesis proposal and a draft for critical examination and discussion by the group. Towards the end of the semester students will deliver the developing papers in class presentations to receive final feedback from the cohort.  Prerequisites: IAHIS 2700 with a minimum grade of of B-.

IAHIS 4100

Art and War
3.0 credits
This course examines representations of warfare. The goal is not to survey the actual histories of conflicts, but to understand how political and cultural ideologies are demonstrated by images made either as propaganda for or commemoration of a war. Each case study illuminates the key art historical issues of the period evident in the images.

IAHIS 4150

Africa: Between Tradition and Modernity
3.0 credits
This course is as much about the cultural politics surrounding African art as it is about the art itself. With particular emphasis on colonialism as a vital agent of change, students first learn how the early modernist view of African objects as works of art paradoxically fostered a new myth of primitivism. The lingering hold of this fantasy about the Other on Western imagination today is also examined. A variety of cultural representations from postcolonial Africa are explored in the context of "tradition" and "modernity." Recommended prerequisites: The Arts of Africa, IAHIS 3450 and IAHIS 3600.

IAHIS 4200

Representing Representation
3.0 credits
This course begins from the premise that all images are mediated by pre-existing images. Through a wide variety of case studies, ranging from Velazquez' "Las Meninas" to MAD Magazine, it examines how artists have confronted the question of cross-references of visual images in different eras; how they have produced new fictions by exploiting illusions of mirrors, imaging themselves, making statements about the enterprise of art making, and quoting other images quite openly. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 4400

The Art and Culture of Japan
3.0 credits
This course concentrates on those major forms of fine and applied arts which have distinguished Japan in Asia and the aesthetic, religious, and political forces that have shaped the culture of modern Japan. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 4500

Art and Popular Culture
3.0 credits
The objective of the course is to survey and analyze the changing relationships between contemporary art and popular culture. Underlying the course are three themes: the relationship and blurring of boundaries between art and popular culture, the relationship of art and history, and postmodern identity. Key topics and figures include Kitsch and Art, Joseph Cornell, Walter Benjamin, Andy Warhol, the Beatles, Bill Viola, and Dr. Seuss. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 4600

Postmodernism
3.0 credits
This course examines the term "postmodern" in light of the seminal changes in the production and consumption of visual cultures of the recent decades. Its primary aim is to trace the implications of this concept in the shaping of a contemporary artist's awareness. A series of critical readings and discussions provides insight into the historical background and the global character of the postmodern experience. In this context, the course also questions the reductive connotations of the buzzword "postmodernism," treating it instead as an umbrella term that accommodates a range of overlapping as well as conflicting ideas and theories. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200, IAHIS 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 4620

Hyperculture: Art, Culture & Technology
3.0 credits
This course focuses on the changes that have occurred in how we think about and respond to new technological transformations, such as digital and computer technology and internet communications. We consider the ways in which artists have appropriated these technologies to create new art forms, e.g. cyberpunk and science fiction, in visual and literary art forms. The goal of the course is to inform student understanding of these new art forms and to encourage creative experimentation. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and IAHIS 1210 or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 4700

Advanced Topics: The Bauhaus
3.0 credits
It was at Bauhaus, the most significant art school of the 20th century, that design, architecture, and the fine arts coalesced. In this seminar, the professor will set up the general framework and students will research their own chosen topics in depth. Topics may include, but are not limited to: Bauhaus faculty; student life; Bauhaus curriculum; German politics of the Weimar Republic; contemporary movements in art, architecture and design; women at the Bauhaus; or the influence of the Bauhaus on 20th century culture. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210.

IAHIS 4910

Critical Theory
3.0 credits
This course introduces students to the main currents of contemporary critical theory, including phenomenology, post-structuralism, and deconstruction. Discussion focuses on artists working in mediums of painting, installation art, performance art, new media, cinema, and poetry. Readings offered in the course help students to become active as they locate themselves in analysis and critical response. Prerequisites: IAHIS 1200 and 1210, or permission of instructor.

IAHIS 5100

Issues in Visual Culture
3.0 credits
This course focuses on the interrelationship between art and society. Accordingly, students examine the role of visual culture and artistic practice within the context of everyday life. To accomplish this task, we address a wide range of issues relating to the many connections between art and society. To help tackle these issues, we read essays by artists, critics, and theoreticians who have been instrumental in defining our understanding of visual culture over the past three decades. LC/AIB undergrads may take this course by permission of instructor.

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