This course introduces the history of art, design, and visual culture to first-year university students, building the skills needed for classes at the 200 level and above. Rather than presenting a general historical survey of European and North American arts, the course travels around the globe, and presents a series of case studies that foregound the processes of seeing, reading, and interpreting as integral to the experience of images and objects. The learning outcomes for this course are:
1) Skills in visual, formal, and material analysis
2) Enhanced skills in reading comprehension and written communication
3) Ability to contextualize works of art, design, and visual culture in their historical surrounds
4) Experience in viewing works of art, design, and visual culture firsthand
5) having fun
You will meet the outcomes listed above through a combination of the following activities in this course:
● Careful viewing of online videos and powerpoint presentations ● Detailed reading of assigned texts ● Participation in study groups through weekly posting ● Regular online quizzes ● Attending study sessions with TA ● Completion of written assignments
Virtual Office Hours: FRIDAYS 2:30-4:30 pm by appointment (unless there is a holiday), via Calendy
email: claylisa@ualberta.ca
Virtual Office Hours: TBA via Calendy
email: soareses@ualberta.ca
Weekly discussion sessions (which I prefer to call "conferences" as you will spend the time confering with the GTA, each other, and the writers you are reading for the course). These are not drop-in sessions. Please arrive promptly. Optional, but recommended, and count towards participation grade. DATE AND TIME TBA
Virtual Office Hours: TBA via Calendy
email: kanger@ualberta.ca
Weekly discussion sessions (which I prefer to call "conferences" as you will spend the time confering with the GTA, each other, and the writers you are reading for the course). These are not drop-in sessions. Please arrive promptly. Optional, but recommended, and count towards participation grade. DATE AND TIME TBA
Winter 2021 calendar days and time: M/W 12:30-1:50.
Class location: Asynchronous online with optional synchronous discussion sessions and virtual field trips
PLEASE NOTE: We are required to have all lecture courses online due to COVID-19, and with almost 150 students in HADVC 100, many not able to return to Alberta, it has been recommended that all required material be delivered asynchronously. We will, however, hold optional but recommended discussion sessions during the originally scheduled times (M/W 12:30-1:50 MST) as well as during other times in the week. Most Friday afternoons at 5 pm MST Lisa Claypool will take you on virtual tours of museums across the world. These tours also are optional but recommended.
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: none
Required Texts: There is one required book for this course: John Berger, Ways of Seeing (Penguin, 1972). The book is available through the University of Alberta Bookstore or an online bookseller of your choice. If you have trouble accessing a hardcopy of this text due to COVID, please contact your GTA immediately. All other required texts will be provided as library links or as PDFs in eClass at the beginning of each of the five sections (Introductions, Essential Skills, Art History, Design, Visual Culture). eClass is our private library space.
Required Videos: The ppt video lectures will be released on a week-by-week basis. I will make the videos for the next week available to you on Thursday evenings by linking them to this syllabus, which is something like the space of a classroom. The videos will be accessible through Vimeo, and are password-protected.
Check out the COURSE REQUIREMENTS page for information about course projects and performance expectations.
Important dates:
January 11: First day of class
January 22: Last day to add/drop Winter Term courses
January 29: Last day for payment of Winter Term fees
February 10: Winter Term Refund Deadline
April 9: Last day for withdrawal from Winter Term courses
April 16: Last day of class
April 19-30: Winter Term exam period