ARAD 3550 Representations Matter: Monuments and Public Space

Garcia

Over the last decade, communities have questioned historical monuments and what memories are memorialized, pushing for historical revision.  This course examines the relationship between historical narratives, monuments, public art, and public space through a diverse array of contested sites, including the Columbus statue recently removed in Los Angeles and the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, as well as other national and transnational counterparts. Students will explore how arts leadership principles can be applied to understand, work in, and support communities that use creative interventions to reshape public memory. By analyzing case studies, through course practicums, and engaging guest speakers in the field, students will develop tools to engage the shifting arts and culture landscape.

ARAD 4599 Arts & Climate Futures: Leadership for a Changing World

Garcia

This course examines the vital role of the arts in shaping responses to the climate crisis and imagining sustainable futures. We will look at how artists, curators, and cultural organizations are rethinking exhibitions, collections, and programming to address ecological challenges and inspire public engagement. Students will study global and local models of climate-related arts practice, from reimagined exhibition design and climate-conscious collections care to community-based projects that center dialogue and change. Through readings, case studies, and hands-on labs, students will design climate-aware programs and exhibitions and propose new artistic and curatorial strategies for creating arts for climate futures.

ARTH 1153 Space Out! Cosmic Art from Prehistory to the Present

Ramírez-Weaver

Looking outward and upward at the starry sky, artists, philosophers, and scientists have throughout history consistently sought to situate themselves within the cosmos and to comprehend its heavenly machinery. Creative efforts at understanding or harnessing the significance of the planets and the stars have resulted in architectural wonders such as Stonehenge, zodiacal floor mosaics in late antique synagogues, star pictures in medieval manuscripts, Islamic celestial globes and astrolabes, illustrations for medical treatment, alchemical interventions, observation or imagination of the heavens, and more modern treatments ranging from Joseph Cornell to Star Wars. This course traces the development of scientific, political, spiritual, magical, and intellectual technologies of power that have tied individuals to their views and uses for astronomy. Topics include: stars and rule, astronomy, astrology, Ptolemy’s universe, Christian reinterpretation, Arabic or Islamic contributions, alchemy, magic, medicine, Galileo, science fiction, Chesley Bonestell, Remedios Varo, Kambui Olujimi, androids, Star Trek, and Star Wars.

ARTH 1500/ENWR 2510 Cinematic Cities: Global Perspectives

Vargas

This course explores the relationship between cinema and urban environments worldwide. By analyzing iconic films from different cultural and historical backgrounds, students will examine how cities influence cinematic storytelling, aesthetics, and production, shaping cultural perceptions and identities of urban spaces.

ARTH 1861 Silk Road Exchanges and World Cultures

Wong

Stretching some 8,000 kilometers, the Silk Road is a network of trade routes that provided a bridge between the east and the west between the first and fourteenth centuries CE. Despite periods of disruptions, the Silk Road flourished as a commercial and at times military highway. But more than that, it was a channel for the transmission of ideas, technologies, and artistic forms and styles, with far-reaching impact beyond China and the Mediterranean world. This course introduces the art forms, trade objects, and religions that flourished along the historical Silk Road.

ARTH 2054 Roman Art and Archaeology

Kreindler

Following an overview of Etruscan art, the course examines the development of Roman architecture, urbanism, sculpture and painting from the Republic to Constantine. A focus is Rome itself, but other archaeological sites, such as Pompeii, in Italy and throughout the empire are also considered. Themes, such as succession, the achievements of the emperor, the political and social role of art, and the dissolution of classical art, are traced.

ARTH 2055 Introduction to Classical Archaeology

Kreindler

Introduces the history, theory, and field techniques of classical archaeology. Major sites of the Bronze Age (Troy, Mycenae) as well as Greek and Roman cities and sanctuaries (e.g., Athens, Olympia, Pompeii) illustrate important themes in Greek and Roman culture and the nature of archaeological data.

ARTH 2056 Aegean Art and Archaeology

Dakouri-Hild

Introduction to the art and archaeology of the prehistoric Aegean, from the Early Bronze Age to the end of the Late Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1200 BCE). Notable sites examined include Troy, Knossos, Mycenae, Thebes, Pylos. The course also examines cultural and artistic connections with New Kingdom Egypt and the Late Bronze Age Levant.

ARTH 2151 Early Christian and Byzantine Art

Kondyli

Studies the art of the early Church in East and West and its subsequent development in the East under the aegis of Byzantium. Includes the influence of theological, liturgical and political factors on the artistic expression of Eastern Christian spirituality.

ARTH 2745 African American Art

Noel Robbins

This course surveys visual art produced by artists of African descent in the United States from the late-nineteenth century to the present. Relationships between artistic practice, socio-political developments, and critical theory are stressed in an examination of a range of modern and contemporary practices, including painting, sculpture, photography, and performance art.

ARTH 2961 Arts of the Islamic World

Phillips

The class is an overview of art made in the service of Islam in the Central Islamic Lands, Egypt, North Africa, Spain, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and South and Southeast Asia. Discussion sections offer more in depth discussions of larger issues raised in the lectures.

ARTH 3591 Abstract Painting in Downtown NYC, 1940-1990

Noel Robbins

Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler. These are only a few of the well-known figures who we’ve come to associate with abstract painting in downtown Manhattan. But the history of abstraction in NYC is far more diverse and experimental than a focus on such figures would allow. In this colloquium we will explore the pictorial practices that thrived in downtown’s vibrant cultural scene, considering how experiments in abstract painting both informed and were informed by a variety of cultural contexts including experimental poetry, the rise of “free jazz,” and multiple liberation movements. Focusing on a period from the 1940s into the 1990s, we will track a history of abstract painting in downtown NYC that far exceeds the well-worn story of Abstract Expressionism and the so-called New York School.

ARTH 3591 Medieval Mayhem

Ramírez-Weaver

We explore ways medieval mystical practices joined the human body with nature, transcended the cosmic harmonies of divine proportion, and attempted to fashion the world according to medieval belief. We examine purifying practices such as the Eucharist or baptism, as well as the manipulation of cosmic forces for personal or political reasons, with strategies ranging from horoscopic astrology to necromancy, ending with Harry Potter. 

ARTH 3595 Archive Archaeology: Excavating the Past through Archives

Kondyli

This seminar offers a hands-on journey into the world of archives and archaeology. Students will dive into excavation records, museum collections, and archival materials from famous Mediterranean sites, discovering how these sources can be reimagined with innovative digital tools. Working with UVA’s Scholars’ Lab, you’ll learn the basics of 3D modeling and virtual reality (VR) applications, using them to bring ancient urban landscapes vividly to life. Along the way, we’ll ask critical questions about how archives shape our understanding of the past. The course concludes with a public showcase, where your immersive reconstructions connect history, technology, and community.

ARTH 4591 Generated: Creativity and Art in the AI era 

Dakouri-Hild

The course examines creativity in the AI era, exploring legal, cultural, economic, philosophical, and ethical questions about art, authenticity, ownership, and agency in a rapidly changing world. Can creativity exist outside of human experience and individuality? What makes AI artistic products different from human-made ones? What are the benefits and drawbacks of using AI in artistic production? What are some promising directions in harnessing AI in artistic practice and creativity? What might the future of AI artistic practice possibly hold for creators of all stripes?

ARTH 4591 Antiquity in Film

Dakouri-Hild

The seminar focuses on the cultural politics involving antiquities with a variety of issues illuminated: nationalism and archaeology in the service of the state; sanctimony and stewardship of ancient sites; repatriation and restitution of art; the commodification of culture in contemporary society; art/artifacts as spoils of war; the ethics of connoisseurship and collecting; social and economic aspects of illicit antiquities trade etc.

ARTH 4591 Painting and Science, 1700-1900

Fordham

Art and Science have famously been described as “two cultures” unable to understand, or communicate with, one other. This seminar looks at paintings in the 18th and 19th centuries that drew heavily upon scientific insights and in some cases contributed to scientific discovery. It was in these two centuries that painting was at its greatest cultural influence, and that science was emerging as a professional, specialized field. What can we learn about painting and science through their interactions, and through the lens of visual inquiry? Throughout the class we will work on research and writing skills that will culminate in a final paper.   

ARTH/GDS 4952 University Museum Internship

Love

This is the second semester internship at either UVA Art Museum or Kluge Ruhe. Students will work approximately 100 hours per semester in the museum, and will participate in three training sessions and three academic seminars. ARTH/GDS 4951 and instructor permission, by application; deadline May 1. 

ARAH 9510 Lay Piety: Religion in Everyday Medieval Life

Reilly

How did ordinary men and women experience the sacred in their daily lives? This seminar investigates the vibrant world of lay religious practice in later medieval England, where the parish church served as the beating heart of community life. Through close examination of material culture—from rood screens and wall paintings to liturgical vessels and funeral monuments—we will reconstruct how pre-Reformation Christians encountered the divine through their senses, shaped their spiritual identities, and negotiated their relationships with the supernatural.

Moving beyond elite ecclesiastical history, we will ask: What did it mean to be a parishioner? How did architecture guide devotional experience? What can churchwardens' accounts, wills, and surviving objects reveal about the religious imagination of the laity?

ARAH 9585/ARH 7500 Buddhist Art

Wong

This seminar examines the key topics and monuments across Buddhist Asia, with primary focus on East Asia. Topics include the worship of Buddhist relics, images, and related rituals and material culture. Key sites of stūpas, cave-temples, pilgrimage centers, and monasteries will be examined alongside archaeological discoveries to explore practices and patrons’ intentions. The seminar introduces seminal writings and reviews current scholarship from a variety of sources: liturgies, historical texts, inscriptions, and contemporary writing, and includes comparisons with western medieval traditions.