Fall 2026

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 1505 Art and Money

Fordham

This introduction to the history of art examines the relationship of artistic value to economic value from the Italian Renaissance to the present. While not a uniquely Western phenomenon, the commodification of art plays a particularly important role in modern capitalist economies, and it enables us to think about the relationship of Western art to imperialism, post-colonialism, and global markets today. 

ARTH 2451 Art in the 20th Century

Noel Robbins

Art in the 20th Century surveys visual art from 1900 to 2000 with an international perspective. Major questions and themes will be tracked across a range of media (sculpture, painting, printmaking, video art, performance art, etc), attending to the social, theoretical, and practical concerns structuring the making and reception of modern and contemporary art.

ARTH 2559 The Creative Mind: from Cave Art to AI

Dakouri-Hild

This course asks what creativity is and what the link is between creativity and humanity. It explores the emergence of creative thinking from early prehistory, tracking creativity to the Al era, and how we can practice creativity as daily life skill for resilience and personal fulfillment.

ARTH 2591/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 2591 American Art and Diaspora

Oslé

This course offers a multicultural history of American art, from the second half of the twentieth century into the present. Accordingly, we will define the field of “American art” to include works created by artists of Euro-American descent as well as by Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, African American, Middle Eastern, and Latinx artists, as well as others who have prominent ties to the United States. This course will therefore predominantly examine the visual arts created by diaspora communities across the United States. We will use artwork as a means of understanding the lived experiences of Americans from the diaspora—that is Americans of non-European descent, whose origins are from across the world. Students will study drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and the built world.

ARTH 2591 Things: Materiality in Art and Daily Life

Dakouri-Hild

The course explores the power of material things, like artifacts, daily objects and art works, to connect to our identities, communities, memories, and lived experiences.

ARTH 2861 East Asian Art

Wong

Introduces the artistic traditions of China, Korea, and Japan, from prehistoric times to the modern era. Surveys major monuments and the fundamental concepts behind their creation, and examines artistic form in relation to society, individuals, technology, and ideas.

ARTH 2861 Arts of African Civilizations

Paoletti

ARTH 3591 Medieval Manuscript Illumination

Ramírez-Weaver

This course examines the development of manuscript illumination following the birth of the codex in ca. 300.  Each manuscript studied exemplifies aspects of changing period styles, scientific beliefs, and spiritual identities. The myriad ways that books manifest crafted confessions of medieval ideas and reveal a sensual appreciation for beauty and value will be interrogated through a set of case studies ranging roughly 450-1450. Students in this course will learn the fundamental research skills required to undertake original study of medieval manuscripts.

ARTH 3591 Art, Death, and Ritual: Mysteries of Ancient China

Wong

Through the close study of well-documented archaeological sites of ancient China, which reveal ritual practices as well as astonishing grave goods that include spectacular jades and bronzes, this course explores the Chinese notions of afterlife, ancestor worship, state ritual, and immortality cults. The material culture and beliefs and practices examined form a backdrop to understanding the period when ancient Chinese civilization was formed. 

ARTH 3591 Outlaws, Madmen, and Disco Queens: Australian National Cinema

Skerritt

In 1906, the world’s first feature-length narrative film was produced in Melbourne, Australia. Since then, Australia has played an oversized role in the history of global cinema, producing auteur directors such as Peter Weir and Baz Luhrmann, actors like Cate Blanchett and Margot Robbie, and cult films including Mad Max, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Crocodile Dundee. This colloquium examines the economic, social and political factors that have driven the Australian film industry. The course is not chronological in approach but is structured around key themes that question the role of film in the creation and presentation of national identity within the globalized context of modern cinema. For Australians, cinema has played a vital role in presenting an identity that was both distinct from Europe and America, while still part of the global phenomenon of “the movies”. In considering the development of a foreign, but predominantly-English-speaking cinematic tradition, this course asks students to consider the changing role of the nation state amidst a shifting mythos of rugged outlaws, boisterous larrikins and ABBA obsessed drag queens.

ARTH 4051 Art History: Theory and Practice

Paoletti

This course introduces the basic tools and methods of art historical research, and to the theoretical and historical questions of art historical interpretation. The course will survey a number of current approaches to the explanation and interpretation of works of art, and briefly address the history of art history.

ARTH 4591 Politics of the Past

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 Archaeology of Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World

Kreindler

This class will be dedicated to the study of material traces of sport and spectacle in the ancient Mediterranean. Topics will include ancient dramatic and athletic contests, funerary games, gladiatorial combat, and historical reenactments. This course will not simply be a survey of ancient spectacles, but rather will interrogate how spectacles reinforced social norms, practices, and institutions in classical antiquity.

ARTH/ARH 4591 Vikings into Kings

Reilly

How did Viking raiders become patrons of some of medieval Europe’s most remarkable works of art and architecture? Within a few generations, leaders who once arrived in longships along Europe’s coasts were commissioning monuments such as the Bayeux Tapestry, Durham Cathedral, and even the dazzling Cappella Palatina in Palermo. This seminar explores the Viking world through its art, architecture, and material culture. Tracing routes that linked Scandinavia with the British Isles, continental Europe, and the Mediterranean, we will examine ships, jewelry, churches, manuscripts, and royal monuments that reveal how Viking identities evolved through travel, settlement, and cultural exchange. Particular attention will be paid to the encounters and artistic interactions that shaped both Viking communities and the societies they entered. Through discussion, short writing assignments, and a final research project, students will practice interpreting visual evidence, developing original research questions, and presenting persuasive arguments in a clearly written research paper. This course fulfills the second writing requirement.

ARTH/GDS 4951 University Museum Internship

Love

This is a two-semester sequence of two three-credit courses. Students will do internships (lasting for an academic year) at either the Fralin Museum of Art or the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. As interns, students will work approximately 100 hours each semester (7-8 hours per week) in the museum, under the close supervision of museum professionals, and will participate in three training sessions and three academic seminars. Space is limited. Application required: to apply please email instructors your transcript, resume, and a one-page essay indicating your interest in museum work and your experience (if any). Deadline May 1st.

ARAH 8051 Theory and Interpretation in the Visual Arts

Betzer

ARAH 8060 Prospectus and Grant Writing

Noel Robbins

This course will guide students through the process of drafting a clear and compelling dissertation prospectus in collaboration with program faculty and peers.

ARAH 9525 World Travel and Material Culture ca 1500

Fiorani

In this seminar we explore what material culture reveals about the transfer of ideas, global trade, colonization, and cultural, religious, and economic exchange between Europe, the Islamic world, sub-Saharan Africa, India, China, Japan, and the Americas. Paintings, sculptures, buildings, maps, textiles, metal objects, ceramics, glassware, and prints are among the artifacts we will consider.

ARAH/ARH 9540 Materialities of Empire

Crane

This seminar examines recent scholarship bridging what have often been divergent concerns, focused either on infrastructures and architectures of empire, or on questions of material and more-than-human forms of agency. Our terrain of exploration will include discrete material histories (e.g., concrete, quarries), as well as broader investigations (e.g., discard studies, plant humanities). Readings include max liboiron, Maan Barua, Banu Subramaniam, Diana Martinez, and Sarah Lopez.