PDF of the 2012-2013 Academic Catalog - Scripps College

Scripps College Catalog
Courses of Study
Art History
37
Requirements for the Major
Art history majors will take two introductory art history courses, six additional art history courses,
one studio art course, the senior seminar, and the senior thesis, for a total of 11 required courses.
1. Two introductory courses: 51a or 51b, and 51c.
2. One course in the art of Asia, Africa, or the African Diaspora.
3. One course in the art of the Americas.
4. One course in the art of Europe before 1840.
5. One course in art since 1840.
6. Two additional art history courses.
7. One studio art course.
8. Senior Seminar in the fall semester (Art History 190).
9. Senior Thesis in the spring semester (Art History 191).
Majors who intend to pursue graduate studies should study at least two foreign languages
appropriate to their areas of interest. Students are strongly encouraged to apply for summer
internships in museums, galleries, and conservation labs, and to study abroad during their junior
year.
Honors Requirements
A student who wishes to graduate with honors in art history must achieve a minimum grade point
average of 10.5 in the major and earn an A or A- in a two-semester thesis that is more substantial
than that of students not working on honors. The honors thesis must be proposed to the department
chair by the end of the junior year. The honors student will write and then orally defend the thesis
before a faculty honors committee that consists of at least three members (the two thesis readers
and an additional member to be selected by the student).
Course Descriptions
51a,b,c. Introduction to the History of Art. Asks how the visual cultures of past times relate
to those of the present and critically examines the modern notion of “art.” Courses proceed
chronologically with examples from Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Courses may be taken
in any order. 51a runs from prehistory through ancient times in Europe, the Mediterranean and the
Fertile Crescent; offered alternate years; 51b treats the European Middle Ages, offered alternate
years; 51c from c. 1200 to the present, offered each semester. Staff.
133. Art, Conquest and Colonization. Examines how images and architecture were enlisted in and
helped shape the systematic exploration, conquest and colonization of North America (Canada, the
US and Mexico) by Europeans from ca. 1500 to 1800. Considers how cultural production was used
by indigenous populations to resist attempts to erase their cultures and to control the manner in
which they assimilated into European settler cultures. Also addresses the connection between early
representations of Africans and the establishment of a slave economy. Letter grade only. F. Pohl.
135. Art and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century North America. Examines how nineteenthcentury
North American artists and art institutions were involved in shaping the “imagined
communities” that constituted the nations of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. Includes works in a
variety of media—paintings, sculpture, prints, architecture—and museums, art markets and mass
media. Letter grade only. F. Pohl.
137. Tradition and Transformation in Native North American Art. An introductory survey
of the visual and material culture of the Native peoples of North America in terms of material,
technique, and cultural, historical, and philosophical/spiritual contexts. This class will also consider
patterns of cultural contact and transformation, the collecting of Native American art, Federal
government Indian policy and educational institutions, and modern and contemporary Native
American art and cultural activism. B. Anthes.
138. Native American Art Collections Research. This seminar focuses on original student
research with Native American artworks from the collection of the Pomona College Museum of
Art. Working collaboratively, students will study these artworks in detail, develop bibliographies
in relevant secondary literature, write weekly research progress reports, make a formal research
presentation, and a final paper. B. Anthes