Graduate courses for Spring 2018 | Penn History of Art

	Title	Instructor	Location	Time	Description	Registration Notes
ARTH 506-401	ELECTRONIC LIT SEMINAR: COPYRIGHT AND CULTURE	DECHERNEY, PETER	FISHER-BENNETT HALL 222	W 0200PM-0500PM	This course is designed to introduce advanced undergraduate and graduate students to the range of new opportunities for literary research afforded by recent technological innovation. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.
ARTH 510-401	BUDDHIST TEXTS & CONTEXTS	MCDANIEL, JUSTIN	COLLEGE HALL 311F	M 0200PM-0500PM	This is an advanced course for upper level undergraduates and graduate students on various issues in the study of Buddhist texts, art, and history. Each semester the theme of the course changes. In recent years themes have included: Magic and Ritual, Art and Material Culture, Texts and Contexts, Manuscript Studies.
ARTH 517-401	HISTORY OF THE BOOK IN EAST ASIA	DAVIS, JULIE CHANCE, LINDA	VAN PELT LIBRARY 625	T 0130PM-0430PM	Spring 2018: From handscrolls to manga, books play a vital role in East Asian societies. In this course we will introduce the spread of book cultures across East Asia and reconsider the role and impact of material texts on societies in China, Korea, and Japan. Among the questions we ll engage are: What is a book, an author, or an edition? How do readers affect books? How do publishers decide when to use illustrations, woodblock printing, or movable type? How has the history of books differed in China, Japan, and Korea from the history of the book in the West? We will consider various media (bamboo, paper, silk, and the digital), formats (scrolls, folded books, bound books, small to oversize), and the tensions between handwritten manuscript and printed pages. Hands-on sessions may include paper-making, bookbinding, and printing. This is an Objects-Based Learning course, using materials from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and the Penn Museum, with visits to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Free Library of Philadelphia. Requires no knowledge of any Asian language.	CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS; CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
ARTH 522-401	TOPIC IN ANC IRANIAN ART: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE PERSIAN GULF FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE ROMANS	PITTMAN, HOLLY	FISHER-BENNETT HALL 17	W 0330PM-0630PM	Topic varies. Spring 2018: This seminar will focus on the environmental, archaeological and textual record for settlement in the Persian/Arabian Gulf region from the Neolithic to the pre-Islamic Late Antique. Emphasis will be on the settlement history and material culture. Special attention will be paid to the close interaction of the local communities on the Arabian side of the Gulf with those on the Iranian/Indus valley side. The patterns of sea faring trade and interaction from Mesopotamia, Iran, Indus Valley and beyond will be considered. It is possible that this class will take a site trip to the UAE during the spring break, if the logistics can be arranged. Instructors: Professors Holly Pittman (Penn), Peter Magee (Bryn Mawr College).	UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION
ARTH 529-401	TOPICS IN ROMAN ARCH: ANCIENT ROMAN ARCHITECTURE AND THE DIGITAL TURN	STINSON, PHILIP	WILLIAMS HALL 202	T 0130PM-0430PM	Topic varies. Spring 2018: This seminar offers a critical assessment of digital Roman architecture studies. What has been accomplished and learned over the last generation since the Digital Turn, and where is the field of Roman architecture being taken? Points of focus include several landmark case studies, such as digital reconstructions of the city of ancient Rome, and threatened cultural heritage sites in Syria. The course will involve readings of significant texts, in class discussions and presentations lead by the seminar s participants, and testing and critiquing of a limited set of digital tools.
ARTH 537-401	TOPICS IN ART OF IRAN: FROM THE SASANIANS TO THE ABBASIDS	KUTTNER, ANN HOLOD, RENATA	JAFFE BUILDING 104	W 0200PM-0500PM	Topic varies. Spring 2018: The pro-seminar will examine aspects of continuity and rupture in the visual culture(s) of the Iranian world. This is an opportunity for students whose preparations may be centered on other contiguous periods or regions to consider the manner in which Middle Asia and its rich visual cultures contributed to the forging of Late Antique and medieval/ Islamic visual expressions of kingship, territory and religion. The seminar will consider a range of materials from archaeological sites, rock reliefs and wall paintings to textiles, silver vessels, coins and ceramics, with special attention to materials excavated or otherwise held by the Penn Museum.	UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION
ARTH 540-401	TOPICS IN MEDIEVAL ART: MIGRATING MATERIALITY: IVORY AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN	GUERIN, SARAH	MCNEIL BUILDING 582	T 0300PM-0600PM	Topic varies. Spring 2019: Between the medieval metropolitan capitals of Constantinople and Paris lay the dynamic connecting sea -- the Mediterranean. This course begins by looking in depth at the birth and development of those two key capital cities, and their competitive interactions. Urban centers around the Mediterranean littoral contributed significantly to the networks linking and provisioning those two key metropoli: Venice, Palermo, Tunis, Sijilmasa, Acre, Cairo and Cordoba. This seminar will examine the urban fabric and the objects produced in an array of Mediterranean cities thriving in the Middle Ages, revealing the unexpected ways that they were connected by the sea. This seminar is limited to graduate students only, and permission must be sought from the instructors before enrollment.	UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION
ARTH 560-401	TOPICS IN AESTHETICS: WALTER BENJAMIN	WEISSBERG, LILIANE	VAN PELT LIBRARY 627	T 0300PM-0500PM	Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) is a philosopher whose writings on art, literature, and politics have had tremendous influence on many disciplines in the Humanities and Social Studies. He has been variously described as one of the leading German-Jewish thinkers, and a secular Marxist theorist. With the publication of a four-volume collection of this works in English, many more of his writings have been made accessible to a wider public. Our seminar will undertake a survey of his work that begins with his studies on language and allegory, and continues with his autobiographical work, his writings on art and literature, and on the imaginary urban spaces of the nineteenth-century.	UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION
ARTH 596-401	TOPICS IN CONTEMP ART: ART AND RESISTANCE	REDROBE, KAREN HAYES, SHARON		R 0130PM-0430PM	Topic varies. Spring 2018: An experimental class for artists and scholars. Organized around a series of case studies of artists, collectives, infrastructures, and curatorial projects, the course includes: in-class discussion and viewing; workshops with class visitors; site visits; participation in small reading groups. In the first half of the class, students will complete some short assignments. In addition, students will complete a final project that is intentionally open in terms of form. The project, which can be collective or individual in nature, will enable an in-depth material investigation of one of the threads of the class.¿	CONTACT DEPT or INSTRUCTOR FOR CLASSRM INFO; UNDERGRADUATES NEED PERMISSION
ARTH 629-401	ROMAN ARCH & URBANISM: POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM	STINSON, PHILIP		CANCELED	In addition to the sense of human catastrophe, the ruins of the ancient cities Pompeii and Herculaneum provide insights into the cultural, social, and political life of Italian cities during Roman times (2nd century B.C.E. 79 C.E.). The architecture and decorations of their public buildings, spaces, and houses, and the changes observable in them, can be considered characteristic of Roman cities in general. Burial by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 also provides a unique glimpse of events that occurred at one specific moment in time. Reception of these lost cities and of their arts in particular reverberates in modern society.
ARTH 645-401	GOTHIC ARCH: GOLD+STONE	GUERIN, SARAH	JAFFE BUILDING 104	TR 1030AM-1200PM	Key monuments of the Middle Ages, the Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe present a synthesis of the theological, economic, and social developments of the twelfth through fourteenth centuries. A harmonious marriage between technology and aesthetics, of political power and imagination, these immense and ingenious structures are as famous for their sculptural programs as they are for the liturgies that animated their spaces. Students will also be introduced to local uses of Gothic in Philadelphia architecture to better understand the lived experiences of these built manifestations of transcendence.
ARTH 650-401	MICHELANGELO ITAL REN: MICHELANGELO AND THE ART OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE	KIM, DAVID	JAFFE BUILDING B17	MW 1000AM-1100AM	An introduction to the work of the Renaissance artist Michelangelo (1475-1564)-his sculptures, paintings, architecture, poetry, and artistic theory-in relation to his patrons, predecessors, and contemporaries, above all Leonardo and Raphael. Topics include artistic creativity and license, religious devotion, the revival of antiquity, observation of nature, art as problem-solving, the public reception and function of artworks, debates about style, artistic rivalry, and traveling artists. Rather than taking the form of a survey, this course selects works as paradigmatic case studies, and will analyze contemporary attitudes toward art of this period through study of primary sources.
ARTH 681-401	MODERN ARCH:1900-PRESENT	HAGAN, CAROL	MEYERSON HALL B4	MW 0100PM-0200PM	The architecture of Europe and America from the late nineteenth century until the present is the central subject of this course, but some time is also devoted to Latin American and Asian architecture and to the important issues of modern city planning. Topics discussed include the Arts and Crafts movement, Art Nouveau, Expressionism, Art Deco, the International Style, and Post-modernism. The debate over the role of technology in modern life and art, the search for a universal language of architectural communication, and the insistent demand that architecture serve human society are themes that are traced throughout the course. Among the important figures to be considered are Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Robert Venturi, and Denise Scott Brown. The course includes weekly discussion sessions and several excursions to view architecture in Philadelphia.	CROSS CULTURAL ANALYSIS; CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSIS
ARTH 694-401	ART NOW	SILVERMAN, KAJA	STITELER HALL B26	MW 1100AM-1200PM	One of the most striking features of today's art world is the conspicuous place occupied in it by the photographic image. Large-scale color photographs and time-based installations in projections are everywhere. Looking back, we can see that much of the art making of the past 60 years has also been defined by this medium, regardless of the form it takes. Photographic images have inspired countless paintings, appeared in combines and installations, morphed into sculptures, drawings and performances, and served both as the object and the vehicle of institutional critique. They are also an increasingly important exhibition site: where most of us go to see earthworks, happenings and body-art. This course is a three-part exploration of our photographic present.
ARTH 695-401	CINEMA AND MEDIA: GLOBAL FILM THEORY	REDROBE, KAREN MAZAJ, META	FISHER-BENNETT HALL 401	TR 1030AM-1130AM	This course will provide an introduction to some of the most important film theory debates, and allow us to explore how writers and filmmakers from different countries and historical periods have attempted to make sense of the changing phenomenon known as "cinema," to think cinematically. Topics under consideration may include: spectatorship, authorship, the apparatus, sound, editing, realism, race, gender and sexuality, stardom, the culture industry, the nation and decolonization, what counts as film theory and what counts as cinema, and the challenges of considering film theory in a global context, including the challenge of working across languages. There will be no screenings for this course. No knowledge of film theory is presumed. Course requirements: attendance at lecture and participation in lecture and section discussions; canvas postings; 1 in-class mideterm; 1 take-home final.
ARTH 729-401	TOP IN ROM ARCH/TOPOGRAP: ANCIENT ROMAN ARCHITECTURE AND THE DIGITAL TURN	STINSON, PHILIP		CANCELED	Topic varies. Spring 2018: This seminar offers a critical assessment of digital Roman architecture studies. What has been accomplished and learned over the last generation since the Digital Turn, and where is the field of Roman architecture being taken? Points of focus include several landmark case studies, such as digital reconstructions of the city of ancient Rome, and threatened cultural heritage sites in Syria. The course will involve readings of significant texts, in class discussions and presentations lead by the seminar s participants, and testing and critiquing of a limited set of digital tools.
ARTH 732-401	TOPIC IN BYZ ART & ARCH: MEDIEVAL ART HISTORY AND THEORIES OF THE OBJECT	DRPIC, IVAN	JAFFE BUILDING 104	M 0200PM-0500PM	Topic varies. Spring 2018: The recent "return" to the object across the humanities and social sciences has brought to the fore concerns with the nature of material things, their operation in the world, and their entanglement with humans. This seminar will introduce you to some of the key theoretical writings on the object and material culture and will ask you to interrogate their relevance for the discipline of art history. Our focus will be on the Middle Ages, but depending on the specific interests of the seminar s participants, we may venture into other historical periods and cultural domains. Topics to be addressed include the social life of things; agency; materiality; the relic; the gift; the miniature; and the question of the human/nonhuman divide.
ARTH 752-301	TOPICS IN REN TO CONTEMP: ART AND MONEY FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE 19TH CENTURY	DOMBROWSKI, ANDRE KIM, DAVID	JAFFE BUILDING 113	W 0330PM-0630PM	Topic varies. Spring 2018: Does money have a period-specific and thus historically variable look? Can we speak of a visual system of money or an imagination of money? How do we address questions of status and class, poverty and wealth, in 21st-century art history, and how do we read Marx (among others) art historically these days? How do we analyze art that s responsive to market fluctuations or extreme financial expansions and recessions? The seminar will engage directly with depictions of money from the Renaissance to the 19th century: the design of bills, coins, insurance policies, bond or stock certificates; the material changes to the face of money under regime-change; and representations of transactions in pawn shops, casinos, stock exchanges, and other market places. But we will also take money less literally and think anew about the value of materials, artists pay, patron s funds, and more broadly the costs associated with the making and consumption of art.
ARTH 794-401	TPCS IN CONTEMPORARY ART: INSTALLATIONS, PROJECTIONS, DIVAGATIONS	SILVERMAN, KAJA	JAFFE BUILDING 104	T 0130PM-0430PM	Topic varies. Fall 2018: Since it was not translated into English until the mid 1960s, Walter Benjamin s Work of Art essay was slow to arrive in the English-speaking world, and when it did, it seemed part of the same zeitgeist as Guy Debord s The Society of the Spectacle, Roland Barthes The Rhetoric of the Image, and Louis Althusser s Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. This zeitgeist was deeply suspicious of popular images, and this suspicion was soon fortified from a feminist direction by Laura Mulvey s Visual pleasure and Narrative Cinema, and a postcolonial one by Frantz Fanon s Black Skin, White Masks. Benjamin s essay extended it to the kinds of images we generally find in museums, i.e., to what I will be calling pictures. This made the museum the primary target of institutional critique, and gave rise to what Hal Foster called the anti-aesthetic. It was against this backdrop that the so-called Pictures Generation emerged. This category was helpful at first, since it allowed us to look at things that would otherwise have been forbidden. It was based, however, on a misapprehension: the misapprehension that a picture means the same thing for Jeff Wall as it does for Cindy Sherman. This course will proceed from the assumption that there is more to a museum than the aura, and more to a picture than the beauty that Benjamin so scathingly derides. Since it was through Wall s work that I first realized how important pictures are, he will have a central place in this course. There are, however, many other players in this drama, as well, some of whom offer very different accounts of pictorial photography, but all of whom seem to think that it is more than a blip on the screen of art history. This is, I believe, because the stakes are not just aesthetic, intellectual and political, but also ontological. Pictorial photography is an important chapter within a larger narrative the narrative of our relationship to the world. And since this chapter began in 1839, that is also where this this seminar will start.	PERMISSION NEEDED FROM INSTRUCTOR