ARTH 504(S) Methods of Art History and Criticism
This course on art-historical method is designed to offer students a historiographic overview of the discipline of art history, with a focus on developments of the last century. We shall survey the evolving tasks the discipline has set for itself, and the methods it has adopted for executing them. Works of art will inevitably enter into our discussions, but the main objects of study will be texts about art, particularly texts about methods for a historical study of art. Topics include: concepts of discipline; historical narrative; style and periodization; iconography and semiotics; the social history of art; and feminism. Each student will be responsible for short oral presentations on six selected readings, and three short papers. This course is restricted to and required of first-year students in the Graduate Program in the History of Art.