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THAD H504-01
ART AND RELIGION ON THE SILK ROAD - PART A
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course will focus on the cultural and artistic activities which came into being as a result of contacts between the civilizations of Europe and Asia (China in particular). Among the topics explored will be: the ancient world, the Silk Route and Buddhism, the nomads of Eurasia as agents of cultural exchange, early European travelers to China (Marco Polo), the Jesuits at the court of the Chinese emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and finally the Western colonial experience.
Elective
THAD H509-01
EGYPT & THE AEGEAN IN THE BRONZE AGE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
The Bronze Age saw the development of several advanced civilizations in the Mediterranean basin. Perhaps the best-known among these is the civilization of Pharaonic Egypt. This course will focus on the art and architecture of Egypt and their neighbors to the north: the Aegean civilizations known as Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean. While art historical study of these cultures will be emphasized, evidence for trade and other cultural interchange between them will also be discussed. The course will cover such topics as the Pyramids of Giza, the Tomb of Tutankhamun, and the Palace of Knossos.
Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.
Elective
THAD H583-01
AFRICAN AMERICAN ART
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course explores the diversity of form, style, and narrative content of works created by African American artists from the antebellum period to the present. Specific attention will be devoted to several underlining issues including but not limited to identity, race, class, ethnicity, representation, sexuality and aesthetic sensibilities.
Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.
Elective
THAD H604-01
ART AND RELIGION ON THE SILK ROAD - PART B
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This corequisite course (Art and Religion on the Silk Road - Part B) is a required supplement to Art and Religion on the Silk Road - Part A. The course is designed as an additional workshop consisting of museum and library visits and hands on work on materials in those collections which relate to the topics explored in Part A. Readings will assigned ahead of these visits to gain an understanding of the material seen. Written responses to the readings and the visits are due weekly. In addition, to the RISD Museum collections (Asian Art, Costume and Textiles, Decorative Arts, Classical Antiquities) and the Fleet Library special collections, we will tentatively visit the John Carter Brown Library, the Hay Library and the Haffereffer Museum at Brown University. Provided funds will be available, we may visit the Boston Museum of Fine arts, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem MA, and the Harvard Art Museum.
Elective
THAD H607-01
PHOENIX AND THE DRAGON: CHINESE ART, MYTH AND RELIGION
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course will introduce the arts of China through the lens of native and imported religious and philosophical traditions, exploring different approaches to representation and belief. After an introduction to the anthropological study of religion, we will cover four main periods: the pre-historic (Paleolithic - Neolithic), the early dynastic (ca. 2000 - 221 BCE), the imperial (221 BCE - 1911), and the modern-contemporary (post 1911). We will focus on elite and folk approaches to representation and belief with an emphasis on mythology and symbolism. Topics to be explored include: the dragon and the phoenix as symbols, the Han search for immortality, Buddhist cave temples, Taoist landscape painting, the Confucian scholar tradition, ritual garments, the influence of European culture and Christianity, and Communist personality cult.
Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students..
Elective
THAD H608-01
THAD MUSEUM FELLOWSHIP
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Registration by application only. Application is restricted to concentrators in The Theory & History of Art & Design. A call for applications will be sent to all THAD concentrators.
Please contact the instructor for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday.
Elective
THAD H608-01
THAD MUSEUM FELLOWSHIP
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Registration by application only. Application is restricted to concentrators in The Theory & History of Art & Design. A call for applications will be sent to all THAD concentrators.
Please contact the instructor for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday.
Elective
THAD H623-01
BLACK WOMEN ARTISTS IN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course examines the artistic images of black women artists in the African Diaspora. We will investigate how race, gender, sexuality and ethnicity have shaped and continues to shape black female identity and artistic productions particularly in the USA, Europe, Britain, Brazil and the Caribbean.
Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.
Elective
THAD H653-01
INDIGENOUS ARCHITECTURE OF THE AMERICAS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course will explore the architectural traditions of the Indigenous cultures of North America, Mesoamerica, and South America in historic perspective. Examinations will focus on the critical cultural and environmental circumstances which led to the development of distinctive architectural styles throughout the Americas. Approached from an anthropological/archaeological perspective, specific topics of discussion will include the following: construction methods and material choices, spatial arrangements and use areas, the relationship between physical and social community structure, and architectural manifestation of cultural belief systems. Emphasis will also be placed on manipulations of the landscape in response to social and climatic needs. Architectural culture discussed in this course will range widely in scale, dispersal and geography - from the igloo of a small Inuit hunting party to the entire Mayan city of Chichen Itza, to the terrace and irrigation systems of the Inca.
Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.
Elective
THAD H656-01
A GLOBAL HISTORY OF TEXTILES: TRADES, TRADITIONS, TECHNIQUES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Interdisciplinary by their very nature, textile traditions share a global history. Around the world textiles have found place in cultures as signifiers of social identity, from the utilitarian to the sacred, as objects of ritual meaning and as objects of great tangible wealth. The evolution of textile motifs, designs, materials and technology from around the globe will be explored in classroom lecture and utilizing the RISD Museum of Art. We will examine such topics as: the function of textiles in the survival of traditional cultures, the impact of historic trade routes and ensuing colonialism, industrialization and its subsequent effect on traditional techniques of textile manufacture. Thoughtful and scholarly consideration will be given to recent incidents of cultural appropriation in the global textile and fashion industry. Term projects utilizing the material culture approach will afford students the opportunity to gain valuable research skills and explore in-depth specific textile techniques.
Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students. Textiles Students can be pre-registered by the department.
Elective
THAD H705-01
YORUBA ART & AESTHETICS
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course provides an art historical survey and thematic exploration of 9 centuries of Yoruba Art and Aesthetics and its intercession with history (including but not limited to colonialism and postcolonial impact, interventions, and discourses), religion, philosophy, and the socio-political beliefs of one of Africa's most ancient civilizations, and a visible presence in the African Diaspora.
Open to Sophomore, Junior or Senior Undergraduate Students.
Elective
THAD H728-01
ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This lecture course offers a broad introduction to the architecture, pictorial arts, and visual and material culture of the Middle Ages in the Latin West, Greek-speaking East, and across the transcultural Mediterranean c. 300–1450 CE. It provides an overview of the concepts, developments, and vocabulary necessary for analyzing and understanding the arts of the medieval period in light of the historical, religious, social, cultural, conceptual, and esthetic contexts and of their production and reception. Topics to be examined include the creation of a vocabulary of medieval imagery and architectural forms; uses of and attitudes toward the classical tradition; art and its makers, patrons, and audiences; materials and techniques of medieval art-making; the arts of religious and devotional practice; the relationships of word and image; the imaginative, multisensory, and performative dimensions of medieval art and architecture; medieval cultural exchange and colonization; art and ideologies; the relationship between art and nature; and the functions of and controversies concerning images in the medieval world. Museum visits will provide the opportunity to discuss objects firsthand.
Elective
THAD H729-01
THE ARTIST FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE RENAISSANCE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
One of the most influential art historians of the past decades, Hans Belting, argued that images made in Europe before the Renaissance constituted an “era before art.” Belting established an authoritative binary between the beautiful and aesthetic Artworks of the Renaissance (with their illusionary space and market value) and the functional cult images of the Middle Ages and Antiquity. Built into this binary is the perceived paucity of the pre-modern artist. This has, since the Renaissance, given rise to often wild and stubbornly-lodged views of pre-modern makers as servile, anonymous, theology-bound men who barely rose above artisanship. But was that really the case? As we find ourselves struggling with artistic identity today in the face of AI, NFTs, and pseudonymous celebrity artists, this seminar offers an opportunity to seek insight from ancient and medieval theories of art, creation, gender, and aesthetics. We will consider artists’ handbooks and contracts; literary and historical sources; and a range of depictions of artists at work, including self-portraits.
THAD H741-01
EARLY 20TH CENTURY ART
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course offers students an introduction to Western modern art, covering movements in Europe and Northern America from about 1900 to 1950, such as Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dada, Futurism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism. Contextualizing the artistic developments of the -isms with social and historical agendas of their respective times will support our understanding not only of change of formal elements, but also change in political landscapes. Special focus will be put on artists and groups such as the bridge, the blue rider, Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, Malevich, Duchamp, Douglas, Rivera, O'Keefe, Pollock. Participation, in-class presentations, and a final paper are required for this course.
Open to Sophomore, Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.
Elective
THAD H750-01
SEM: OPEN SEMINAR IN THAD
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This experimental seminar is a space for students to explore issues in the history of art and visual culture. You may work, independent-study style, on any topic that specially interests you. Research will be done in dialogue with fellow students and a faculty facilitator. On the first day of class we will discuss topics of common interest, and develop a provisional semester plan and a list of readings. As the conversation develops over subsequent weeks, our plan may be adjusted or even completely revised. Coursework will be tailored to the needs of individual participants. This class is recommended for THAD Concentrators. Graduate students interested in the Theory & History of Art & Design are invited to join this seminar.
Open to Junior, Senior or Graduate Students.
Elective
THAD W149-101
TEA, COFFEE OR CHOCOLATE? THE VISUAL AND MATERIAL CULTURE OF EXOTIC DRINKS IN PRE-INDUSTRIAL EUROPE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
We are so familiar with these three hot drinks but they became commodities and part of our everyday only recently. This course explores what values were attached to these plants before the era of industrialized production, i.e. before ca. 1800. We will survey how Westerners adopted these beverages by looking at medical theories, the issue of morality, and the expansion of sugar production. We will also study how the craving for these products reinforced or even spurred slavery in French, Dutch, and English colonies. Special attention is dedicated to how ritual behavior affects design in terms of the sociability around these beverages, required manners, and the tableware crafted for them. The methodology is based on the analysis of images, discussions of assigned readings, written responses, visits to museums (RISD and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston), and touring the facility of a chocolate artisan.
Elective
THAD W186-101
POPULAR AMERICA: CAPITALIZM, CULTURE & THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course examines 20th century American popular culture - both visual and material - in relation to American history in order to understand how it reinforces socio-political ideologies in everyday life. We will look at and learn to decode advertisements as key to the cultural meanings of objects and as propaganda in reinforcing and disseminating cultural values. Using pop culture objects/concepts such as Disney, Tupperware, Barbie dolls, cars, TV, and the American Dream, we will explore democracy, capitalism, and questions of "high" and "low" cultural artifacts.
Elective
THAD W241-101
PARADES AND PROCESSIONS IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
In 1400-1800 Europe, processions were ubiquitous and frequent. A whole city or single parties would take to the streets, marching in unison for multiple reasons. Such collective actions were often part of rites of passage for royals (birth, marriage, coronation, or death) but also marked commoners' lives with funerals or carnival. They could commemorate a saint's feast day, stage relic transfers, or celebrate the visit of a ruler or a dignitary to a city (the so-called triumphant entries). This course explores the performative aspects of such events, from their logistics (preparations, space, timing) to the part played by art and design. How were bodies disciplined and groups kept together? What was carried along and to what physical or emotional effects? Questions of group identity emerge; the distinction of actors/spectators blurs; religion and politics interweave; and the senses dominate. We will decode images of such ephemeral spectacles in, notably, paintings, individual prints, and festive books; and analyze processional objects, whether extant or not, highlighting the importance of their materiality and symbolism. Embodied experience is planned through a series of theatre exercises.
Elective
THAD W252-101
BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Chocolate started as a spicy, red-colored, Mesoamerican beverage and morphed into the sweet version created by Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries until mechanization and industrialization launched it in the form of edible bars in the 19th century. This course examines this history through the lens of the visual and material culture of chocolate from the 16th to the 21st centuries. We will discuss the elite's taste for exotic goods in pre-industrial times, the impact of colonialism and global trading networks, Europeans' craving for sugar, drinking rituals, and issues of race. We will work on critically assessing images and objects, deconstructing, for example, the image of chocolate in past or current commercials or reflecting on the erasure of labor in artistic representations. We will trace associations of pleasure, eroticism, the female gender, and racialization while looking at the space and the equipment designed for the performance of chocolate consumption in different cultures. This course also has a strong sensory and ethical dimension. Students will make, from scratch and by hand, the kind of chocolate found in pre-industrial times, processing beans into a cacao paste to be whisked into hot water or milk. To this embodied experience of harsh labor, a tasting session will teach students how to distinguish low- from high-quality chocolate bars. Finally, students will communicate with professional companies to learn about responsible development in the chocolate world today.
Elective
THAD W259-101
A HISTORY OF ORNAMENT
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This course explores the evolution of ornament across global and cultural spheres and in a variety of design media, including architecture, interiors, furniture, metals, ceramics, textiles, and wallpaper. The physical manifestations of ornament in forms and patterns and its metaphysical meanings in symbols and motifs will be the basis of deconstructing and analyzing it as a visual language. Gendered, hierarchical, and imperial typologies of ornament will be assessed as expressions of social, cultural, historical, economic, and political conditions. Students will learn how to identify ornament as a cross-cultural design process and a complex cultural expression.
Elective