Current Courses (at Northern Michigan University)
AD200 Native American Art and Architecture
Introduces students to historical and contemporary Native American art, visual culture, and aesthetics. It has a two-part organizational structure. The short first section of the course considers general issues that shape Native art history including art historical methodology, the nature of art, and its relationship to Native conceptions of cosmology, spirit, vision, power, personal adornment, creativity, and gender. The longer second section of the course concerns historical traditions and contemporary art within five cultural regions (Southwest, East, West, North, and Northwest) and sub-divisions within each region.
AD280 History of Photography
Provides an overview of photographers, key images, photographic techniques, and the social context of photography from the medium’s origins in the nineteenth century to the present. Though the origins of photography are European, we consider photographers from throughout the world. In addition to its use in art, we will address the relationship of photography to science, journalism, commerce, and its rise as a popular activity.
AD285 History of Graphic Expression
Considers graphic designers, illustrators, key images and designs, graphic techniques, and the social context of graphic expression from the nineteenth century to the present. Emphasis is given to the role of graphic expression in modern society. We address the relationship of graphic design and illustration to art, science, literature, commerce, politics, and social reform movements.
AD300 Art and Ideas in Asian Civilizations
This course has two important goals. Our first objective is to engage the formative ideas and artistic traditions of India, China, and Japan. We consider the history, social forms, intellectual patterns, religious beliefs, and aesthetic expressions within each cultural tradition. This aspect of the course introduces the ideas and arts of the major Asian civilizations in a substantive way. A second objective is to consider the importance of these traditional expressions in the modern world. Based upon student research, we discover specific examples of influence upon modern artists, designers, and thinkers; some of these individuals and movements may be Western, while others may be active in Asia.
AD330 History of Renaissance Art and Architecture
Engages European art from 1400 to 1600 including examples of painting, sculpture, prints, architecture, and the applied arts with an emphasis on painting. It considers both Italy and Northern Europe (Flanders, the Netherlands, and Germany). We analyze the reasons for the emergence of the Renaissance in these locations, the elements of the style at its height (the High Renaissance), and the reasons for the style’s decline.
AD355 Twentieth-Century Art and Architecture
Investigates the development and extensions of, as well as reactions against, modernism in the visual arts from the late nineteenth through the twentieth centuries. In 2014, I revised the course so that it is organized chronologically by decade. Within each decade, there is a consistent framework of organization by context and medium: context, architecture, painting, sculpture, and photography.
AD365 History of Modern Craft and Design
Investigates the development of modern craft and design from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. In the past, the geographical focus has been Europe, Scandinavia, the United States and, to a lesser extent, Japan. Based upon my recent research, I have added lectures on Islamic design, East Asia, South Asia, and Africa. The course investigates how changes in design have occurred in the context of efforts at social reform.
Earlier Courses (taught at NMU)
HON111 Modern Art - European Sources
Investigates in depth the origins and development of European modernism. Considers the backdrop of nineteenth-century art and worldviews to help understand this artistic transformation. The course was concerned with the intellectual context of artistic modernism including modern physics, philosophy, psychoanalysis and revolutionary political theory. The course is organized chronologically and its main focus is the period from 1870 to the present.
HON112 Modern Art—American Sources
Investigates the origins and development of American modernism. Considers the backdrop of nineteenth-century art and worldviews to help understand this artistic transformation. The course is concerned with the social context of American modernism including issues of race, gender and class. It considers the impact of technological, economic and political processes on American arts (music, art, literature). The course is organized chronologically and its main focus is the twentieth century.
History of Western Art and Architecture
Surveys the history of the visual arts in the Western world from prehistoric times through the first half of the nineteenth century. The course is organized chronologically so that we may explore the connections and shifts that occur between periods. We attend to the broader historical settings of art, the possible intentions of artists and the theoretical underpinnings of artistic activity. Fundamental issues concerning the functions, principles and media of artistic expression shape our study.
History of World Art: Renaissance to the Present
Introduces the history of the world’s visual arts from the fourteenth century to the present. The course is organized chronologically and explores the connections that occur between artworks from different areas of the world within a given time period. It presents concepts of structure, meaning, context, technique and style in art in relation to specific artistic traditions.
Drawing
This course helps develop a skill that is fundamental to the visual arts: drawing. Whether the student’s interest is in the fine arts (painting, sculpture), the applied arts (architecture, design), the media arts (cinema, computer art, photo) or in the analysis of historical visual expression, drawing will be a foundation skill that aids in his or her artistic development. The reason is that drawing involves not only a physical skill of hand-eye coordination; it also entails perceptual skill. The course develops an understanding of the elements at play in all visual perception and representation.
Art and Architecture of Japan
A chronological survey of the visual arts in Japan from prehistory (c. 11,000 BCE) to the twentieth century. The course is organized according to the major periods of Japanese political and cultural history. Students who successfully complete Art and Architecture of Japan are able to identify the major periods, styles, media and artists in Japanese art history. Students will also gain an understanding of the core aesthetic, religious and ethical values that are expressed through Japanese art.
Japan and the West: Crosscurrents in Art and Architecture
Investigates the Japanese influence upon European and American art and design from the mid-nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. The course considers technical, formal, and philosophical influences. Japanese influence is significant because it occurred in the careers of most of the major pioneers of modernism including Manet, Monet, Degas, Cassatt, van Gogh, and Gauguin. The influence of Buddhism, especially Zen, upon art and aesthetics is a major focus during the mid-to-late twentieth centuries. It is explored in the context of artists that include Duchamp, Cage, Noguchi, Reinhardt, Johns, Klein, Paik, Ono, Martin, Irwin, and Celmins.
History of Baroque Art and Architecture
Engages in the analysis of European art from 1600 to 1750. It considers examples of painting, sculpture, architecture, tapestries and prints with an emphasis on painting. Successful students can identify historical examples of Baroque art; recognize and articulate visual and physical structures in art and design of the era; display knowledge of philosophical, religious and social ideas behind the production and reception of Baroque artworks and understand how all of the preceding intersect to create meaning.
Perception and Visual Form
This course concerns physical, psychological and cultural aspects of the perception of color and light as these issues relate to the visual arts. The course concentrates on knowledge that is useful for the practicing artist/designer. General principles of color and light and the role of color in the visual arts professions will be addressed. The successful student is able to identify and understand the major theoretical traditions in color and light, apply practical knowledge about color and light within his or her studio practice and understand the commonalities and differences of color across the visual arts disciplines.
Methods and Theories of Art History
Is a seminar focused on methodologies of art historical research and was designed with minors and majors in mind. Students learn the fundamentals of professional practice in art history as well as critical thinking, writing, and discussion skills. Formal, symbolic, social, psychological, structuralist and post-structuralist theories and methodologies are examined.
Advanced Research in Art History
Is intended for art history majors and explores the process of art historical research and writing such as the use of library databases, topic selection, organization of ideas in writing, formulation of bibliographies and the mechanics of documentation.
International Studies Seminar
Capstone for Senior Interdisciplinary Undergraduates. As the capstone course for the International Studies Majors, this course provides a framework synthesizing international experiences and research. It serves as the springboard for future experiences, whether those are in research, business, teaching, development or some other international activity. Because there are a variety of motivations, fields and multiple locations represented in the seminar members’ orientation, the course is structured at the level of general concepts such as culture, cultural intelligence, self/other and worldview. This overarching framework allows for a variety of regional foci, but includes approaches that are applicable cross-culturally.
Courses taught at Syracuse University
Aesthetics
This course reviews classical and contemporary issues in aesthetics. The course addresses questions about the meaning and import of art and design: definitions of art, visual representation, expression, beauty, artistic quality, style and stylistic change, signs and meaning (semiotics), institutional theories of art, the impact of mass culture upon art and design, and recent social theories of art (feminist, subcultural, Marxist, multicultural). In addition to traditional topics in aesthetics, questions raised by the abundance of stylistic and conceptual approaches in contemporary art, media and design are explored through readings and discussions.
Comparative Aesthetics
Comparative aesthetics draws upon non-Western aesthetics (ethnoaesthetics), aesthetic anthropology, visual anthropology, cultural studies and related disciplines in order to gain knowledge of non-Western aesthetic systems and intercultural processes that affect aesthetics. The course addresses various Western comparative methods—semiotic, ethnographic, psychoanalytic, Marxist—as well as ethnoaesthetic theories of expression.
Color and Light
Covers physical, psychological, and cultural aspects of color and light as these issues relate to the visual arts. The course concentrates on knowledge that is useful for the practicing artist/designer. General principles of color and light and the role of color in the visual arts professions—painting, film, video, photography, graphic arts, industrial design, computing and the crafts—are addressed.
Issues in Art
Two Semester Foundation Course (large lecture)
Issues in Art is an introduction to several related areas of thought: aesthetics and art theory, the sociology of art, aesthetic anthropology and psychology, and visual communication theory. The course addresses theoretical issues that have drawn the attention of scholars and artists: What is art? Which principles govern visual expression? How are art and design related to larger cultural forces including religious, political and economic? What is the relationship between art, artists and designers, and audiences? In the second semester of the course we analyze the impact of technologies of mass reproduction on art and design and the role of art in intercultural communication. The course objective is to present issues in a way that is relevant to students’ creative development.
Two-Dimensional Problem Solving
Two Semester Foundation Course (studio)
2-D Problem Solving introduces students to the theory and practice of visual design through a combination of lecture, text, research and studio activity. Students investigate the expressive possibilities of the principles of visual organization such as unity, balance, rhythm, attraction, depth and proportion and learn about the relationship of design to perceptual mechanisms such as figure-ground. The course helps expand and systematize students’ knowledge of visual principles. Though the course is named 2-D Problem Solving, it might also be called 2-D Problem Creation because my goal is to help students identify and develop issues in design theory and practice that most interest each of them individually. The course is research based.
The Annenberg (East) School for Communication, The University of Pennsylvania
Television and Politics in the USA
This course explored how television has transformed American political culture by examining specific communication forms: advertising, debates, speechmaking and news. We considered the relationship between television and political institutions with an emphasis on the presidency.
Aesthetic Communication
This course explores a variety of theoretical perspectives that consider the communicative dimension of the arts including sociological, psychological and historical approaches. It tests the thesis of the communicative function of style and presents an historical overview of styles in their social and philosophical contexts.
