COURSE DESCRIPTION:
ARTH 009302- WRITING ABOUT THE BODY IN ART
This seminar will examine
the tremendous role that the human body has played in art from prehistory
to the present and explore issues of race, gender, and sexuality raised
by images of the body. During the course of the semester, we will
address such questions as: Why has an understanding of the body been
so crucial to artists throughout history? In what ways have artists
represented both male and female bodies? How has the ideal body changed
over time? How have artists used their own bodies, or those of others,
in creating their works? Why have nude or naked images of the body
been capable of creating such controversy? What role does clothing play
in our perception of the body? Particular attention will be paid
to the different responses elicited by representations of the body in sculpture,
painting, and photography.
Although you will acquire
a great deal of knowledge about the history of art during the semester,
this seminar is principally designed as an introduction to college-level
writing. A variety of formal and informal writing assignments will
be central to the course. These will include critiques of articles,
visual and contextual analyses of works of art, a research proposal, and
a research paper. The primary aim of the course is to help you learn
the writing, thinking, and research skills that you will need during the
rest of your college career and beyond.
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