Art History 101 Course Content

Do you ever wish you’d taken an art history course? Do you wish you could RE-take the one from college? Experience the joy and discovery of a university art history class, minus the exams!

Join art historian Dr. Hannah Wong, a frequent Blanton Museum of Art lecturer with 10 years of higher education teaching experience, and a community of other thoughtful learners for this globe-trotting, time-traveling art adventure! Modeled on the traditional “Intro to the Visual Arts” university survey, this online course spans three chronological, thematic units, beginning with prehistoric cave paintings and ending with the Impressionists’ plein air sketches. We’ll also focus on the theme of power in art.

This course offers accessible pricing, lunchtime lectures, and registration for all or part of the semester.

Check out students’ testimonials, a short sample Art History 101 lecture on an incredible prehistoric object, and 4-minute trailer on Unit 3, which begins on Weds., November 11!

Unit Descriptions

UNIT 1: THE HUMAN AND our EARLY SOCIETIES (C. 30,000 BCE-C.1,700 BCE)

Course dates: Wednesdays, 9/2/20-9/23/20 (COMPLETED)

What is it to be human? How do communities form, and why did/do we gather in the first place? And how do we depict these individual and community identities visually? In this unit...

UNIT 2:  BUILDING EMPIRES (C. 70 CE-C. 1460 CE)

Course dates: Wednesdays, 10/7/20-10/28/20 (COMPLETED)

As much as the materials from which they’re constructed, large-scale architectural projects are built on societies’ values and structures of power. In this unit…

UNIT 3:  Constructing Points of View (c. 1400 CE-c.1890 CE)

Course dates: Wednesdays 11/11, 11/18, 11/24 (Thanksgiving Tues.), 12/9 (COMPLETED)

Factors such as culture, place in time, ethnicity, religion, etc. intrinsically shape what we perceive and the manner in which we perceive it.  In this unit…

Course Format: Primarily an interactive lecture course with occasional small group discussions used to enhance content retention and to create a lively, participatory learning environment.

Please note: This course is not intended to be a comprehensive study, but rather, a broad and engaging introduction to a few major themes in global art history. We purposely cover artwork and material not discussed in Dr. Wong’s previous Blanton Museum of Art classes, including The Blanton “Grand Tour” Short Course and How to Enjoy Modern and Contemporary Art.

Course Schedule & Pricing

Schedule

All classes are 1.5 hrs. each and held weekly on Wednesday from 12:00-1:30 pm
(Single exception during Unit 3: Thanksgiving week, class will be on Tuesday, Nov. 24 from 12:00-1:30 pm)

• UNIT 1 (The Human and Our Early Societies): Wednesdays, 12:00-1:30 pm on Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23

• UNIT 2 (Building Empires): Wednesdays, 12:00-1:30 pm on Oct. 7, 14, 21, 28

• UNIT 3 (Constructing Points of View): 12:00-1:30 pm on Nov. 11 (Weds.), Nov. 18 (Weds.), Nov. 24 (Tues.), Dec. 9 (Weds.)

Pricing

• Any single course unit = 4 classes = 6 hrs. total = $125

• Full semester = 12 classes = 3 different units = 18 hrs. total = $300

• Household/Spouse Option: Details here.

Benefits Specific to this course

• Great value: College-level content & teaching priced at least half the cost of a college course

• Engaging & In Real Time: Live, interactive lectures that are not pre-recorded

• Community of Thoughtful Fellow Participants: Many of the students are curious, life-long learners just like you!

• Convenient & Accessible: Designed to fit into your workday over a long lunch; video recordings posted after each live lecture and available to students for the duration of the semester