Past and Future Courses

My usual rotation of GMU Art History courses:

ARTH 200/201: Survey of Western Art I and II. These two courses introduce to the major periods, monuments, and themes of Western art and architecture. They are designed to provide majors and non-majors alike with the historical framework necessary for further study in Western arts and humanities. They include field assignments at the major museums and monuments in Washington, DC. I teach the ARTH 200 survey of ancient, medieval and Islamic art every fall, and occasionally during the summer. ARTH 20l covers the Renaissance, Baroque and Modern periods, and is always taught in the spring, usually by other faculty members. The courses are independent; they need not both be taken, nor do they need to be taken in sequence. There is no prerequisite.

ARTH 320: Art of the Islamic World. This is an introduction to the art and architecture of the traditional Islamic world, from the time of Muhammad to the present day. The course uses a regional and cultural approach, taking advantage of the extraordinary local collections at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian, the Textile Museum, and the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. This course fulfulls three hours of the non-Western General Education requirement as well as three hours of the Fine Arts requirement. There is no prerequisite beyond sophomore standing. This course is normally taught every other year.

ARTH 333: Early Christian and Byzantine Art. This course explores the art and culture of the Mediterranean world in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, concentrating on the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Europe. This course will take advantage of the extraordinary collections of Byzantine art at Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown. The precise course content will shift from year to year. Themes may include the Classical heritage, the development of early Christian art and architecture, the problem of religious representation, the engineering of great domed structures, the art and ceremony of the Byzantine Empire, relations with Islam and Western Europe, current archeology of daily life in Byzantine towns, and the Orthodox heritage in Slavic Eastern Europe. There is no prerequisite beyond sophomore standing. This course is normally offered every other year.

ARTH 334: Western Medieval Art. This course will explore one period in the art-history of Medieval Western Europe. Some years the focus is on the cultures of the early middle ages, such as the Norse or the Irish, or on the Carolingian Empire. Other years the course may be taught with an emphasis on the later Romanesque or Gothic periods. The course may be repeated when the course content is different.

ARTH 393/593: Art History Internships. All ARTH majors are encouraged to do an internship in their junior or senior year, and I'm delighted that so many have! Many internships have provided professional experience, and a few have led directly to careers. Students arrange these themselves at any of the Washington area's many museums and arts organizations, with guidance from the ARTH internship advisor, for three to six hours of academic credit. Consult the Internship Handbook for all the details. Please contact the History/Art History Department for the name of the current ARTH Internship coordinator.

ARTH 394/594: The Museum. This course is an introduction to the history and practices of art museums, taking advantage of the superb museums in Washington, DC. Through our discussions and visits, we learn about museum operations, museum careers, ethical issues and current controversies. This class fulfills a requirement for the Art History major, and is taught in rotation by all the Art History professors. We are developing it as the "synthesis" course for Art History majors as well.

ARTH 430: Advanced Studies in Medieval Art. This seminar, intended for advanced ARTH majors and other advanced students with a particular interest in the topic, is offered every other year, usually in the spring. I like to choose topics that I am just beginning to explore myself, so that we all share in the learning. Coursework includes extensive reading in primary sources, individual and group research, and oral presentation using slides or Powerpoint.

Previous ARTH 430 topics have included:

Art of the Christian/Muslim Frontier (Spring 1991) Medieval Literature as Primary Source (Spring1993) Medieval Art On-Line (Spring 1995). Here's my resulting report on "A low-tech approach to high-tech Medievalism" from (re)soundings 1/1 (November 1996) Norse Art and Archeology (Spring 1997) and a description of this "Norse Course" to the Southeastern Medieval Association, October 1998. The Silk Road (Spring 1999). Textiles and Trade (Spring 2001). Viking Ship Anund

Lawrence Butler's GMU Honors Courses:

Honors 122: Reading the Arts. Spring 1996. This critical introduction to the arts was built around Rossini's opera, The Barber of Seville, presented by the Virginia Opera in performance at GMU's Center for the Arts. We focused on the Classical Period of 18th-century Europe and America, trying to understand the links between contemporary culture and the arts. Besides the Rossini opera, we examined Mozart's concerti and symphonies, read Voltaire's Candide, discussed Stanley Kubrick's film version of Barry Lyndon, and studied Thomas Jefferson's architecture and its effect on Washington, DC.

Honors 122: Reading the Arts. Spring 1998. In conjunction with the exhibition of GMU's collection of Vesuvius paintings, the course this year focused on Italy and the Grand Tour in the 18th and 19th centuries. We read Susan Sontag's The Volcano Lover, listened to Beethoven's Symphony #3, the Eroica, discussed the history of collecting and museums through a visit to the National Gallery of Art, and considered the rise of Romanticism through landscape painting and William Blake's poetry. The course culminated with Tosca, Puccini's great opera on love, art and politics in Napoleonic-era Rome.

Honors 122: Reading the Arts. Spring 2002. Focus on the arts of the Middle Ages.

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