Design/Art 555

DSN 555: International Art History II

Prerequisites: Graduate standing in MFA, either Studio Art or Design Thinking; DSN 550

Cross-Listed: ART 555

Credit Hours: (3)


This is the second of two online art history courses. Students will investigate key moments in history that affected art and design, focusing on the modern (post Renaissance) era to the present day.

Detailed Description of Course

The second of two online core art history courses for the MFA degree. Students will investigate key moments in history that affected art and design where certain events and/or ideas caused a dramatic shift in the way art was conceived or the way our knowledge of the world changed and ultimately affected art and design.   The time frame will focus on the modern (post Renaissance) era to the present day.  This course will focus on seminal points in time where new ideas, often resulting from novel situations or cultural collisions, generated definitive changes in the direction of art and design.  It will not only let students learn about key moments in history that affected art and design, but will also let them explore such moments to understand how these shifts came about and how future shifts might occur and what altered thinking may arise from them.


Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

This course will be offered online. Students may have access to online lectures, readings, discussion boards or other developing online technologies.

Goals and Objectives of this Course
At the conclusion of this course, the student must be able to:
    1. use historical precedent to inform art and design solutions;
    2. define the major social, political and physical influences affecting historical changes in art and design within the period of study;
    3. demonstrate how those historical changes affect current applications;
    4. express ideas clearly in oral, written and graphic formats;
    5. identify periods and stylistic movements of art and design
    6. understand the elements and principles of design;
    7. compare and contrast styles within the time period;
    8. process information using convergent/divergent thinking and analysis and synthesis strategies;
    9. understand contemporary issues;
    10. identify and understand social and cultural differences, and apply them to new contexts;
    11. understand the research process; and
    12. work with team structures and dynamics.


Assessment Measures

May include but is not limited to writings, presentations, discussion threads on reading assignments.


Other Course Information: None