ARTH 310 - European Art and Global Colonialism, 1500-1850

Credit Hours: 4
Frequency of Offering: Offered in alternate years, usually in the spring semester

This course explores the intertwined histories of artistic production and global colonialism in the early modern era. In the early modern era, European developments in the practice of art coincided with an increasing interest in understanding and controlling the world. The class considers how the work of artists in this period responded to European concerns about national and imperial power, global trade, slavery, and colonialism. The course also addresses how art fueled curiosity about the natural world, developments in science and astronomy, and the relation between religious belief and civic life. In this study of European painting, architecture, and sculpture, students attend to issues of race and artistic theory, images of the colonial world, and the ways in which material culture facilitated intercultural contact between white Europeans, enslaved Africans, and indigenous colonized communities.

Prerequisite(s): Prerequisite is one of the following: ARTH 100; one 200-level ARTH course; or permission of instructor.