The Department of Art History offers a broad spectrum of courses covering a wide range of historical periods. Course options provide students with a clear insight on the history and development of artistic and architectural movements, major masterpieces, artistic and architectural details, and aesthetics.
3 semester credits. This introductory art history course will take students through Italian and European art from the classical Greek and Roman periods up to and including the eighteenth century. Special emphasis will be given to Florentine and Italian art of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and to the "Golden Age" of the Renaissance. The course is aimed at students who have not taken a history of western art course before. Lectures will alternate with on-site teaching in Florence including architectural walking tours and visits to relevant museums, churches, and palaces.
3 semester credits. This course explores the principal architects, monuments and themes of fifteenth and sixteenth century Italian architecture. The course includes site visits in the city of Florence. Emphasis will be on Renaissance architecture in Florence, but will also include architectural developments in Rome, Urbino, Mantua, Verona and Vicenza. Special topics will include: architectural theory, Medici and papal patronage, urban planning, and church and palace design. A special focus will be dedicated to architects: Brunelleschi, Alberti, Michelozzo, Giuliano Sangallo, Bramante, Antonio Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo, Giulio Romano and Palladio. Visits to key Renaissance buildings and urban spaces in Florence are included.
3 semester credits. The course explores the works of artists who, over the last 50 years, have made today's art and constructed the relationship between artists and the city of Florence in the Italian context. Emphasis is placed on comparing the panorama of traditional, historic Florence and Italy to international contemporary art. The course will involve lectures (a survey of art in Tuscany and Italy, including abstract experiences, Italian pop art, minimal art, Poesia visiva, Trans-avant-gardism and the present-day tendencies of figurative art) and fact-finding visits to artist ateliers where course participants are encouraged to ask questions, i.e. which factors led artists towards certain decisions, which cultural forces led artists to adopt certain forms, etc. The course alternates between fieldwork for visiting galleries and ateliers and carrying out interpretative analyses of the fieldwork in the classroom. The course encourages contact with the living tissue of art. The Florentine creative scene, vibrant but rooted in history, is varied and complex; this course gives the student the opportunity to establish direct, informed contact with it. Prerequisites: Introduction to Art History or equivalent.
3 semester credits. The cultural studies capstone course provides the student the opportunity to integrate many of the topics of the overall course of study. During this project, students must apply their cumulative knowledge and experientially acquired skills to complete the course project. Prerequisites: Open to approved students of senior standing.
3 semester credits. This course spans the history of Italian gardens from the 1200s to the 1700s. The course explores the evolution of the Italian garden landscape starting from the ancient Roman roots and the emergence of herbal gardens in medieval monasteries for medicinal remedies to the flourishing of early Renaissance masterpieces in the great palaces and villas of Italy. The early transformation of the garden from functional to recreational purposes will be examined in religious and humanistic contexts. A second phase of evolution from the recreation to symbols of power will be introduced through the gardens of ruling families and religious figures who combined garden aesthetics with experimentation and horticultural innovation until the late Renaissance. The course will conclude with the waning of the Italian garden in the 18th century, which ceded the domination of Italian gardens to the landscaping practices of France.
3 semester credits. Through an in-depth focus on three major Italian artists - Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Bernini - this course will examine the development of significant artistic movements from the High Renaissance to the Baroque. Michelangelo Buonarroti's genius in painting, sculpture, and architecture epitomizes the 16th century High Renaissance, but at the same time his achievements paved the way for the Baroque style. The Baroque will be examined through the work of two of the most innovative and original artists of the 17th century: Caravaggio and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The dramatic supra-realistic paintings of Caravaggio will be related to his equally dramatic lifestyle. The impact of Caravaggio's style in Northern Europe will be discussed in detail. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose name has become synonymous with the High Baroque, produced sculpture and architecture that can be read as compelling visual embodiments of the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation and the idea of the "Church Triumphant," as well as of secular absolutism. Lectures in the classroom and on-site visits in Florence provide the student with a detailed knowledge of the three artists and their oeuvre within the context of political, religious, and social history. This course may include a field learning activities. Prerequisites: Survey of Western Art or equivalent.
3 semester credits. This art history courses provides students with a unique and stimulating opportunity to study Renaissance art in Florence - the city of the movement's birth. The course will provide students with an in-depth exploration of Florentine Renaissance painting, sculpture, and architecture throughout the 15th century and into the beginning of the 16th century. Students will not only learn to identify and analyze the individual styles of artists such as Montello, Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, and the young Michelangelo, but they will also be able to relate the artists and their work to the social, religious, philosophical, political, and cultural contexts of the time. Patronage conditions will be examined with a particular emphasis on the Medici family as arbiters of taste. Visits to museum, churches, palaces, and other modes of on-site teaching form an integral and essential part of this course. Students will also be expected to carry out assignments related to museums and other art historical sites not included in the class visits. Prerequisites: College-level survey course on Western Art or equivalent.
3 semester credits. The development of the city of Florence and that of the Church are inextricably linked with one another; Christian, and more specifically, Catholic faith provided a framework for one’s life, informed the development of social institutions and governing bodies, and inspired the development and flourishing of art and architecture during the period that would come to be known as the Renaissance. In short, this faith touched every aspect of life in the Florence of centuries past, and its present is still seen, felt, and experienced when moving through the dense urban fabric of the city. This course will also investigate the ways in which religious faith permeated numerous aspects of Florentine society and daily life, from the monasteries and convents spread throughout the city, to its charitable institutions and hospitals, to the care for the souls of the condemned, and, more joyfully, to celebratory traditions that survive to the present day. Themed walks will offer an opportunity to explore these themes through engaging with works of sacred art and architecture, as well as sites and routes of religious significance. Works and structures will be contextualized within the historic period in which they were produced, allowing students to understand how and why they were executed, as well as to explore the significance they would have held for their original viewers and to discuss what they mean to beholders today. The analysis of these spaces, places, and works will highlight additional layers of meaning and interpretation: life, death, violence, popular culture, and social change, among others. Open to students from all backgrounds and academic concentrations, this course will allow participants to discover the city of Florence through a unique lens while simultaneously encouraging them to learn about Italian historical epochs and the cultural diversity of its traditions. The classroom approach of this course is based on experiencing the city of Florence as the academic space for learning and engagement. Classes are not held in a traditional, frontal-style setting; each lesson is carefully mapped for curricular content and featured locations: lectures, observations, exercises, analysis, and reflections on presented topics are held in relevant sites that are accounted for in the academic planning, syllabus, and related course material. Coursework and submissions will be regularly assessed on the MyFUA platform through daily assignments in addition to exams, papers, and projects. Learning through the on-site classroom approach fosters a deeper understanding of the cultural environment of Florence and how it is related to the subject of study represented by the course, and allows the overall experience to contribute to the students' academic and personal enrichment.
3 semester credits. This course is divided into three parts. Since religious subject matter dominated Western art up to the end of the seventeenth century, the first part of the course will look at Christian symbolism in art and help students to decipher the visual language of images and objects in religious paintings, sculpture, architecture, and objets d'art. The emphasis will be on Italian art from the medieval and Renaissance periods, whose symbols can range from the straightforward identification of saints by objects they hold, to the more complex messages relating to Christian belief such as the concept of incarnation. The second part of the course will have a more secular focus (with an inevitably strong interconnection with religious symbolism). Through a concentration on Italian ruling families (i.e. the Medici in Florence), students will learn about the importance and significance of emblems (imprese) and symbols adopted by individuals and families during the period of the Italian Renaissance. In conclusion, students will look at the ways through which geometry is used symbolically in art and architecture to communicate a specific belief. With this regard topics feature geometric forms such as the circle, triangle, square, pentagon, and related two and three-dimensional forms such as the cross, spiral, Golden Mean, and Platonic solids.
3 semester credits. This course examines major philosophies and concepts that have contributed to the discussion of art theory, aesthetic discourse, and criticism in the wider context of contemporary society. Reading and analyzing various texts from antiquity to the present, students will explore the underlying questions and meanings of art and how they interact or conflict throughout the development of Western thought, behavior, and society. The aim of this course is to utilize art theory foundations in order to develop an informed critical analysis. Texts covered in class will include writings by philosophers, critics, and artists such as Plato, Alberti, Kant, Benjamin, Greenberg, Barthes, Baudrillard, Lippard, and Trin T. Minha. Prerequisites: Introduction to Art History.
3 semester credits. This course represents a comparative study of art as an expression of human experience from the aesthetic paradigms developed during the Renaissance to the contemporary perception of beauty. Major artists and influences will be analyzed in terms of styles and movements across eras and in relation to the concept of place. The course will examine the contrasts between the multiple identities emerging in Florence as diverse ways to convey art and beauty. Course topics and learning approaches feature an experiential pathway for understanding the evolution of artistic language and its potential future directions.
3 semester credits. This course consists of theoretical and practical approaches that gradually and comprehensively allow the student to approach the logic of composite syntax and design problematics of contemporary architecture. Students will conduct a critical analysis of concrete examples of architecture through the works of globally recognized architects, presented in individual lessons focusing on a direct and cross-sectional approach in order to draw out significant relationships of methods and language from their projects and singular experiences. The principal objective posed by this course is to understand the original features of an architectural project or research, starting from a reflection upon the "elements of architectural composition," their application, and the evolution of architecture. The analysis is conducted with a historical timeframe, starting from a study of the masters of architecture such as Boullée and Palladio and how the application of their teachings is located in subsequent architects such as Thomas Jefferson and arrives at the works of masterpieces modern architects such as Le Corbusier, Louis Khan, Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright and those from the Italian panorama including Carlo Scarpa. The concluding studies will be concentrated on current masters working in the field such as Alvaro Siza, Peter Zumthor, and Santiago Calatrava.
3 semester credits. How is individual and collective memory created? What is heritage, and how is it propagated? This course explores memory and memorialization as social phenomena that shape, and are mutually shaped, by both tangible and intangible heritage. Emphasis is attributed to an increasingly relevant concept in the social sciences: multisensoriality. The latter can be framed as a means to attain an embodied experience that can foster the generation of sociological, political, and imaginative considerations. Memory shapes and is mutually shaped by the organization and values of communities. Students will be exposed to a great variety of multisensorial spaces in Florence, such as participatory museums and memorials. These will be examined analytically, with a particular focus on the methodology of ethnographic research, so as to bridge the gap between theory-based knowledge and the applied skills of data gathering and assessment. The approach of this course is based on experiencing the city of Florence as the academic space for learning and engagement. Classes are not held in a traditional, frontal-style setting; each lesson is carefully mapped for curricular content and featured locations: lectures, observations, exercises, analysis, and reflections on presented topics are held in relevant sites that are accounted for in the academic planning, syllabus, and related course material. Coursework and submissions will be regularly assessed on the MyAUF platform through daily assignments in addition to exams, papers, and projects. Learning through the on-site classroom approach fosters a deeper understanding of the cultural environment of Florence and how it is related to the subject of study represented by the course, and allows the overall experience to contribute to students' academic and personal enrichment.
3 semester credits. This course focuses on performance art, with particular emphasis on the role and use of one’s mind and body during performance. Students will learn about the history of the discipline and pioneers in the field. They will also be encouraged to engage in, produce, and critique their own performances. This course thus relies on an approach which merges theory and practice to generate awareness, mindfulness, and creativity. The mind and body are framed as interlinking components, which are to be comprehended and directed in order to create art. Students will gain knowledge about the roles that factors such as time, space, place, nature, and audience have on performances, and will ultimately work on the creation of an extended final performance, to be presented at the end of the course.
3 semester credits. This course combines an architectural and historical approach to explore Florence’s iconic palaces. The course aims to delve deep into the palazzi’s structural conformations, artistic properties, and private and collective uses. Emphasis will be placed on the genealogy of families who have inhabited these palaces, in order to understand how the palaces assumed specific shapes and positions. Starting from the Middle Ages, the course will focus on the Renaissance while also assessing the present-day nature of such structures. Students will acquire an architectural and historical lexicon, and the capacity to critically interlink the two disciplines. The approach of this course is based on experiencing the city of Florence as an academic space for learning and engagement. Classes will not be held in a traditional, frontal-style setting; each lesson is carefully mapped for curricular content and featured locations: lectures, observations, exercises, analysis, and reflections on presented topics are held in relevant sites that are accounted for in the academic planning, syllabus, and related course material. Coursework and submissions will be regularly assessed on the MyAUF platform through daily assignments in addition to exams, papers, and projects. Learning through the on-site classroom approach fosters a deeper understanding of the cultural environment of Florence and how it is related to the subject of study examined by the course, and allows for an overall experience which contributes to the students' academic and personal enrichment.