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This course is an introduction to architecture as a prime representative expression of premodern European civilizations, from ancient Greece through the early 18th century. The course focuses on developing the ability to analyze architectural form. Emphasis is on canonical, monumental buildings, their urban and historical situations, and related works of visual art in other media (sculpture and painting). In each era, how does architecture help to constitute its society's identity? What is the relationship between style and ideology? How do architects respond to the works of earlier architects, either innovatively or imitatively? How do patrons respond to the works of their predecessors, either locally or distantly? How are works of architecture positioned within those structures of power that the works, in turn, help to define? How do monuments celebrate selected aspects of history and suppress others? How do certain premodern monuments come to be revalued and reevaluated in modern times? Lectures, readings, and discussions address these and related questions, with each class focused on specific periods and sites, emphasizing visual culture at different scales (urban form, architecture, object, and image). Emphasis will be on exploring continuities and distinctions between works across time, seeing Western traditions as a totality over centuries. Lectures and readings convey different historiographic approaches to these issues.
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ART Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE
Last Updated on MAR-18-2003
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459