ARTS

Professors: Jeanine Basinger, Jonathan Best, John Frazer, Leo Lensing (German Studies), Clark Maines (Chair), John T. Paoletti, Joseph W. Reed (English), Jeffrey Schiff, David Schorr, J. Seeley, Richard Slotkin (English)

Associate Professors: Carla Antonaccio (Classical Studies), Peter Mark, Elizabeth Milroy, Joseph M. Siry

Assistant Professors: Christopher Parslow (Classical Studies), Tula Telfair

Adjunct Professor: Ellen D'Oench (Curator, Davison Art Center)

Adjunct Associate Professors: Mary Kring Risley, Phillip B. Wagoner (Curator, Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies)

Visiting Artist: Keiji Shinohara (Faculty Fellow at the Freeman Center for East Asian Studies)

Luther Gregg Sullivan Visiting Scholar: Enzheng Tong

Visiting Instructor: Steven Ross

Visiting Assistant Professor: Alan Organschi

Major programs. The curriculum of the Art Department is divided into three distinct majors: art history, film studies, and studio arts. Students majoring in one area are allowed to count toward the 34 courses required for graduation up to 18 courses in the Art Department. (The University regulations regarding the maximum number of courses allowed in a department should be applied to the major itself: art history, film studies, or studio arts. Intradepartmental double majors may take up to 20 courses within the Art Department if necessary to fulfill requirements of both majors.)

ART HISTORY

Students majoring in the history of art may concentrate in either the Western or Asian tradition of art. All majors are required to take the introductory course in Western Art History (ARHA 101) and nine semester-length courses numbered 200 or above, including a minimum of two seminars. When students elect a 300-level seminar (excepting ARHA 358, Style in the Visual Arts), they should previously have taken a 100- or 200-1evel course devoted to the art history of the period to be studied in the seminar.

For majors, at least five of their nine upper-level courses must be courses in the history of art taken at Wesleyan. One or two of the required nine upper-level courses may be relevant courses taught at Wesleyan outside the Art History Program in such departments as history, religion, classical studies, or anthropology. Majors who wish to transfer course credits from other universities or who wish to have other Wesleyan courses count toward their major in art history must have prior written approval of their faculty adviser.

Concentration in the history of Western art. The nine upper-level courses required of the major must include at least one course in each of the four chronological subdivisions of Western art (classical, medieval, Renaissance, and modern). Concentrators in Western art must take at least one course in non-Western art history (Asian or African), which may be a 100-level course.

Concentration in the history of Asian art. Students must take at least four Asian art courses, two courses in Western art history, and at least one departmental seminar treating Asian art. With the permission of the faculty adviser, either ARHA 180 or ARHA 185 may be counted as one of the four required Asian courses. Students who concentrate in the history of Asian art are strongly urged to take at least one course outside the department dealing with the history or culture of pre-modern Asia.

All art history majors are encouraged to take at least one course in archaeology as part of the major. Students working closely with the history of a particular medium may wish to take a studio course to enhance their understanding of that medium.

Honors. Honors in the history of art may be awarded by the program's faculty to those students whose course work in the major has been of consistently high quality and who have completed one of the following individual projects.

A Senior Thesis: a two-term project involving substantial research and writing on a topic agreed upon by the student in consultation with a faculty member who will serve as tutor for the thesis. To register for a senior thesis, the student enrolls in ARHA 409 and ARHA 410 as permission-of-instructor courses.

A Senior Essay: a one-term project of carefully directed research and writing on a topic agreed upon by a student with a faculty tutor. To register for a Senior Essay, the student enrolls in ARHA 401 (fall) or ARHA 402 (spring) as a permission-of-instructor course.

Both senior theses and senior essays must conform to the University's general requirements and deadlines for honors in the senior year, as administered through Honors College.

All majors who are candidates for honors are expected to present a 20-minute public talk based on either their Senior Thesis or Senior Essay. These talks will normally be in the spring of the senior year and will be developed in consultation with a faculty tutor.

Proficiency is required in at least one foreign language for completion of the major in history of art. Proficiency is normally defined as successful completion of the Wesleyan intermediate level course in the language (e.g., German 211, French 116, or Italian 113). These three modern European languages are considered to be the most generally valuable for studies in the history of art. Majors contemplating graduate study in history of art should acquire a reading knowledge of two of these languages before entering graduate school.

Students who are unusually well-prepared seek reputable foreign study as an adjunct to the major. The Sweet Briar College Junior Year in France provides opportunities for study in art history at the University of Paris IV and at the Ecole du Louvre. The Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome is also recommended to those students concentrating in Western art. Students whose area of concentration is Asian art are encouraged to consider the Kyoto Program in Japan or a comparable program in China (see East Asian Studies) or in India (the University of Wisconsin College Year in India is especially recommended). Students planning study in architectural history may wish to consider Columbia University's "Shape of Two Cities" Program in architecture, urban planning, and historic preservation held in New York and Paris.

Courses taken outside of Wesleyan may be awarded credit in art history when: 1) the student completes a Transfer of Credit form from the dean's office prior to enrolling in the course and obtains the signature of the faculty person whose area of expertise corresponds most closely to the course, and 2) the student receives a grade of B or better.

In general, University regulations applying to Advanced Placement credits pertain to the major in history of art. Only one course credit will be awarded for students who have received a grade of 5 on the AP art history exam. AP credit does not exempt majors from ARHA 101.

Requirements for acceptance to the major. Students interested in the major should consult with the faculty person whom they would like to serve as their adviser, or with the director of the art history program if their prospective adviser is on sabbatical or leave. The student should complete the application for major status in the history of art. By the end of the sophomore year, a prospective major should plan to have taken an introductory course (either ARHA 101 for Western concentrators or ARHA 180 or 185 for Asian concentrators) and at least two other courses in art history. For admission to the major, the student must have a B average in courses taken in the history of art and a B average overall.

FILM STUDIES

Film studies, a major of the Art Department, is a program of study in which the motion picture is explored in a unified manner, combining the liberal arts tradition of cultural, historical, and formal analysis with filmmaking at beginning and advanced levels. The requirements for admission include a minimum overall academic average of B, the successful completion by the end of the sophomore year of ARFS 303 (or an acceptable substitute), plus one additional film study course with a minimum average of B+ for the two courses.

To fulfill the film studies major, the student must complete satisfactorily the three required courses listed below as Group I and elect and complete satisfactorily a minimum of four film courses from Group II. Course offerings vary from year to year and not all courses are available in any given year. With prior approval, a limited number of film study courses from other institutions may be transferred to the Wesleyan major.

GROUP I (Required)

ARFS 303 The Language of Film

ARFS 414 Senior Seminar

ARFS 450 Sight and Sound Workshop

GROUP II (Electives) History/Theory

ARFS 305 Documentary Realism

ARFS 308 The Musical Film

ARFS 309 Film Noir

ARFS 310 Epics

ARFS 311 Film Genre: The War Film and the Woman's Film

ARFS 312 The Western: History and Definition

ARFS 314 American Film Comedy

ARFS 315 Myth and Ideology at the Movies

ARFS 317 Japanese Film and Japanese Society

ARFS 318 Cinema and National Cultures in Eastern Europe

ARFS 319 French Film and French Society

ARFS 320 New German Cinema

ARFS 322 Alfred Hitchcock

ARFS 323 Film and Anthropology: The Imagination of Reality

GROUP III (Additional Electives)

ARFS 402 Screenwriting

ARFS 456 Advanced Filmmaking

Group Tutorial

Individual Tutorial

STUDIO ARTS

Architecture, Ceramics, Drawing,

Painting, Photography, Printmaking,

Sculpture, and Typography

The Studio Art Program enables students to become fluent in visual language, its analytical and critical vocabulary, and the rigors of its technique and method, as a means to explore intellectual issues and human experience. To this end, students learn technique while searching for a personal vision, beginning with basic studies in drawing and introductory art history, proceeding through study of various media, and working toward the successful completion of the major's comprehensive requirement--the presentation of a one-person exhibition in the spring of the senior year. The program seeks to reflect the diversity of technical and intellectual approaches practiced in the field of visual art and is open to interdisciplinary experimentation as well as traditionally focused studies.

Students majoring in studio art must satisfactorily complete the Introduction to the History of Art (ARHA 101) and Drawing I (ARST 131) as early as possible, and, in addition, at least seven other courses numbered 200 or higher, to include: two art history courses, at least one of which must be non-Western; four studio courses, of which at least one must be in any of the three-dimensional areas (sculpture, ceramics, architecture); and at least one semester of Senior Thesis Tutorial. Further course study in studio and particularly in art history or film studies, as well as a second semester of Senior Thesis Tutorial, are strongly recommended. Majors are expected to elect a balanced general education program consistent with University guidelines.

In the final year of study, a major is required to develop a focused body of work and mount a solo exhibition. The exhibition is usually, though not necessarily, the culmination of a one- or two-semester thesis tutorial. The work is developed in close critical dialogue with a faculty adviser. The exhibition is critiqued by the faculty adviser and a second critic and must be passed by vote of the Art Department faculty. The senior thesis exhibition provides a rare opportunity for the student to engage in a rigorous, self-directed creative investigation and in a public dialogue about his/her work.

At the time of application for major status the prospective major consults with a studio faculty member (usually in the proposed area of study) who is willing to serve as adviser. Together they devise a program of study for the final two years. Admission to the department requires a minimum academic average of B and an average of B+ for at least three courses in the Art Department, two of which must be in the studio division. A major is obliged to consult with his/her adviser and receive approval for off-campus study, leaves, or addition of a second major. Off-campus study in the senior year is not encouraged and requires additional approval of the program director.

Course work taken outside of Wesleyan by a matriculated student must be approved in advance by a studio faculty member. A portfolio review is required in order to transfer credit. Students transferring to Wesleyan who wish to receive credit toward the major for art courses taken at another institution should seek approval from the Art Department prior to enrollment. A portfolio review is required--transfer of course credit is not automatic. Advanced Placement credits in studio art are not accepted.