Global Arc

An introduction to African art and architecture from prehistory to the 20th century. Beginning with Paleolithic rock art of northern and southern Africa, we will cover ancient Nubia and Meroe; Neolithic cultures such as Nok, Djenne and Ife; African kingdoms, including Benin, Asante, Bamun, Kongo, Kuba, Great Zimbabwe, and the Zulu; Christian Ethiopia and the Islamic Swahili coast; and other societies, such as the Sherbro, Igbo, and the Maasai. By combining Africa's cultural history and developments in artistic forms we establish a long historical view of the stunning diversity of the continent's indigenous arts and architecture.

This seminar examines the impact of the IMF's Structural Adjustment Program, military dictatorships, and political crises on artistic production in the 1980s, and the dramatic movement of African artists from the margins of the international art world to its very center since the 1990s. How familiar or different are the works and concerns of African artists? What are the consequences, in Africa and the West, of the international success of a few African artists? And what does the work of these Africans at home and in the West tell us about the sociopolitical conditions of our world today?

General survey of the indigenous civilizations of North America, Central America, and South America. The goals are to demonstrate methods and techniques employed by art historians working in this area to study the past, and to examine how art history, archaeology, and ethnohistory contribute to the interdisciplinary study of ancient peoples. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

This course acquaints students with the art, architecture, and archaeology of ancient Mexico and Central America. The course considers a wide range of cultures spanning from the first arrival of humans at the end of the Upper Paleolithic period through the 16th century Spanish invasion. Major culture groups to be considered include Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Zapotec, and Aztec. Precepts will include theoretically-focused discussions, debate regarding contested scholarly interpretations, and hands-on work with objects at the Princeton University Art Museum. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement.

This course explores the history, aesthetics and discourse framing the art of the Arab world, Iran and Turkey from the late twentieth century to the present. With a focus on building the skills of visual analysis, lectures and discussions will explore the intersection of media, technique, subject matter, artistic discourse and political and social conditions as codetermining factors in art objects. Representing many nations, each with a distinct political and cultural history, the Middle East is multi-ethnic, religious, and complexly interconnected place, whose influence in the art world has steadily grown throughout the last thirty years.

What is the role of photography in contemporary society? By looking at photographic forms, ranging from commercial portraits, ID cards, family albums, and fashion and advertising photography to newspaper and magazine illustrations, this course explores diverse ways that photographs have come to define and challenge the "real." Students will talk with professionals in fields of journalism and fashion, examine controversies over digital manipulation and politically charged photos, and consider historical sources of contemporary styles. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 3 distribution requirement. One three-hour seminar.

From the toppling of a statue of King George in New York in 1776 to the super PAC "For Freedoms" founded by artists in 2016, art and politics in America have gone hand in hand, and understanding the history of American art requires a deep dive into the history of American politics. With the current political landscape as both backdrop and incitement, this course considers the history of intersections between art and politics in the United States, from the revolutionary era to the present, and examines how artists have engaged the political sphere and produced political art in order to express critique, accommodation, resistance, and rage.

Behind the awe-inspiring monuments, the complex religious cults, and the intimations of wealth and a taste for the good life found in the surviving remnants of ancient Egypt lie real people concerned with spirituality, economics, politics, the arts, and the pleasures and pains of daily life. In this course, we will examine the art and architecture created in the ancient Egyptian landscape over 4 millennia, as well as the work of archaeologists in the field, including up-to-the-minute finds from on-going excavations.

While most people are familiar with the modern Middle East, few understand the deep history of the region. This geographically diverse area rich with resources engendered civilization as we conceive it, being home to the earliest domesticated agriculture, oldest monumental art and architecture, first cities, first political and economic systems, and the first examples of writing in human history. In this course we will examine objects, architecture, and archaeological sites from across this region from roughly 8,000-400 BCE, considering the nature of civilization and the enduring influence of these earliest societies.

A study of the culture of Greece and the Aegean from the Early Bronze Age to the eighth century B.C. Special emphasis is placed on the Minoan-Mycenaean civilization, the Dark Ages of the early first millennium, and the age of Homer. For department majors, this course satisfies the Group 1 distribution requirement. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Offered in alternate years.