Courses

At Albion students can pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art or art history or a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art. The BA degree includes a program of courses designed to introduce students to a wide variety of approaches, techniques and theories essential to them in the creation, study and enjoyment of art. The BFA curriculum provides a more specialized and intensive immersion in the arts and is intended to prepare students with demonstrated talent for graduate work in art or immediate entry into careers as working artists.

Studio Art Courses

The following links describe each studio area more fully:

101 Introduction to Art
Designed to provide the student with the ability to work with and appreciate basic forms and concepts of art in both traditional and contemporary modes. Lecture and laboratory.

121 Drawing
Drawing is designed to introduce the beginning student to a variety of drawing media, subject matter, and concepts. This course begins with a strong foundation of drawing techniques through an exploration of the drawing materials. Grounded in observational drawing, the course also introduces students to conceptual exploration through a series of experimental assignments. As drawing is essential to all art disciplines it is a prerequisite to many of our other studio courses.

201 Introduction to Computer Art
Students learn the basic skills and techniques in creating digitally assisted visual art. Initial projects introduce software tools; later projects increasingly reinforce skill development while concentrating on idea generation and individual approaches to image making. Peripheral hardware, including scanners, digital cameras, inkjet and laser printers, are utilized in generating imagery.

Art History Course Offerings

111 Western Art History to 1400
Explores visual art of the western world from prehistoric times to the late Middle Ages in an attempt to understand why people create art and how art has shaped people's lives. In this chronological survey, we will learn to look closely at works of sculpture, painting, architecture and other art forms, and analyze their forms and contents. We will learn to appreciate art as an expression of wonder and creative freedom, and study its varied and integral relations to religious, social, and political life.

112 Western Art History from 1400-Present
Introduces the breadth and depth of artistic achievement in Western Europe and the United States from the beginning of the Renaissance to contemporary post-modern work in a global context. We will juxtapose the history of painting, sculpture, architecture, and the decorative arts with historical, religious, political, economic and social events, emphasizing the connections between works of art and the contexts in which they are produced. Lecture and discussion based.

211 The Art of Greece and Rome
Study of Greek and Roman art, with emphasis on architecture and sculpture. Focuses on stylistic development, iconography, and the purposes, functions and meanings of the art within the cultures of Greece and Rome. Offered alternate years in the fall semester. Prerequisite: Art 111

212 Art and Religion of the Medieval World
Study of art and Christianity in Western Europe from the late Roman Empire to the early 15th century. Examines the specific concerns and condition of Christianity in each period, how those shaped the art of the period, and how the art in turn shaped the religious experience of the general populace. Religious issues examined include missionary work of the early Church, the relationship between Church and state, pilgrimages and the cult of relics, the Crusades, church reform, scholasticism, and mysticism and private devotion. Study of the art includes consideration of style and iconography, and the examination of art forms ranging from catacomb paintings to Gothic cathedrals to illuminated manuscripts for private devotion. Offered alternate years in the fall. Prerequisite: Art 111

213 Renaissance Art
Study of Italian and Northern Renaissance painting, sculpture, architecture and graphic arts from 1300 to 1550. Considers issues of style, iconography, patronage, cross-influences between Italian and Northern Renaissance painting, and the purposes and functions of art within Renaissance society. Special attention given to consideration of the concept of a "Renaissance" and the meaning of the term as it is applied to the very different arts of Italy and Northern Europe. Offered alternate years in the fall. Prerequisite: Art 111

214 Baroque Art
Explores the diversity of artistic styles in European painting, sculpture, architecture and the decorative arts between 1600 and 1750. The focus is primarily on Italy, Spain, France, Flanders and the Netherlands. Considers the expanding concepts of world geography, trade and colonization and its impact on art, an awakening sense of self for both artists and patrons, systems of training, theories of gender in the production and consumption of art works, and ways of describing and inscribing gender, race, class and sexual orientation in Baroque art. Offered in alternate years in the spring. Prerequisite: Art 111

215 Philosophy of Art
Analysis of fundamental concepts and theories of the arts and art criticism with particular emphasis upon alternative contemporary approaches. Offered spring semester. 216 Modern and Contemporary Art Survey of 20th century European and American painting, sculpture, photography, and time arts. Examines stylistic trends, changes in ideas about the nature and purposes of art and the relationships between art and society. Discussion of the impact of contemporary critical theory on the evolution of the art of the 20th century. Offered spring semester. Prerequisite: Art 111 or permission of the instructor

217 American Art, 1600 - 1913
Examines the major cultural movements, artists and art works in what would become the United States from the colonial period to the advent of modernism with the Armory Show in New York in 1913. Offered alternate years in the fall. Prerequisite: Art 111

218 History of Prints
Survey of the history of prints in the Western world from the 15th century to the present. Examination of technical developments, themes and uses of prints, with special attention given to the relationship between the visual vocabulary of the printed image and information it conveys. Extensive use will be made of the Albion College print collection, offering students an unique opportunity for close study of actual artworks. Lecture and laboratory. Offered alternate years in the spring. Prerequisite: Art 111

310 Women in Art
In-depth examination of the roles women have played as creators, subjects, patrons and critics of art through history. Special emphasis will be placed on theories of the social construction of gender through art in all periods and on responses of contemporary women artists to such constructions. Offered alternate years in the fall. Prerequisite: Art 111, IDY 106, or permission of the instructor

311 Art as Political Action: Taking Art to the Streets
Examines art that invites or encourages social awareness and/or action. Includes studies of "high art" media, such as photography, painting and sculpture, and non-traditional art forms including performance art, public murals, crafts, environmental art and others. Thematically arranged around politicized issues such as race, rape and domestic violence, concepts of the body, pacifism and war, poverty, illness and AIDS, the course begins with political movements in the nineteenth century which relied heavily on visual images to achieve their purposes, including the abolition movements. Offered in alternate years in the spring. Prerequisite: Art 111 or permission of the instructor

312 Race and its Representation in American Art
Examines representations of individuals and groups who traditionally have been viewed as "other": African Americans, Native Americans, Asians and Chicanos/Chicanas as contrasted with images of members of the dominant culture. Considers how visual art has served to not only reflect social conditions and situations, but to construct identities for certain ethnic groups in the American psyche. Offered in alternate years. Prerequisite: Art 111, or Art 217 or permission of the instructor

389 Queens, Nuns and Art
Investigates how people in the European Middle Ages created meaning and value through art. We focus especially on how people wove gender into their visual representations of themselves and the world, and how they constructed living spaces that supported gendered identities. Students will read accounts of historians whop address such questions as: what were the roles of women in commissioning, creating and employing gendered religious imagery; what visual strategies did artists use to help construct the identities of women who made and looked at religious imagery; and how did men respond to the powerful, creative women of the medieval convent and castle?

Options for Advanced Study 381 - 384 Process
The process of making and conceiving art, often from a multi-media, interdisciplinary point of view. Examples: The concept of assemblage, photo-sensitive media, readings for current art, structural systems, critical studies of the college collections, color perception and performance, current drawing concepts. Offered fall and spring semesters.

391, 392 Internship
Offered on a credit/no credit basis in the fall and spring semesters.

401, 402 Seminar

411, 412 Directed Study