Course Description:

This course is a survey of the visual arts, in world cultures, from prehistory to the Renaissance.

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the student will be:
        familiar with the visual arts, as seen in world cultures, from prehistory up to the Renaissance

        aware of the context of the historical period and cultural framework in which these works were produced

        able to recognize and decipher and discuss the iconography of various works of art

        able to analyze the formal structure of an art work

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Introduction: The Nature of Art/The Elements & Principles of Design/
Lesson 1 Prehistoric Art in Europe
Lesson 2: Mesopotamian Art
Lesson 3: Egyptian Art
Lesson 4: Aegean Art
Lesson 5:Greek Art
Lesson 6: Etruscan & Roman Art
Lesson 7: Jewish, Early Christian & Byzantine Art
Lesson 8: Indian Art & Islamic Art
Lesson 9: Oriental Art
Lesson 10: Pre-Columbian Art & African Art
Lesson 11: Early Medieval to Romanesque
Lesson 12: Romanesque to Gothic

The course is organized into and introduction and twelve lessons. Each Lesson will have a reading assignment, a vocabulary review, a research project and a discussion topic.

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain the textbook for this course: http://rodp.bkstr.com

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The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm.

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. ..

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

There are 4 multiple choice tests, each worth 15 % of your grade. You will take them from within the on-linecourse..They are timed for an hour.. Some instructors may want you to use a proctor for the test, others will not..If you need a proctor your individual instructor will notify you.

Each test and one essay will cover 1/4th of the material covered for the class. Your final grade will be based on your test and essay scores, your participation in each lesson's discussion and the submission of the research projects.
30% for 3 essays (10 pts each)
60% for 4 tests (15 points each)
10% for a group research project.
A one point deduction will be taken for each missing discussion topic participation or research paragraph assignment not submitted.

90-100---A
80-89---B
70-70--C
60-69--D

The course is broken into 4 Units,and then 12 lessons.. The first Unit will cover the introduction and 3 lessons, and each successive unit will cover the next 3 lessons.. In a full semester term we will spend a week on each lesson. Each lesson includes a reading assignment, vocabulary words, a powerpoint lecture, a research assignment (in which you research a list of people or places, relevant to the lesson, and write a two paragraph response to one of them), and a discussion topic. Although there is no grade given for the research paragraphs and the discussions, there is a penalty for not doing them. One point will be deducted from your final grade for each discussion topic you don't address, and each research paragraph assignment missed.The vocabulary words, through out the course, are for you to make sure you understand the lessons terminology. They are not an assignment to be submitted.

There are four tests, each worth 15% of your grade, and three 500 word essays, each worth another 10% of your grade  Also, you will work with a group to create a project worth 10% for one of the units . There will be one essay and one test or project for each unit.. The tests will all be multiple-choice, each with 50 questions, some of which will be slide identification. A study guide will be provided for each test.

Test 1:introduction and lessons 1-3
Test 2: lessons 4-6
Test 3 chapters 7-11
Test 4:chapters 12-16

There are three short (500 word) essays, each one based on the the same chapters as the tests. The amount of words assigned is a minimum. There is no maximum amount of words. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. (Plagiarism = presenting someone else's thoughts, ideas or words as your own.) Any essay containing plagiarized material will be given a 0.

Below are the essay assignments. Some have a choice of essays. Choose one for each essay assignment and write a 500 (minimum)word essay on it. Be sure to cite specific examples of art work to illustrate your points.

While you may use your text and any other source for information, the essay must be entirely in your own words, except for relevant quotes, for which you must cite your source. Please spend time looking at the art, comparing works, and making your own observations. Be sure to reference illustrations from the book or include images with your essays.

Essay # 1
Analyze a work of art.
Choose any work of art from our text and analyze it. First, in terms of its formal qualities; look for the elements of design and the way they are organized into the composition. Then, in terms of any iconography you can see. What role would this piece have played in the context in which it was originally made?

Essay # 2 Choose One.

1. Find the "classical" in our contemporary world. Find instances where we find classical proportion and imagery or architecture in our everyday world. Look at civic structures as well as advertisements, corporate and educational brochures. Discuss the messages implied by the use of classicism in each instance

2. What can we tell about a culture from its art? Think back over the wide spread of history that we have surveyed. For what purposes do different cultures produce art? How does their art reflect their culture?

3. Discuss the history and development of bronze casting in early cultures.

Essay #3 Choose One

1. Discuss art in the service of religion
2. Discuss the development of the book
3. Discuss the iconoclastic controversy
4. Discuss the debate between Bernard of Clairvaux and Abbot Suger. How is that reflected in art?
5. Compare the way in which any two cultures (in chapters 6-15) created and used art.

A group project:In which you will work with a group of students to prepare a group research project based on the art of any culture found in chapters 8-13 = 10% of your grade.

• Indian Art
• Islamic art
• Oriental Art (China, Korea, Japan)
• African Art
• Pre-Columbian art

• Project

  A Group Research Project
  15% of final grade,

  This project requires that you work together with your group to research a topic and prepare a presentation to teach the class what you have learned. You will choose one of the broad topics listed below and work in a group with other students who are interested in the same topic. Look in your text; find out some possible divisions to break up your research among group members. Each of you research, in books, magazines and on the web and collect as much information as possible. Compile your information with your group. Decide what area you want to focus in on and investigate that further. Plan a short presentation of the material you have found. I have found that a PowerPoint presentation works very well. Hopefully, someone in your group will have access to this software.

  The groups are self enrolling. Go to classlist, groups. "A self enrollment Group Type is denoted with the lettering (SE) to the right of its name in the Group Type drop-down list.To enroll yourself in a self enrollment Group Type, select that Group Type from the Group Type drop-down list. If you are not yet enrolled and if all of the Groups in the Group Type are not full, a Choose Group button will appear to the right of the drop-down list. Click on this Choose Group button to select your Group"

  DO NOT JUST COPY & PASTE FROM A WEB SITE. Research and then present the information in your own words.
  

• Possible groups include:
  

  1. PreColumbian Art (Mayan, Incan, Aztec etc)
  2. Oriental Art (Chinese, Korean, Japanese)
  3. Indian Art (from India)
  4. Islamic Art
  5. Native American Art (North American)
  6. African Art
  7. Oceanic Art
  
  The groups e-mail each other or use the group discussion board and divide the up research into convenient subtopics(i.e. if the topic is pre-Columbian art. You might divide the research into different cultures...Mayan, Aztec, Olmec, Incan etc. or you might divide it by media and someone
  research painting someone else the architecture or sculpture, textiles, etc.
  
  When you all compile your research you will make it into a presentation. The best way to
  do it is in PowerPoint but people have used Word on occasion. Hopefully someone in each
  group will have PowerPoint You should each send that person your text and images for
  your part of the research (be real clear which image goes with what text) When the ppt is
  finished, submit it and I will turn it into html so it will be viewed by the class through the course resources group projects link.
  
  * To zip is to compress the file size using winzip..it's a free download from winzip.com if
  you don't have it already. (If you are a Mac user there is a program for Mac too, called zipIt
  http://www.maczipit.com
      * Pre-Columbian art
  
  

The course is broken into an introduction and 12 lessons. Each lesson includes a reading assignment, vocabulary words, a powerpoint lecture,, a research assignment (in which you research a list of people or places, relevant to the lesson, and write a two paragraph response to one of them), and a discussion topic. Although there is no grade given for the research paragraphs and the discussions, there is a penalty for not doing them. One point will be deducted from your final grade for each discussion topic you don't address, and each research paragraph assignment missed.

An events calendar is provided to help keep us all on track. Look at the events listing on the middle of the right hand column of the course home page. The due dates for assignments are posted there..

• Learn how to navigate in the course
• Participation is required, You are expected to communicate with other students in weekly discussions and work together on a group project
• Use the webct e-mail address as opposed a personal e-mail address
• Address technical problems immediately,
• Observe course etiquette at all times. 

• Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
• Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. 

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the left to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the coursemain discussion board.

Technical Support

If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to the AskRODP website at:

http://ask.rodp.org