Download FAH 210A syllabus

SPRING 2016
FAH 210A: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AND NEAR EASTERN ART
Dr. Madeleine S. Kaufman
888-5986 (voice mail only)
also 645-0460
Office hours: 7:15-7:45 am and 9:00-9:15 am MWF, or by appointment
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Course: This course is designed to introduce you to the art and architecture of two ancient
civilizations whose creations have influenced the art of the western world. We will learn what
pyramids were really all about, how the Egyptians influenced others (the Greeks, for instance)
and why the ziggurats of Mesopotamia still hold an important place in our imaginations. We will
look at the temples, tombs, pottery, painting and sculpture of Pharaonic Egypt and the ancient
Near East—what these objects meant to their creators and how they have influenced the things
we see around us. We will examine questions of style and technique, grapple with art history
research tools new and old and, finally, learn how to analyze and write about buildings, paintings
and sculptures clearly and effectively.
Texts: Gay Robins: The Art of Ancient Egypt (revised edition)
FIELD 3: LITERATURE AND THE ARTS
Designated courses that enable students to understand the aesthetic dimension of creative
work in the fine arts and/or literature and to understand how that creative work mirrors
and shapes human experience.
Goals & Objectives
Content:
Goal: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the aesthetic dimension of human
life through the study of literature, art, or music and the ways in which they mirror and
shape the human experience.
Objectives: Students will:
• Identify specific techniques, styles, or formalistic properties of particular examples of
literature, art, or music.
• Identify the relationship of particular examples of literature, art, or music to the
traditions from which they have emerged.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how creative work in literature, art, or music mirrors
and shapes human experience.
Skills:
Goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the methods of literary and artistic
criticism and interpretation.
Objectives: Students will:
• Critically evaluate the methods of literary and/or artistic criticism and interpretation
employed in the study of literature, art, or music.
Employ the methods of literary and/or artistic criticism and interpretation in the study of
literature, art, or music.
GLOBAL AWARENESS DESIGNATION
Designated courses that enable students to develop an understanding of geographical
regions other than the United States with a focus on their history, culture, and/or political
systems.
Courses designated as Global Awareness may have more learning objectives in addition
to those associated with the Core.
Goals & Objectives
Content:
Goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the history, culture, and/or political
systems of societies, states, and peoples other than the United States.
Objectives: Students will:
• Identify and describe the history, social structures, political institutions, and/or patterns
of cultural expression that characterize specific societies, states, and peoples
outside the United States.
• Identify the various factors that have contributed to the history and development of
social structures, political institutions, and patterns of cultural expression that
characterize specific societies, states, peoples, and cultures outside the United
States.
Skills:
Goal: Students will demonstrate how their knowledge of geographical regions other than
the United States fosters greater awareness of the world in which the students live.
Objectives: Students will:
• Critically analyze how the history, culture, and/or political systems of geographical
regions other than the United States inform the way people outside the United
States view themselves.
Critically analyze and reflect on how their knowledge of the history, culture, and/or political
systems of geographical regions other than the United States inform the way in which the
students understand their relationship to the world.
Grades: Your final grade will depend on the results of 1) 3 oral presentations (50 pts. each), 2)
announced quizzes (25 pts. each), 3) a midterm (100 pts.), 4) a final cumulative exam (100 pts.)
and 5) class participation and attendance (up to 25 pts.). An optional research paper is possible
(up to 15 pts.). On the quizzes, hourly exams and the final you will be asked to recognize,
describe and analyze (from slides) objects and buildings important for the study of ancient Near
Eastern and Egyptian art. Attendance is therefore important and required. Other questions on
these exams will be based on the textbook and your notes.
There can be no make-up exams without a doctor’s note.
Academic Integrity: You are responsible for reading and understanding the Canisius
College Code of Academic Integrity (http://www.canisius.edu/integrity/ ). Violations of
the Code may result in instructor and/or college level sanctions ranging from failure on
the assignment/course through dismissal from the college.
Special note on Plagiarism: When you turn in assignments or exams to satisfy the requirements
for this course, you are indicating it is your own work The failure to properly acknowledge your
use of another work is plagiarism. All references must be cited according to the guidelines as
described on the writing assignment handout. Plagiarism of any kind will result in a failing grade
and a report of the violation as per the notification procedures outlined in the Code.
Week of:
Jan. 18
Selected Topics:
Introduction, Uruk: Temples and Mosaics
Jan. 23
Warka Vase and Warka Head, The Royal Cemetery of Ur: Gold and Sacrifice
Jan. 30
Sargon, Gudea and Hammurabi: Celebrating Kingship in Statuary
Feb. 6
Hittites, Kassites, Middle Assyria
Feb. 13
The Assyrian Empire and Bas-Relief Propaganda
Feb. 22
Egyptian Beginnings: Uniting Upper and Lower Egypt
Reading: Robins chaps. 1 & 2
Feb. 27
Slate Palettes, The Mastaba, The Reliefs of Hesy-Ra
Mar. 5
The Pyramid Builders: Stepped, Bent and Great Pyramids
Reading: Robins chapters 3 & 4
Mar. 19
Middle Kingdom: Worried Pharaohs and Rock-Cut Tombs
Reading: Robins chaps. 5, 6, & 7
Mar. 26
A Forest of Columns: Egyptian Temples
Temple and Tomb of Queen Hatshepsut
Reading: Robins chapter 8
Apr. 2
A Heretic Pharaoh and his Artistic Revolution: Akhenaten
Reading: Robins chap. 9
Apr. 11
Tutankhamun
Reading: Robins chap. 10
Apr. 16
Art and Empire: Ramesses the Great and Abu Simbel
Apr. 23
New Directions
Reading Robins chap. 11