ARHT401

This course engages students in a sustained exploration of the methods necessary to analyze visual images of women in their historical, racial, and class contexts, and to understand the status of women as producers, patrons, and audiences of art and architecture. We explore topics ranging from the analysis of the nude Venus type in Roman and later art to the work of such accomplished women artists across history as Artemesia Gentileschi, Berthe Morisot and Georgia O'Keeffe. Students will engage in a semester-long research project and present their findings to their fellow students. Outcomes include: familiarity with feminist theory and experience in deploying such frameworks in the analysis of a work of art; experience in independent academic research; critical analysis of texts; an awareness of the development of feminist thought since the 1970's.