Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Upon successful completion students should be able to:

• recognize formal qualities in art and read visual elements, artistic and cultural styles, and symbols
• view works of art "dynamically," that is, to appreciate and communicate simultaneously individual viewer response, the uniqueness of a work, its origins and precedent, its potential as an inspiration and influence on later art, and its relationship to a particular cultural moment
• decipher content and meaning of works made by women artists through understanding of historical, social, cultural, economic, and political contexts
• use an understanding of feminist critique in art work and in the history of art to apply theoretical  approaches of gender, race, and class to works of art made by women
• adapt theoretical approaches and course content to other art not covered in the course so that he/she can understand and value art made by women in all-encompassing global ways

The student will:
 

• comprehend, apply, analyze and evaluate reading assignments
• identify artwork and architecture, and relate facts and ideas about these works of art in exam format
• research, plan, compose, edit and revise short papers

Themes, Concepts, and Issues:
Theoretical
 

• theory and criticism in the history of art
• pattern-based thinking and historical process
• various interpretations of art
• art and gender
• creativity and the impulse to make art
   

Stylistic and Interpretive
 

• visual literacy
• art media and artistic technique
• "seeing and knowing"
• iconography
• formal elements of art
   

Social and Cultural

• other peoples and their histories, values, and culture * art and economics
• art and the social fabric
• art and religion
• art and politics
• art and gender
• relationship of culture and style
• art and cultural transmission
• historical impact of art
  • the influence of art on one's own culture
  • the influence of art on relations with other cultures
     

• art and artists
  • the impulse to make art
  • the Gestalt of art
  • the role of the artist in society
  • biography
     

• geography and its influence on art and culture
• artifact recovery, analysis, and restoration

Competencies and Skills:
The successful student should be able to:
 

• work creatively with art historical data, using it to develop principles of art history
• recognize and appraise patterns in historical phenomena
• assess the ways in which an art object is affected by our own vantage point
• recognize and discriminate among various styles of art
• trace the development of art from one period to another
• analyze formally works of art and appreciate the interrelationship of its elements
• determine symbolism in art
• employ iconographical nomenclature
• express the relationship of art to society and culture to style
• analyze the "meaning" of art objects through understanding of historical, social, and political context
• use specific terminology to describe works of art
• transfer to a four year college and continue a course of study in the field of art history, fine art, anthropology, and history in general
   

Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills:
 

• oral and written command of college level English