The concentration in History of Art and Architecture (HIAA) introduces students to the history of art, architecture, and material culture. Students in HIAA explore a wide range of artistic traditions from around the world, and develop the skills necessary to analyze artworks, artifacts, and the built environment dating from the paleolithic to the contemporary. Concentrators are encouraged to develop familiarity with the distinctive periods, regions, sub-fields, and theoretical approaches that collectively inform the discipline, while at the same time developing an individualized program. Concentrators will receive essential training in perceptual, historical, and critical analysis.
History of Art and Architecture Requirements
To complete the concentration, you will be expected to take a minimum of ten courses. Our goal in setting out these requirements is to welcome students into a lively and diverse department that also shares a cohesive and strong commitment to the field. We as a faculty want students to cultivate their special interests and also to venture into areas that may not be so familiar but that will open new and exciting possibilities for them. Ten courses are only the minimum requirement. Beyond that students are encouraged to take courses at RISD, participate in study abroad programs, and take courses in other Brown departments. As we are a truly interdisciplinary department, you will also find that our faculty collaborates with members of other departments to teach courses that bring together the strengths of different disciplines. We encourage both experimentation and concentration.
Since the history of art and architecture addresses issues of practice within specific historical contexts, concentrators are encouraged to take at least one studio art course. Courses in history also train students in methods and approaches that are highly relevant to the history of art and architecture. Study abroad can be a valuable enrichment of the academic work available on campus, in that it offers opportunities for first-hand knowledge of works of art and monuments as well as providing exposure to foreign languages and cultures. Study abroad should be planned in consultation with the concentration advisor in order to make sure that coursework will relate meaningfully to the concentrators program of study.
Summary of Concentration Requirements
| 5 Lecture Courses, numbered HIAA 0001-HIAA 0999 in at least three different geographic regions and two differed periods. | 5 | |
| 3 Seminars, numbered HIAA 1000-HIAA 1999 | 3 | |
| 1 Elective taught in the department, cross-listed courses from other departments, or courses in other departments | 1 | |
| 1 Capstone Course | 1 | |
| Total Credits | 10 | |
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| 5 Lecture Courses, numbered HIAA 0001–HIAA 0999. The courses should engage at least three different geographic regions (Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe) and two different periods (Ancient-Medieval, Early Modern, Modern-Contemporary). Individual courses can be used to fulfill either the geographic or temporal breadth requirement, but not both. Courses tagged as “Multiple Regions” and “Multiple Periods” can be used to fulfill one geographic and one temporal breadth requirement, respectively. | 5 | |
| Temporal Periods | ||
Ancient/Medieval: | ||
| The Art of Enlightenment | ||
| Arts of Asia: Beginnings to 1300 | ||
| Art and Architecture of the Roman Empire | ||
| The Arts of Religion and Ritual in the Ancient World | ||
Early Modern: | ||
| Food and Art in the Early Modern World | ||
| Giotto to Watteau: Introduction to the Art of Europe from Renaissance to French Revolution | ||
Modern/Contemporary: | ||
| Introduction to American Art: The 19th Century | ||
| Introduction to American Art: The Twentieth Century | ||
| Introduction to the History of Art: Modern Photography | ||
| Revolutions, Illusions, Impressions: A History of Nineteenth-Century Art | ||
| Postwar to Postmodernism: Art Since 1945 | ||
| Contemporary Art | ||
| Contemporary Photography | ||
| The Other History of Modern Architecture | ||
| Art and Technology from Futurism to Hacktivism | ||
| Modern Architecture | ||
| Contemporary Architecture | ||
| City and Cinema | ||
Multiple Periods: | ||
| South Asian Art and Architecture | ||
| Architecture of the House Through Space and Time | ||
| Architecture and Urbanism of Africa | ||
| Geographic Regions: | ||
Africa: | ||
| Architecture and Urbanism of Africa | ||
Americas: | ||
| Introduction to American Art: The 19th Century | ||
| Introduction to American Art: The Twentieth Century | ||
| Contemporary Photography | ||
Asia: | ||
| The Art of Enlightenment | ||
| South Asian Art and Architecture | ||
Europe: | ||
| Art and Architecture of the Roman Empire | ||
| Introduction to the History of Art: Modern Photography | ||
| Revolutions, Illusions, Impressions: A History of Nineteenth-Century Art | ||
| Giotto to Watteau: Introduction to the Art of Europe from Renaissance to French Revolution | ||
Multiple Regions: | ||
| The Architectures of Islam | ||
| Architecture of the House Through Space and Time | ||
| Postwar to Postmodernism: Art Since 1945 | ||
| Contemporary Art | ||
| The Other History of Modern Architecture | ||
| The Arts of Religion and Ritual in the Ancient World | ||
| Art and Technology from Futurism to Hacktivism | ||
| Modern Architecture | ||
| Contemporary Architecture | ||
| 3 Seminars, numbered HIAA 1000–HIAA 1931 | 3 | |
| Prefabrication and Architecture | ||
| Brushwork: Chinese Painting in Time | ||
| Mountains and Waters: Art and Ecology in East Asia | ||
| The Pictured Text | ||
| The Bureaucracy of Hell: Envisioning Death in East Asian Art | ||
| Pre-Columbian Art + Architecture | ||
| Politics and Spectacle in the Arts of Ancient Rome | ||
| Arts of Memory in Ancient Rome | ||
| Arts Between Europe and the World: 1500-1700 | ||
| The Art of Portraiture: Pre-Histories of the Selfie | ||
| Eclectic Arts in the Global 19th Century | ||
| Contemporary Art and Activism | ||
| Possible Futures: Art and the Social Network before the Internet (1950-1979) | ||
| Abstraction in Theory and Practice | ||
| Dada and Surrealism: Anarchy, Exile, Alterity | ||
| Contemporary American Urbanism: City Design and Planning, 1945-2000 | ||
| Berlin: Architecture, Politics and Memory | ||
| Criticality and Modern Art | ||
| Exhibition as Medium | ||
| Contemporary Art of Africa and the Diaspora | ||
| Museum Interpretation Practices | ||
| Providence Architecture | ||
| The History and Methods of Art Historical Interpretation | ||
| Museums, Histories, Critiques | ||
| 1 Elective: This can include courses taught in the department, cross-listed courses from other departments, or courses in other departments approved by the concentration advisor. 1 | 1 | |
| 1 Capstone course. Capstone projects are required for all concentrators. The Capstone is intended to challenge you with an opportunity to synthesize at a high level of achievement the knowledge and understanding you have gained by concentrating in the History of Art and Architecture. Capstone projects embrace many possibilities. You can perfect a seminar paper in which you have developed a strong interest. You can participate in a graduate seminar to which the instructor has admitted you. You can develop work that you do as a museum or gallery intern. You might work on an archaeological excavation. You can participate in the Honors Program. Beyond these opportunities, the Department is open to other approaches. Capstones are often completed under the auspices of an independent study course. But a capstone may be completed under the umbrella of an existing course. All capstone’s must be discussed with and approved by a faculty sponsor and your concentration advisor. | 1 | |
| Total Credits | 10 | |
| 1 | A maximum of four credits may be allowed for courses taken at other universities (transfer credits or from study abroad) or courses on art historical subjects taken in other departments. No concentration credit will be granted for AP/IB/A-level scores. |
Self-Assessment
All concentrators are required to write an essay when they file for the concentration that lays out what they expect to gain from the course of study they propose. All second-semester seniors will be required to write a final essay that takes measure of what they have learned from the concentration, including their capstone and other experiences relating to their study of the history of art and architecture. The self-assessment should be submitted through ASK with a revised list of courses actually taken at least one month prior to graduation.
Honors
During the second semester of the junior year all concentrators will be invited to apply for admission to the Honors Program in History of Art and Architecture. The honors program is an opportunity for concentrators to mobilize what they have learned to make an original research contribution to the field.
Students wishing to write an honors thesis should have produced consistently excellent work and maintained a high level of achievement (i.e. a majority of “A” or “S with distinction” grades) in all concentration courses. It is advisable for them to have taken at least one seminar in the department and written a research paper before choosing to undertake a thesis. Acceptance into the Honors program depends on the persuasiveness of the thesis topic and the availability of relevant faculty to advise the thesis. No honors student may take more than four courses either semester of their senior year—with the honors seminar being considered one of the four courses. Students interested in honors who are expecting to graduate in the middle of the year should contact the concentration advisor no later than the beginning of their junior year.
During both fall and spring semesters you will participate in the monthly meetings of the Honors cohort, in which honors students in both HIAA concentrations share their work-in-progress with each other and with the faculty member who supervises the seminar. These monthly meetings, usually three per semester, are mandatory. Students must enroll in HIAA 1990 (Honors Thesis) in both semesters. Students are also expected to meet separately and regularly with their own thesis advisor.
Finished drafts of the thesis, which will generally be no more than 30–35 pages in length (exceptions to be determined in consultation with the instructor), not counting bibliography and visual materials, will be due to the advisor and second reader by March 1 of the Spring semester or by November 1 of the Fall semester if you plan on graduating in December. Comments will be returned to the students for final corrections at that point. There will be a public presentation of Honors work at the end of the Spring semester.