ARTHS-199-1219: Contemporary Art History Syllabus

Diablo Valley College Pleasant Hill Campus

Spring  2019, 3 Units, January 28-May 22

Room A-106 Mondays and Wednesdays 9:35--11:00 am

Keith Haring, Untitled from the Andy Mouse portfolio, 1986. Screenprint on paper, 38 x 38”, collection Smithsonian Museum of American Art

Instructor Information

Name: Ms. Kristen Koblik (pronouns: she, her, hers)

Office Location: Art Building, room A-401

My office hours are Mondays and Wednesdays after class from 11am-12pm but I am on campus A LOT and am often available at many other times. Please email me and set up an appointment—or knock and take a chance that I am in! Note: Art Office doors are locked from the outside, so you need to knock and wait. I will get there as fast as I can!!

Contact me:

Email is my preferred method of contact.  kkoblik@dvc.edu, expect a response within 24 hours M-F 8-6pm, may be longer on weekends or holidays. You can also send an email to me through the Canvas Inbox feature—it all gets forwarded to my main inbox.

Office phone: 925-969-2253 I check messages every day that I am in the office. Please say your name and contact number as clearly as possible—I have been unable to return calls in the past because of lack of audio clarity!

Google Voice (for texting or calling): 925-322-0037. Messages will be sent to me primarily as email/ transcriptions. Same return time of 24 hours during the working week.

Course Information

This course meets IGETC 3A and CSUGE C1 requirements

Course Description:

This course focuses on American and European art produced since 1945, although art from other cultures will also be considered. Students examine works of art and their cultural circumstances, with the goal of recognizing, understanding, and discussing various art forms in their broader contexts.  This course also aims to introduce students to the discipline of art history and to enable students to answer a variety of root questions.  The course centers on themes that run through contemporary art, including issues of identity, the avant-garde, the art object and the object of art, institutions and challenges to them, and branding and marketing in the art world. 

I will expect you to become familiar with and remember the most important objects, styles, artists, and characteristics of the time period we cover, to learn the broad historical and cultural contexts that surround them, to understand and apply aesthetic theories, and to be able to make thematic connections between art, theory, culture, and your understanding of the world.

In terms of what you can expect as a student, I try to incorporate a lot of discussion and “application” activities into class, which means that class time is important, and preparing for class is important—that means doing the reading and study work throughout the semester, not just in a rush before an exam.  

Course Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes

Upon the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify, describe, and analyze important issues related to art making in the last half of the 20th Century, including significant social, economic, scientific, and political forces that helped shape the character of the art produced during this time;
2. Recognize key works of art produced since 1945;
3. Critically analyze the nature of contemporary art and its significance with regard to their own lives and society at large;

4. Apply concepts from critical, historical, and primary sources using appropriate art historical vocabulary.

Textbooks and Materials

This class does not have a required textbook. It has many required and some recommended readings, which are all available online through our Canvas course. It is extremely important that you complete the required readings before the class during which they will be used. I am trying to ensure that all materials are accessible, but if you run into a problem of accessibility, please let me know and I will do my best to solve it for you.

Because your readings and media are all online, you will likely be reading and taking notes from a screen rather than on paper. Since annotating, highlighting, summarizing, and note taking are so important for your understanding, I strongly recommend that you use an app that has these features. I use Diigo and like it but have also heard good things about Evernote. I have also created google docs of the readings for each unit that you can use as note-taking templates, although those will not allow you to mark up the pdfs and websites themselves. Here’s links:

https://www.diigo.com/index

https://evernote.com/

If you feel the need for a textbook, I recommend Eleanor Heartney’s Art and Today (Phaidon, 2013, ISBN 0714866008) as a good source that won’t break the bank ($50 new on Amazon, many used cheaper copies available). It does not cover the earlier works that we discuss, but I have borrowed from Heartney’s organization of chapters and she gives good introductions to the themes we cover in the course.

Course Management System: We will use the Canvas course management system to distribute readings, complete homework assignments, submit substantial written work such as essays, and record grades. There is a link to Canvas on the top bar of the DVC homepage, but the independent URL is www.4cd.instructure.com In addition, there is a Canvas link in your WebAdvisor page.

We will review access and features of Canvas in class. However, they also have a 24/7 dedicated help line, 1-844-303-5586, and a series of help videos and instructions that you can access any time by clicking the question mark icon on the left menu from any Canvas page.

Chrome is the recommended browser for optimal use with Canvas.

Course Requirements and Grades

Course assignments include in-class work, one substantial research-based argumentative paper, weekly quizzes on the images and the readings, and midterm and final exams, each with slide comparison/essay and short answer components.

• You will need to spend time online to complete and submit assignments, including weekly reading quizzes, so limited computer access is needed. School computer labs are free and available for this purpose.
• You will be encouraged to visit a museum to see art in person and to facilitate your assignments. A list of appropriate institutions, prices, locations, etc. will be handed out.

Assignments and Point Values:
Small Assignments	10%	50 points
In-Class Application Assignments	16%	80 points
Research Assignments	8%	40 points
Research Paper	20%	100 points
Weekly Reading and Review Quizzes	15%	75 points
Midterm exam	17%	85 points
Final exam	17%	85 points
Supplemental Credit Assignments	0-9%	0-45 points
Total	103-112%	510-560 points

Grades by Points:

(calculated on 500 point scale)

A          above 450

B          449-400

C         399-350

D         349-300

F          299 or below

Grading policy

In this class, all points are worth the same value. That is, no assignments are curved or weighted. I often picture the course grade system as a “donation thermometer” where your points accumulate over the semester until at the end you receive whatever grade that corresponds to the points you have earned. Your grades will be visible on Canvas as soon as I grade assignments, and Canvas is my record keeping system. I’m happy to chat with you about how you are doing in the course, and what you can do to improve your performance.

Small Assignments (50 points total, 10% of course grade)

We typically begin and/or end class with “small assignments.” These have a variety of types: a specific question on previous material, practice for comparisons or thesis statements, a survey of your prior knowledge… The purpose of these assignments is to get us ready to think about the day’s material, remind you of related points, retrieval practice in advance of exams, check for understanding, and clarify points of confusion. These assignments happen at the beginning and/or end of class and cannot be made up. It is therefore important that you arrive on time and don’t leave early, so you don’t miss these. They have tiny point values, so if you miss one or two, it is not a big deal, but if you miss many of them, your grade could be affected.

 In-Class Application Assignments (4@20 points each, 80 points total, 16% of course grade)

These assignments are done in class, and ask you to synthesize or apply the information covered in the readings and lectures. For example, the first assignment asks you to create a chart of traits and theories that can be applied to different Abstract Expressionists. The assignments are typically conducted in small groups, with individual analysis posted in a Canvas discussion board after the assignment is completed. There is typically a group component and individual component to the grades for these assignments.

Research Assignments (2@20 points each, 40 points total, 8% of course grade)

There are three Research Assignments listed on the course schedule. You should do two of these assignments to get full credit for this grade category. All students MUST submit the first Research Assignment, then you can pick one or the other of the second two assignments. The research assignments ask you to look more deeply into an artist or topic of your choice, and to structure that research into a short guide to your topic which will be posted on Canvas in a discussion board. All of your work must be cited and documented. These assignments are designed to be preparation for the major research paper that is due towards the end of the semester.

Exams (85 points each, 34% of course grade)

The midterm and final exams have the same format: image identification, slide comparison, and short answer questions. There are choices and options for comparison and short answer components. I will hand out instructions and sample questions prior to each exam. The final exam is cumulative. These assessments ask you to demonstrate and apply the student learning outcomes, including identification of artworks, evaluation and comparison of art and styles, and discussion of social and historical issues surrounding the art of the chronological time periods.

Research Paper (100 points, 20% of course grade)

The paper for this course is an argumentative, thesis-driven essay on an art historical topic of your choosing that is related to the course content we cover. You will need to conduct research using scholarly sources and write a paper of 1,000-2,500 words in length. Chicago and MLA citation systems are both acceptable. Papers will be submitted via Canvas and TurnItIn. You will receive feedback and guidance on your research question/topic, preliminary bibliography, and thesis statement. I am happy to read drafts and work with you on the paper prior to the due date. A detailed assignment guide and rubric will be handed out and discussed in class. Papers not submitted before the deadline online are late, and subject to a 10% point deduction. Late papers will be accepted for one week after the deadline.

Weekly Online Quizzes (5 points each, 75 points total, 15% of course grade)

There is a quiz each week. The quiz is online, automatically graded, and can be taken as many times as you like before the due date. The quizzes will test your reading, recall of class-based information, and image identification skills. The reason quizzes are weekly is to benefit your learning. Quizzes cannot be made up, but each one has a low point total, so if you happen to miss one, it’s not a big deal. If you miss most or all of the quizzes, it will impact your course grade.

Supplemental Credit (0-45 points, each assignment is 15 points)

There are three supplemental credit assignments. These assignments relate to the course goals of analyzing and describing art. You may complete all, some, or none of these assignments at any point in the course. They all have the same due date towards the end of the semester. Please see the Canvas course module titled “Supplemental Credit” for assignment guides and rubrics.

Course Policies

Please come to class on time each week and be prepared to work from the very beginning of class. Persistent acute lateness will have an adverse effect on both your learning and your grade. Small assignments will often be given and collected at the very beginning of class—this is to encourage your timeliness.

The class functions best when people participate, discuss, and add to the learning community. I try to encourage a sense of community and engagement in class, and I hope that you will feel supported in sharing your ideas, reactions, and questions. If I can do anything else to support and facilitate your participation, please let me know.

Please silence all cell phones and refrain from texting and other potentially distracting activities during class.

In college classrooms, it is expected that you take notes, participate in discussions, and generally facilitate your own and others learning experiences. Students who cannot participate in the creation of a beneficial academic environment will be asked to leave.

• Makeup exams may be arranged only in cases that fall into school policy (athletic contests, religious observance) or in cases of documented medical or family emergencies. Make-ups must be arranged and completed in a reasonable time frame, as determined by the instructor. No make-ups are available for missed small assignments or weekly quizzes. Please let me know as soon as possible if you have a conflict with any scheduled due date, especially the final exam.
• There is a small amount of leeway built in to the assignments and points; including specific supplemental credit assignments. No additional extra credit opportunities will be offered.
• If you are a student with a disability that requires course modifications or accommodations, please inform me. You MUST be registered with DVC’s Disability Support Services to receive any modifications or accommodations. If you are not already registered with DSS, you should do so as soon as possible. Contact Lawrence Punsalang at 925-969-2182 or go to the DSS office located in SCC-248 to schedule an appointment for assessment.
• Academic Integrity: Any student who copies or paraphrases directly from a book, periodical, or website without acknowledgment and documentation (footnotes, quotation marks, etc.) will receive a lowered grade or an F (0 points) on that assignment. All quotes, facts, and ideas from others must be documented. It is crucial when presenting your ideas that you put them in your own words and cite any input from others. Appropriate citing and quoting methods will be discussed in class. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism or if your work is appropriate, please come and see me before the assignment is due.
• Any student who cheats on an exam/project will receive a lowered grade or an F (0 points) for that exam/project and may be subject to disciplinary action through the college review board, which may result in suspension from the college. Guidelines for academic integrity will be made explicit on assignments and exams.

Course Calendar

This is the plan for each class meeting during the semester. There may be changes to the schedule—please check the course website for any changes/announcements to scheduled readings and assignment due dates. ALL READINGS WILL APPEAR ON CANVAS AS “ASSIGNMENTS” WITH NO GRADE. Please have the readings prepared for the week/day they are “due”—that is what we will be discussing during the class sessions. Some flexibility of dates, topics, and readings, especially in the sections on Neoclassicism and Romanticism may be required. Small in-class assignments, which account for part of your grade, are not scheduled on this calendar, and may occur at any time. In-class assignments cannot be made up for any reason.