All upcoming World Art History Certificate: Core Courses programs

The ability to derive meaning from what is seen is an essential skill in a culture saturated with images. Once this visual language is understood, reading images, particularly art, is simpler and more gratifying. Using works from the history of art as well as images from popular culture, art historian Nancy G. Heller focuses on how art communicates, how to analyze and interpret it, and what it reveals about the society that produced it. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

Our modern world echoes creative vestiges of the past, so one key to understanding our surroundings is through an overview of ancient material culture. Focusing on the Mediterranean region, art historian Renee Gondek surveys art from the Greek “Dark Ages” through the early Christian period of ancient Rome. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

In the late 19th century, American artists studied in Paris, embracing Impressionism’s bright palette and broken brushwork. Returning home to exhibit and teach, they formed “The Ten,” exhibiting for 20 years. By 1918, shifting art movements and global events rendered Impressionism outdated. Art historian Bonita Billman explores these artists’ defining style, subjects, and masterpieces that contributed to American art history. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)