A focused, critical examination and analysis of a selected topic in Art History varying according to faculty teaching the course. A subtopic course description will be published each term the course is offered. Students may take this course multiple times with different topics. Topic will be determined by the instructor.

This course presents an overview of the multiple, intersecting histories and aesthetic practices of photography between 1800 and 1915 and its applications in fine art, snapshot, documentary, scientific, commercial, and propaganda in a global perspective. Course lectures include the medium’s pre-history and the development of photography as a modern art form. Students will learn about different photographic processes as well as the multiple interpretations of notable images from the era, and will analyze connections between science, culture, history, and photography.

The objective of this course, the second course of a two-semester sequence, is to present an overview of the multiple, intersecting histories and aesthetic practices of photography from the development of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th century to the present, including the medium’s transformation by digital imaging in the 21st century. Photography’s applications within fine art, documentary, scientific, journalistic, commercial, and vernacular practices will be investigated within a global perspective.