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Art History Courses

Art History MA Courses

Each year the Department of Art History will offer a selection of courses from those listed below. A list of those courses, as well as information as to the specific content of seminar offerings, is available on the Department of Art History website.

ARTH 611 Landscapes and Built Environment s (3 credits)

Description: This seminar is concerned with built environments and aspects of natural/cultural landscapes.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 613 Indigenous Art and Art History (3 credits)

Description: This seminar focuses on the evolving arts practices of Indigenous peoples, including themes of collection, exhibition, historical continuity, and power relations.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 614 Craft Studies: Theory and Practice (3 credits)

Description: This seminar explores issues in the theory and practice of craft studies.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 615 Postcolonial and Decolonizing Practices in Art and Visual Culture (3 credits)

Description: This seminar considers postcolonial and decolonizing themes, theories and methodologies as these pertain to art and visual culture.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 627 Feminisms and Art History (3 credits)

Description: This seminar explores various forms of feminist history, theory and activism on the production and reception of art and architecture.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 635 Art and Art History in Canada and Quebec (3 credits)

Description: This seminar focuses on aspects of art and art history in Canada and Quebec.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 639 Architectural History, Theory and Criticism (3 credits)

Description: This seminar focuses on the history, theory and criticism of architecture.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 640 Photography History and Theory (3 credits)

Description: This seminar explores various aspects of photography history and theory.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 641 Issues in Visual and Material Culture (3 credits)

Description: This seminar investigates practices, theories, and methodologies related to material culture.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 642 Media and New Media (3 credits)

Description: This seminar explores how artistic practices intersect with the history and theory of media and technology.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 643 Art and Globalization (3 credits)

Description: This seminar considers how art negotiates questions of globalization, diaspora, and transnationalism.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 647 Independent Studies in Art History (3 credits)

Description: This course allows students to work closely with an individual professor, on a research topic not covered by the program's seminars.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 648 Museum Studies (3 credits)

Description: This seminar focuses on the history of museums, museological theories, and institutional critique.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 649 Curatorial Studies: Theory and Practice (3 credits)

Description: This seminar is dedicated to curatorial knowledge, theories, skills and practices.

Component(s): Seminar

ARTH 650 Supervised Internship (3 credits)

Description: Students undertake an internship at an arts organization and perform concrete tasks designed to enhance their learning through practical experience (e.g. curating an exhibition, writing a catalogue essay, editing a publication, organizing a speakers' series) and also reflect on that experience. Students have an academic supervisor as well as on-site supervision. The internship involves 150 hours of work and is approved by the academic supervisor and the graduate program director, who ensure that the tasks, learning objectives and assessments are consistent with the objectives of the MA program.

Component(s): Practicum/Internship/Work Term

ARTH 654 Annotated Review of Sources and Documents (3 credits)

Description: Students take this individualized study course with their supervisor, normally in the summer term following the first year of study. This course must be completed before students begin writing their thesis. Supervisor and students meet to determine the list of scholarly texts and/or archival materials to be addressed in order to strengthen the students' foundational knowledge of their designated research field and prepare them for writing the thesis. The students are responsible for a series of annotations, together with an essay that synthesizes the annotated material (total word count approximately 6000 words).

Component(s): Thesis Research

ARTH 655 Thesis Seminar (3 credits)

Prerequisite/Corequisite:  The following course must be completed previously: ARTH 654.

Description: This course is designed to introduce students to the intellectual and professional aspects of graduate school and academia, such as writing a thesis, conducting research, engaging with art historical theory and methodologies, giving a conference paper, applying for grants.

Component(s): Seminar; Thesis Research

Notes:
  • Credit for this pass/fail seminar is accorded once the students have delivered their thesis presentation during the second year of the program.

ARTH 656 Thesis (24 credits)

Description: Each student submits a thesis of 13,000 - 15,000 words (excluding notes, bibliography and other supporting materials), prepared under the supervision of a tenured or tenure-track professor in the Department of Art History who examines the thesis along with one other professor.

Component(s): Thesis Research

ARTH 6600 The Social Contexts of Art and Architecture (3 credits)

Description: This seminar explores the social contexts of selected artistic/architectural themes, movements, and periods.

ARTH 6610 Art History and Black Studies (3 credits)

Description: This seminar considers art and art history from Black Studies perspectives.

ARTH 6620 Gender and Sexuality in Art and Architecture (3 credits)

Description: This seminar explores aspects of gender and sexuality in relation to histories of art and architecture.

ARTH 663 Art History and Social Justice (3 credits)

Description: This seminar investigates how questions of social justice intersect with art and visual culture.

ARTH 664 Visual Culture (3 credits)

Description: This seminar is concerned with aspects of visual culture, including theories of visuality and various modes of visual production.

ARTH 665 Histories and Theories of Design (3 credits)

Description: This seminar explores histories and theories of design.

ARTH 667 Art History, Religion and Spirituality (3 credits)

Description: This seminar considers the formative role of spirituality and religious practices on art making and architectural practice.

ARTH 668 Theories and Methodologies in Art History (3 credits)

Description: This seminar addresses various methodological approaches and theories relevant to art history.

Art History PhD Courses

Block A Seminars:  Methodology

ARTH 809 A1: Art History and Its Methodologies (3 credits)

Description: Students reflect critically on the theoretical and methodological foundations of current art historical practice. This seminar is offered in English.

Component(s): Seminar

Notes:
  • The language of discussion in Block A seminars is the same as the language of instruction, with the understanding that students may express complex ideas in the program's other language.
  • Students who have received credit for ARTH 800 may not take this course for credit.

ARTH 810 A2: Problématiques de l'histoire de l'art (3 credits)

Description: Analyse des bases théoriques de la discipline et réflexion critique sur les questionnements actuels des diverses méthodologies appliquées l'étude des oeuvres d'art.

Component(s): Seminar

Notes:
  • The language of discussion in Block A seminars is the same as the language of instruction, with the understanding that students may express complex ideas in the program's other language.

  • Students who have received credit for ARTH 800 may not take this course for credit.

Block B Seminars: Art History and Its Object

ARTH 801 B1: Periods and Territories (3 credits)

Component(s): Seminar

Notes:
  • Instructors determine the language or languages of instruction and discussion for Block B seminars.

ARTH 802 B2: Classification - Genres, Artistic Disciplines (3 credits)

Component(s): Seminar

Notes:
  • Instructors determine the language or languages of instruction and discussion for Block B seminars.

ARTH 803 B3: Thematic Questions (3 credits)

Component(s): Seminar

Notes:
  • Instructors determine the language or languages of instruction and discussion for Block B seminars.

ARTH 804 B4: Writings on Art (3 credits)

Component(s): Seminar

Notes:
  • Instructors determine the language or languages of instruction and discussion for Block B seminars.

ARTH 805 B5: Critical Examination of Artistic Context (3 credits)

Component(s): Seminar

Notes:
  • Instructors determine the language or languages of instruction and discussion for Block B seminars.

ARTH 806 B6: Formal and Semantic Studies (3 credits)

Component(s): Seminar

Notes:
  • Instructors determine the language or languages of instruction and discussion for Block B seminars.

Comprehensive Examination, Research and Thesis Courses

ARTH 807 Doctoral Forum (3 credits)

Description: In the interests of promoting the development of an intellectual community within the program, a forum consisting of professors and students in the program is held twice a year. Each student, at some point during their degree, must give a paper based on their thesis research.

Notes:
  • This paper will be evaluated by a committee consisting of three professors and accorded a pass or fail grade. The doctoral forum is bilingual, with translation provided when necessary.

ARTH 808 Comprehensive Examinations (9 credits)

Description: Each student must successfully complete one oral and one written examination, which are evaluated by the three professors constituting the student’s thesis committee. These examinations are based on a pre-established list of readings focused on the theoretical and methodological issues which inform the student’s specific area of research. The exams are intended to verify whether the student is sufficiently prepared to undertake the writing of a thesis. Students determine the language or languages for the examinations.

Component(s): Thesis Research

Notes:
  • Students who fail these examinations must take them a second time during the following semester. Those failing the second attempt will be withdrawn from the program.

ARTH 820 Research Tutorial (6 credits)

Description: This tutorial is directed by the thesis advisor and is oriented to the student’s thesis topic. Its objective is to allow the student to articulate a detailed research project, define its corpus, and develop its theoretical and methodological hypotheses with a view to obtaining the approval of the thesis committee.

Notes:
  • This project, including an activity calendar, must be submitted at the end of the student’s first year. Students should register once work is completed and a grade has been assigned.

ARTH 830 Thesis (60 credits)

Description: The doctoral candidate must submit a thesis which makes an important and original contribution to knowledge in Art History. The thesis is defended orally before a committee composed of five individuals: the thesis advisor, the two other members of the thesis committee, one examiner from a department or program within the university other than the candidate’s, and one external examiner from outside the four universities.

Component(s): Thesis Research

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