Art History,
Art Theory, Aesthetics and Art Criticism
Though we do not offer degree programs in Art History, all students take classes in this area. Students majoring in the studio arts, graphic design, interior design and art education study art history, art theory, aesthetics and art criticism to support their own creative and artistic endeavors. Art majors are actively involved in critical and creative thinking about topics in the visual arts ranging from questions about the nature of art and design, (aesthetics), to describing and interpreting art and design (art criticism), to historical and cultural backgrounds (art/design history and visual culture). Students develop their own knowledge and critical appreciation of issues surrounding arts and cultures in the world today in Ideas and the Visual Arts by engaging in discussions about social, political, cultural, psychological and aesthetic issues embodied in the history, theory and criticism of the visual arts.
Students consider Western Art (Prehistory to the Renaissance and Renaissance to the Present) and non-Western Art (Survey of non-Western Art) in historical and cultural contexts including their visual attributes and cultural, artistic and aesthetic theories and practice. Students learn to apply methodologies for understanding, discussing and writing about art and design in 20th century Art and Architecture and Contemporary Art and Design. These upper division courses focus on art movements and contemporary themes in art and design and their theoretical frameworks.
Art theory, aesthetics and ethics, as it applies to the art world and to student’s own art major, actively engages students in Artists in Contemporary Society through studies of the philosophy of art, art theory and art in historical, cultural, political, social and economic contexts. Students grapple with understanding their role as artists and designers in a contemporary global community.
Special topics such as Women Artists, History and Criticism of Photography, Transatlantic Perspectives on Contemporary Art have been offered in study abroad programs in London, Maastricht and will now be offered in Middleburg, the Netherlands. Faculties contribute their own specialties in art history, art theory, interior design and art education to special topics abroad and on the UCM campus.
Students engage in writing about art for publication in art journals, organizing art exhibitions, speakers and events, teaching and shadowing arts administrators and curators in preparation for a variety of opportunities in art and cultural organizations.
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FACULTY CONTACT:
Dr. Kathleen Desmond
Art Center 121
660-543-4620 desmond@ucmo.edu
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