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NOTE: All courses will still be offered online

 

Check out our 2019-2020 course schedule to see our course offerings for the current academic year.

Check out our 2020 - 2021 course schedule to see our course offerings for next academic year. For a list of all our in-department courses and crosslisted courses, see our Building Class Schedule.

 

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Art History Courses

AH101 - Global Introduction to Art History

This introductory course is a thematic examination of selected moments in the history of art across time and space. The class will be organized around case studies, themes, and cultural comparisons. It also considers the movement of art objects and ideas from one historical context to another. Specific case studies will vary for each iteration of the course. Architectural constructions of power will be of interest (comparisons might include the Cambodian Angkor Wat temples and/or Mayan temple complexes, or the Athenian Acropolis). The course investigates the interplay of religious and political values (as in Confucian tomb art and/or Christian narratives); the dynamic relationship between stylistic changes and expanding markets for art (as in French Impressionist painting and Japanese woodblock prints); and the impacts of colonialism in European art and in the visual cultures of colonized or partly-colonized lands. Differing interpretations of landscape will be introduced, as well as the formation, and interrogation, of an art historical canon. Students will develop visual, verbal, analytic, and written skills through class discussion and projects. Field trips may facilitate on-site experiences of art. 1 units. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH104 - Art & the Landscape

(Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH105 - Studying Art History:

Selected Topics in Art History at the Introductory Level.

1 unit — Murray, Tucker

AH111 - History of Architecture

This course is a broad introduction to the built environment. We will consider monuments from humankind's earliest structures to contemporary buildings and their relationships to political, social, religious and economic systems as well as their building techniques and technology. While the architecture of the ancient Mediterranean, Europe and North America is the primary focus of the class, we will also examine selected examples of global architecture from the Americas, Asia and Africa. We will consider the changing role of the architect and the practice of architecture in the contemporary world including issues of sustainability and social justice. Students will learn to analyze buildings and consider the ways in which our architectural environment affects our lives. To that end we will critically evaluate the buildings of the Colorado College campus. There will also be field trips to experience recent architecture at the United States Air Force Academy and in the city of Denver. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 to 2 units

AH112 - The Western Tradition from Ancient to Modern Times

The course surveys major developments in painting, sculpture and architecture from the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean world, to the Middle Ages, Renaissance, early modern and revolutionary modern worlds in their political, social, philosophical, and religious contexts. Discussion, readings and writing stress the interpretive methods of the art historical discipline. Students will develop written and oral skills in visual analysis, learn to identify artistic styles, and apply the principal methodologies of art historical study. The course critically examines the narrative of western art history and investigates why particular works of art have been included. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 to 2 units

AH113 - Introduction to Asian Art

Introduction to Asian art in its historical and cultural context with emphasis on China, Japan and India. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 to 2 units

AH115 - The Western Tradition from Ancient to Early Renaissance

This block surveys major developments in painting, sculpture and architecture from the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean world, to the Middle Ages, and through the early Renaissance. These developments will be considered in their political, social, philosophical, and religious contexts. Particular points of focus will be the Pyramids at Giza, the classical Greek Parthenon, the Gothic Cathedral, and art in fifteenth-century Florence. Discussion, readings, and writing stress the interpretive methods of the art historical discipline. Students will develop written and oral skills in visual analysis, learn to identify artistic styles, and apply the principal methodologies of art historical study. The course critically examines the narrative of western art history and investigates why particular works of art have been included. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH116 - The Western Tradition from High Renaissance to Modern Times

It surveys major developments in the visual arts from Michelangelo and the High Renaissance to the Baroque of Bernini and Rembrandt, through the revolutionary nineteenth century of the Romantics and Impressionists, to the modern world of the avant-garde. These developments will be considered in their political, social, philosophical, and religious contexts. Discussion, readings, and writing stress the interpretive methods of the art historical discipline. Students will develop written and oral skills in visual analysis, learn to identify artistic styles, and apply the principal methodologies of art historical study. The course critically examines the narrative of western art history and investigates why particular works of art have been included. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH118 - History of Photography

The development of photography from the early 19th century to the present; history of photographic processes; theories and philosophies of photographers and their critics; the uses of the photographic image as information, propaganda and art. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH120 - Global Architecture I: Pyramids to Cathedrals 3000 BCE-1400 CE

An introduction to the study of architecture that considers the relationships between monuments and the societies that produced them. We will survey the architecture and engineering of pre-industrial societies from a global perspective-- Egypt, China, India, the Americas, Greece, Rome, Islamic lands and the European Middle Ages as well as vernacular structures. How they expressed the values of their respective civilizations and how they were built. We will also consider contemporary attempts to understand and/or reproduce the technologies and building practices of the past. (No credit after AH111) 1 unit. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement.

1 unit — Bell

AH121 - Global Architecture II: The Taj Mahal to the 21st Century

An introduction to the built environment from early modernism to the present day from a global perspective. The formation of the western tradition in architecture under the influence of ancient Mediterranean models during the 16th – 18th centuries, and how Europeans shaped colonial architecture. Building traditions of Asian and Middle Eastern empires such as Edo Japan, Mughal India and Ottoman Turkey. The impact of the Industrial Revolution on cities and their buildings. The relationship between economic power and contemporary international architecture. The influence of current concerns, such as climate change and social inequality, on the built environment. Local and regional architecture will be examined through case studies and field trips. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement.

1 unit — Bell

AH125 - Art and the Museum in the 20th Century

Ever visited an art museum and wondered what to think about contemporary art? This course provides an introduction to the history of art since 1900, using the lens of the museum to understand issues in modern art and society. The class will undertake hands-on field work in museums in Colorado Springs and Denver. Students will learn skills in visual literacy, research, oral presentation, critical thinking, and will have the chance to do research with objects in the collection of the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. (Summer only 2025-26).

.75 units

AH150 - Representations and Realities: Art and History in Europe: Ancient to Modern Art & Culture

This course examines art and cultural history in Europe from Antiquity through to the twentieth century. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, one which seeks to bring art history and history in critical dialogue with one another, the students and professors will interrogate the meta-narrative of “progress” across time. In many ways, succeeding periods engaged in conversations with their pasts to make claims of domination through pictorial and cultural production. But it is important, too, to examine counter-narratives made by subaltern groups of the various eras, along the critical axes of gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, race and other markers of identity. Students will be called upon to think systematically about “who” they themselves are in order to engage with the past and explore human similarities, as well as differences, across a long period of time. Thinking systematically about the notion of “critical bias” and the need to analyze the past in its own terms, as well as in ours, will open up avenues to thinking about the present in new ways. We will examine the most important eras of European history, in particular, Ancient Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the early modern period, and the more recent past. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

2 units

AH168 - Global Exchange in Art: 15th to 20th Century

This art history course has a two-fold purpose. We will examine in depth particular case studies of art from diverse traditions from the 15th to the 20th century. In addition, we will consider exchanges between these traditions in still life, landscape, and figurative art. A number of the case studies will pertain to Europe, but we also will cover selected artists and art movements from China, Japan, and the Islamic world. Examples will include Renaissance art in relation to humanism, Jesuit art in the Far East, women artists in the Netherlands, the global circulation of Chinese bird-and-flower motifs, Dutch trade in blue and white ceramics, exchanges in garden design between China and the West in the 18th century, Romanticism and Orientalism, Impressionism and the Japanese print, and artistic responses to war in 20th century China and the West. 1 unit. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH180 - Native American Art

An introduction to Native American art, with emphasis on the arts of the Southwest. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH200 - Topics in Art History:

Selected topics in art history at the intermediate level.

.5 or 1 unit — Bell, Bentley, Hunter, Murray, Ragan, Rubenstein, Tucker

AH202 - Art & the Landscape

A history of gardening and landscape architecture including gardens of the Far East, Egypt, the ancient Mediterranean, the Islamic world, western Europe and North America. How gardens reflect changing concepts of nature and human interaction with it from the Garden of Eden to xeriscaping in the American West. We will also consider selected descriptions of gardens in literature, as well as images of nature in art, such as landscape painting and botanical illustration. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

1 unit — Bell

AH203 - Women in Art

A survey of women artists and images of women in art in Western Europe and America from ancient to modern times, contrasting feminist and conventional perspectives. Social and historical context as well as special problems faced by women. Why have there been so few 'great' women artists? Are there qualities unique to women's art? Meets the Critical Perspectives: Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPG requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

1 unit — Murray

AH204 - Modern Architecture

AH204 Survey of architecture from the late 19th century to the early 21st century, primarily in Europe and North America, with some attention to modernism in other areas of the world. Students will study examples ranging from the turn-of-the-century innovations of the Arts and Crafts Movement to work of contemporary “Starchitects” and architectural responses to present-day issues such as sustainability and social concerns. The course considers the impact of industrial materials and modern institutions on the built environment and new forms and functions such as art museums and skyscrapers. It includes discussion of architectural theory and important movements including the International Style and Post Modernism, with emphasis on such major figures as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Gehry as well as local and regional buildings.

1 unit — Bell

AH207 - Greece & Rome

Surveys the art and architecture of Greece and Rome from their origins in Bronze Age Greece to their transformation in the late Roman Empire using methods of art history and archaeology. Ancient Greek cities and sanctuaries with emphasis on Athens and the monuments of the Acropolis. The spread of Hellenism and the formation of an imperial visual language under Alexander the Great and his successors. The influence of Etruscan and Greek art in the Roman Republic. Imperial monuments of the city of Rome and throughout the empire as instruments of power. The class will consider political and social factors in the formation and utilization of Classical forms in both ancient and modern times. (Also listed as CL223). Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH208 - Byzantine Art

This course examines the art and architecture of the Byzantine empire from its sources in Late Antique Rome to its fall in 1453 as well as its influence in the Orthodox Christian art of Russia, Greece, Serbia among other centers. Icons, their meaning and significance, are primary subjects of study: their origins, their rejection during Iconoclasm, and their theological justification. The city of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) and its urban development will be considered as well as the evolution and significance of the domed church and its program of images from Justinian's Hagia Sophia to medieval monastic churches. We will pay particular attention to the role of art in the Easter Liturgy of the Orthodox Church, including a field trip to the Church of the Holy Theophany. The influence of Byzantine art on the later art of Europe will be considered as well. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH209 - Late Antiquity: Imperial Rome, Mystery Religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam

A study of imagery during Late Antiquity—200-750 CE--through art, architecture, archaeological sites and texts. The course covers the visual arts in imperial Rome and Sassanid Persia, the mystery religions of Mithras, Isis and Dionysus as well as Judaism, Christianity and early Islam. We will study how the power of images was harnessed to convey religious meaning and convert adherents; how the imagery of pagan antiquity influenced the eventual formation of a Christian visual language; how the first monuments of Islamic art drew on pre-existing traditions. Monuments to be studied include the Arch of Constantine, sanctuaries of Mithras and Isis, catacomb paintings, synagogues and their mosaic floors, the religious buildings of Dura Europos, Christian basilicas and their decoration, the Hagia Sophia and the Dome of the Rock. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH210 - Islamic Art

Survey of Islamic and 'Islamicate' art from the earliest 7th-century traditions through Mughal India and beyond in both religious and secular settings. Particular focus on arts of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and South Asia. Monuments to be discussed include mosques in Damascus, Isfahan, Istanbul and India; palaces in Spain, the urbanism of Cairo and Istanbul as well as calligraphy and illustrated manuscripts of Arabic novels and Persian epics. Discussion of the craft media such as pottery and textiles and how they have been received by Europeans. We will also consider depictions of the Middle Eastern world by Orientalist artists as well as the work of contemporary artists who respond to Islamic traditions. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH211 - Medieval Europe

Medieval monuments of Western Europe from Irish manuscripts to the Gothic cathedrals. Survey of selected monuments with consideration of the interaction of classical tradition and barbarian elements; the impact of monasticism, pilgrimages and scholasticism. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH221 - Art of the Renaissance

Explores issues in the painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Renaissance in Europe from 1300 to c. 1480, with emphasis on the social, historical, material, and intellectual circumstances that shaped artistic production. Themes may include constructions of the self, patronage, gender roles, social class, religion, and artistic status, among others. Artists may include Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Jan van Eyck, Robert Campin, and Hieronymus Bosch. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH231 - Art in the Global Early Modern Era

This course examines art produced in the Early Modern era (roughly 1450-1800) across a global range of nations and societies. The Early Modern period encompasses a time of cataclysmic social, religious, scientific and technological change, enhanced by new international commercial and information networks, disparate economic and religious systems, constant political and military conflicts, widespread oppression and genocide, and the rise of radical intellectual and artistic movements. The course incorporates case studies in a wide range of art and cultures (such as Chinese, Persian, Ottoman, African, European, and Central and South American art). Topics for investigation include how art, artists, patrons, and audiences in these historical empires interrogated notions of reality; cosmologies and planetarity; ancient canons; religious devotion; eroticism and death; individualism and issues of class, status, gender, and race; politics and power; and the role of the artist, among others. The course presents art in a comparative transnational and cross-cultural context, while also interrogating larger (art)historical frameworks of colonialism, modernity, markets, and Eurocentricity. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH232 - Art of the Dutch Republic

The Golden Age of Holland was a time of economic, cultural, and political growth. Artists developed innovative styles and visual modes that play upon, subvert and enhance our understanding of seeing, living, and thinking in the early modern era. The class examines the primary genres of Dutch art and major artists such as Rembrandt and Vermeer while focusing on questions of interpretation, method, and context. Addresses the production, marketing, ownership, iconography, and remarkable visual power of Dutch art. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH235 - Dante and Michelangelo: From Renaissance Alpha to Omega

(Summer only 2025-26).

1 unit

AH240 - 19th Century French Art (taught in Paris)

(Summer only 2025-26).

1 unit

AH241 - Art and Revolution: Europe in the Nineteenth Century

This course covers nineteenth century art in France, England, Germany, and Spain from 1780-1880 with particular emphasis on the impact on art of political and social upheaval, the tension between innovation and tradition, and the relationship of Impressionism to social change. Other topics of interest will include: Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment; Romanticism and the Sublime; Orientalism; the emergence of the notion of the avant-garde; and the visual culture of prostitution. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH243 - The Birth of Modernism

This course examines the modernist tradition in European art from its emergence in the later nineteenth century through World War II, with particular attention to the evolution of abstraction, the philosophies behind it and its relation to its social, scientific and political contexts. Throughout the course, students will trace and discuss the problematic issue of “primitivism” which is a major theme of modern art. The course will analyze the origins, meanings and styles of the foremost innovative developments, including Post Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism, Futurism, Constructivism, Dada and Surrealism. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH245 - American Contemporary Art: 1945-1990

This course investigates how and why, following World War II, New York “stole” from Europe the idea of avant-garde art. The class follows the evolution of and philosophies behind the radical new developments in American contemporary art from the emergence of Abstract Expressionism in the late 1940s, through the Pop Art and Minimalism of the 1960s and the pluralistic 1970s, including Conceptual Art, Earth and Process Art, the New Realism, Decorative and New Image Art, and finally to Neo-Expressionism, and other developments of the 1980s. Attention will be paid to the relationship of new art to the changing political, social and intellectual landscapes of the late twentieth century. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

1 unit — Murray

AH246 - Contemporary Art Since 1989

This course examines contemporary art from an international perspective, focusing on selected themes and practices that characterize global contemporary art. Topics covered include: the dissolution of boundaries between high art and mass culture; the rise of ephemeral and experiential media such as video art, web-based art, and social practice art; the role of the artist as cultural and political provocateur; and the shifting relationships between the artist, the art market, and the art museum. The course is organized thematically; each thematic unit will examine a set of specific aesthetic and social issues and look at the different strategies selected contemporary artists have used in their work. (Not offered 2025-26).

.5 or 1 unit

AH248 - American Art

Painting and sculpture in the United States from colonial times until World War II, concentrating on the relationship of the major artistic trends to concurrent developments in American social and intellectual history. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH254 - The Art of China

Early Chinese funerary art examined in relation to the Chinese religious philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism. Relationships between Chinese painting and poetry explored, particularly in relation to the hand scroll format. The rise of scholar-literati painting in the Song followed by issues of politics, commerce, and art. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

1 unit — Bentley

AH255 - The Art of Japan

Classical relationships between Heian-period court art, poetry, and aristocratic patronage; medieval Kamakura and Muromachi periods, dominated respectively by Pure Land Buddhism and Zen Buddhism; consolidation of the tea ceremony and unique qualities of castle architecture and screen paintings in the Momoyama; the Edo-period shift towards more inexpensive and widely-reproducible formats, such as the woodblock print. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: HP requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

1 unit — Bentley

AH261 - Theories, Methods and Practices in Art

Crossing the boundaries between studio art and art history, this course uses key readings in art theory and methodology, as well as historical and contemporary examples, to help generate innovative analytical essays and studio projects. Themes include constructions of space; collecting and power; portraiture and the self; commodity culture and the market; and materiality and daily practice. Treatments of space, semiotics, economic engagements with art, and literary approaches will all be considered. We explore installation art, drawing, photography, video, and sculpture. Enrollment limited to 16. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH265 - China/Europe/Japan: Art and International Trade 1550-1800

Considers the impact on art of expanding sea trade between Europe and East Asia in the early modern period. Begins by examining what goods went where; how increasingly global trade affected particular economies; how the East India companies operated; and what effects stepped-up contact had stylistically and iconographically on art forms such as porcelain, prints and paintings. On a more theoretical level, the course addresses 'things foreign' as a means of asserting cultural authority at home; and the impact of vastly expanded markets on the artist's practice and identity. Meets the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH275 - Art in Context:

Study of artworks of a selected period, artist, or theme in their historical, social, political, intellectual, and geographical context. This course is taught on campus for approximately half of the block. The second half is spent in the appropriate location off campus (in the U. S. or abroad), where readings, student and faculty presentations, and discussions are focused on the actual artworks in situ. Need-based financial aid for all students is available from the Berg Endowment. Limit 15 students. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

1 unit

AH342 - Turn of the Century Art in London, Paris and Vienna

Artistic and related intellectual and cultural developments in three important capitals of Europe circa 1880-1910. Focus on such movements as Aestheticism, Symbolism, Decadence, Jugendstil, and Art Nouveau. Artists to be studied include Toulouse-Lautrec, Redon, Klimt, Schiele, Burne-Jones and Beardsley. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH345 - Special Topics in Art History:

Selected topics in art history at the advanced level. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

1 unit

AH348 - Approaches to Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an influential painter in the Early Modern period, one who changed how people thought about art and artists. Today, he remains a popular figure, not only because of his powerful paintings, but also because of his violent life, socially deviant behaviors, and provocative declarations about art. This class approaches the life and art of Caravaggio from the perspective of deconstructing not only the artist’s art and biography, but also the Eurocentric and canonical frames of art history that acknowledge him as an “old master.” Within the artistic, cultural, and historical contexts of Rome, Europe, and the colonial world of the 17th century, the class will engage with topics such as: artists active within geopolitical conflict; the challenges of biography; the economics of markets, collectors, and patrons; notions of deviance in art and society; religion and reform; realist styles vs. classicism; the function of art for religious redemption and/or political propaganda; and the myth of the genius artist. Research projects will use contemporary theoretical approaches to art history and students will engage in critical looking, thinking, reading, and interpreting of historical objects at an advanced level.

1 unit — Tucker

AH412 - Senior Seminar

Preliminary work on the art history and museum studies senior capstones. Group engagement with the research process and producing an essay or project. Required of senior art history and museum studies concentrators in the Art major. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

1 unit

AH413 - Special Problems in Art History

Independent work and special study in selected fields or periods. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

.5 to 2 units

AH414 - Special Problems in Art History

Independent work and special study in selected fields or periods. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement.

.5 to 2 units

AH415 - Senior Capstone in Art History

Advanced work on the senior capstone in art history. Ordinarily taken following AH412. AH415 is required of all Art majors with a concentration in art history. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. Meets the Writing in the Discipline requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AH416 - Senior Capstone in Museum Studies

Advanced work on the senior capstone in museum studies. Ordinarily taken following AH412. AH416 is required of all Art majors with a concentration in museum studies.

1 unit

Art Studio Courses

AS102 - Art Studio Foundations: Two-Dimensional Design

An introduction to the principles of two-dimensional composition and the fundamentals of abstraction. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement.

1 unit

AS103 - Art Studio Foundations: Drawing

Survey of the fundamental concepts, practices and techniques in drawing. Emphasizes composition, technical skill and visual literacy as related to a variety of drawing techniques. Prepares students for advanced classes in studio art. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement.

1 unit — Leonard, Paulin

AS110 - Art Studio Foundations: Topics:

Survey of the fundamental concepts, practices and techniques of a specific topic or medium in studio art. Emphasizes composition, technical skill and visual literacy as related to a specific topic or techniques. Prepares students for advanced classes in studio art. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

.5 to 2 units — Leonard

AS111 - Art Studio Foundations: Fiber Arts.

Survey of the fundamental concepts, practices and techniques in fiber arts. Emphasizes composition, technical skill and visual literacy as related to Fiber Arts. Concepts such as transparency, texture, form, pattern, and color will be introduced. Exploration of both on-and off-loom processes: weaving, dyeing (including Batik and Shibori), basketry, knotting, felting, and stitching. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AS112 - Introduction to Drawing: Landscape Immersion

In this class, students will explore introductory drawing techniques specially in relation to the Colorado landscape. Emphasis will be on observational and technical drawing skills as we explore landscapes surrounding the Colorado Springs area, drawing outside on location. Students will gain fundamental skills by studying line, shape, value, and composition. These concepts will be explored using different marking making tools will be introduced including charcoal, pencil, ink, and conte. Students will be both in field drawing from the landscape itself, and in the classroom, learning technical concepts in a more controlled setting. Taking lessons from this multi-pronged, approach, students will complete a portfolio of finished drawings that speak to the complex nature of our contemporary landscapes. (Summer only 2025-26).

.75 units

AS114 - Art Studio Foundations: Three-Dimensional Design

Survey of the fundamental concepts, practices and techniques in three-dimensional design. Emphasizes composition, the activation of 3D space, visual literacy, critical analysis and individual and collaborative problem solving. Prepares students for advanced classes in studio art. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement.

1 unit — Friedman-Gerlicz, Johnson

AS120 - Drawing the Winter Landscape

Exploration of drawing fundamentals as they pertain to the winter landscape. (Not offered 2025-26).

.5 unit

AS126 - Letterpress Poster Workshop

This course will use the process of designing and printing letterpress posters as the framework for exploring typographic design principles, experimenting with printing processes, and discussing the power and responsibility of print. Course meets at The Press. Advanced students may enroll to pursue independent research projects connected to poster design.

.5 unit — Sico

AS201 - Printmaking

Introduction to historic printmaking processes as well as contemporary computer-based techniques. A variety of techniques including etching, lithography, woodcuts, and monotype may be covered. Digital manipulation of imagery in Photoshop for use in photolithography and polymer plate letterpress may also be considered. Although technical processes are introduced, the primary focus is conceptual; emphasis placed on thinking as a graphic artist and printmaker (in reverse, in multiple, etc.)

1 unit — Leonard

AS203 - Advanced Drawing

Drawing in various media. May include study of human figure, superficial anatomy, landscape, composition, and conceptual drawing.

1 unit

AS205 - Painting

Survey of basic painting concepts and procedures, materials and techniques.

1 unit — Paulin

AS207 - Technical Drawing

Exploration of specific techniques in technical drawing. Drawing for various applied fields will be explored and may include drafting, architectural rendering, illustration, and scientific illustration.

1 unit — Leonard

AS210 - Intermediate Topics in Studio Art:

Exploration of topics generally not offered by the department. Open to declared art majors or departmental consent required.

1 unit — Davis, Leonard

AS211 - Fiber Arts

Basic techniques in fiber arts with an emphasis on such concepts as transparency, texture, form pattern and color. Exploration of both on-and off-loom processes: weaving, dyeing (including Batik and Shibori) basketry, knotting, felting and stitching.

1 unit

AS212 - Design Workshop

Three-dimensional design with an emphasis on conceptual issues related to architecture and functional form. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement.

1 unit — Friedman-Gerlicz, Quinn

AS214 - Sculpture

Introduction to traditional and contemporary practices in sculpture. Will cover intermediate level conceptual approaches and some combination of materials and techniques. Possible materials: wood, steel, stone, clay and plaster. Possible techniques: machining, carving, casting, modeling and construction.

1 unit — Johnson

AS215 - Off Campus Topics in Studio Art

Off campus study exploring intermediate study of a specific technique, practice or topic. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AS216 - Topics in Printmaking:

Explores the practice of printmaking through the study of specific and alternative print processes and topics.

1 unit — Aitchison

AS218 - Topics in Sculpture

Exploration of special areas of sculpture, such as hand-crafted and small-object art, installation art, environmental/land art, video installation art, conceptual art, interactive technological art, social practice, 3D fieldwork, soft sculpture, etc. 1 unit.

1 unit

AS220 - Photography

A foundation course in photographic technique directed toward artistic ends. Using and understanding the camera, films, and printing. Extensive photographing as basis for seeing and composition. Short survey of photographic history.

1 unit — Blackwood

AS221 - Topics in Photography:

A course that explores the practice of fine art photography through the study of a specific photographic process and/or topic. This course will cover a photographic technique directed toward artistic ends. Thematic subjects will be examined through relevant photographic examples and interpreted by students through creative artistic approaches.

1 unit — Blackwood

AS226 - Book & Book Structure

A studio course in the invention, design, and making of books. Students are given a basic grounding in the primary means of book organization, binding, and fabrication with emphasis on the unique character of codex organization. They are encouraged to invent their own books using a wide variety of techniques for the interrelations of text, image and color. May be offered as a block or as a year-long extended format course. Enrollment limited to 10 students.

1 unit

AS261 - Theories, Methods, and Practices in Art

Crossing the boundaries between studio art and art history, this course uses key readings in art theory and methodology, as well as historical and contemporary examples, to help generate innovative analytical essays and studio projects. Themes include constructions of space; collecting and power; portraiture and the self; commodity culture and the market; and materiality and daily practice. Treatments of space, semiotics, economic engagements with art, and literary approaches will all be considered. We explore installation art, drawing, photography, video, and sculpture. Enrollment limited to 16. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AS301 - Advanced Printmaking

Advanced investigation of a variety of printmaking techniques. Traditional techniques may include etching, woodcut, lithography, letterpress, and monotype. Digital techniques may include image manipulation in Photoshop for photolithography and polymer plate letterpress may also be explored.

1 unit — Leonard

AS305 - Advanced Painting

Special problems with emphasis on pictorial design, color, space, structure, imagery, materials and techniques.

1 unit — Paulin

AS310 - Advanced Topics in Studio Art:

Advanced exploration of topics generally not offered by the department, with an emphasis on independent and/or extended projects.

1 unit — Friedman-Gerlicz

AS313 - Special Studio Problems:

Advanced work in any of the studio media, metal, fiber, clay, and photography. Credit in this course may not be applied toward the art major. Spring semester. (Not offered 2025-26).

.25 to 1 unit

AS314 - Advanced Sculpture

Advanced exploration of materials and techniques with emphasis on extended projects and individual concepts.

1 unit — Johnson

AS315 - Advanced Off Campus Topics in Studio Art:

(Not offered 2025-26).

1 to 2 units

AS317 - Advanced Photography

A selection of advanced techniques and development of individual photographic vision. Independent research emphasized. (Not offered 2025-26).

1 unit

AS321 - Photography II

(Summer only 2025-26).

1 unit

AS401 - Special Studio Problems:

Independent studio project for senior art majors. The student must submit a detailed written proposal of intended work to be approved by the department at least one block before taking the course.

.5 or 1 unit — Leonard

AS411 - Senior Studio Seminar

Planning and preparation of extended studio projects. Pre-professional preparation for those students with graduate school intentions. Meets the Critical Learning: CP requirement.

1 unit — Bentley, Friedman-Gerlicz, Johnson, Murray, Paulin

AS501 - Special Studio Problems:

1 unit

AS502 - Special Studio Problems:

1 unit