Instructor Bonnie Kuo (Bonnie Kuo <bkuo@ohlone.edu>)

Syllabus

Getting Started

Before you do anything, read the following links:

• Syllabus
• Who is your professor?
• Emailing me
• Textbook you will need
• Frequently asked questions and hints on how to take this class.
• What is cheating?

• The Academic Calendar (Please make sure you look this over to know the drop and registration dates.)
• Ohlone Online Education

Week 1 (8/29 - 9/4)
Readings and Online Lectures for Week 1

• Read Sayre Student Toolkit, pages xvi-xx.
• Read Sayre Chapters 1-2 A World of Art and Developing Visual Literacy
• Starter Kit
• Key Concepts, Form, Iconography and Context
• An example of Green Architecture

Assignments for Week 1

Remember: If you miss or are late turning in ANY of the first 3 assignments you earn an automatic "F" in the course.  It will then be YOUR responsibility to drop the class.

Also: I do NOT always check my email on the weekends.   DO NOT expect me to answer emails that are sent a few hours before the assignment is due.  Please plan ahead!

ASSIGNMENTS #1, #2, and #3  Due Sunday September 4 by 11:59 pm or earlier

If you miss or are late turning in ANY of the first 3 assignments you earn an automatic "F" in the course.  It will then be YOUR responsibility to drop the class.

Assignment #1:  INTRODUCTORY EMAIL ASSIGNMENT  (Read the directions carefully!)

• Send me an email using the email function in Blackboard
• In the body of the email please put your name and answer the following questions:

   1.  Have you read the Syllabus and the links under "Stuff You Need to Know"?
   2.  What main topics are outlined and discussed in the syllabus?
   3.  Did you read and understand the List of Assignments and Due Dates found on the Syllabus, Blackboard, and the class website?
   4.  In general when are assignments due?  Which weeks are no assignments due?
   5.  What is the policy on late work, make-ups, and extra credit in this class?
   6.  Reading assignments in this class come from what two sources?
   7.  Explain where you can find our class website and how to access it.  (Hint: there are two ways.)
   8.  What is the username and password for our class website?
   9.  Explain how and where to submit a worksheet assignment.  How should you back-up your work?
   10. If you have trouble submitting any of the worksheet assignments, what should you do?
   11. Do I accept email attachments?
   12. What constitutes cheating/plagiarism?  What are the consequences if you plagiarize or cheat on your worksheets or discussion board postings?
   13. If you experience any problems with Blackboard or have any questions about Blackboard, who should you contact for help? (Hint: it is not your professor.)
   14. Do you have any questions for me?

Assignment #2:  INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION BOARD POSTING

In complete sentences that are properly punctuated and capitalized, please post a message to the class discussion board in which you introduce yourself to the class.
Provide the following information:

   1.  What you would like to be called (your name or nickname).
   2.  How long have you been studying at Ohlone?
   3.  What is your major?
   4.  Why are you taking this class?
   5.  Something interesting about yourself.  (You can write anything here, except for something rude.)
 

Assignment #3: DISCUSSION BOARD POSTING 1

Choose ONE of the following discussion topics and post your response on the discussion board.  Please type the discussion question at the top of your posting.

(A REMINDER: If you choose to respond to someone else's post, make sure your reply adds to the discussion. Explain why you agree or disagree with your classmate and provide factual evidence to back up your opinion.  If your reply does not add anything new to the discussion but simply restates another student's answer, it will not receive full credit.  Remember the point of the discussion board postings is to have a meaningful discussion and demonstrate to me that you have read and understood the material.)

(How to get an "A" while doing this.)

• Sayre provides four possible roles of the artist.  Choose a work of art from the text and discuss which role(s) the artist is fulfilling in that work of art.  To receive full credit, you must discuss a work of art that is not one the examples Sayre uses in his discussion on the role of the artist.  Also, chose an example that hasn't already been discussed by your classmates; OR if you choose the same work, you must add something new to the discussion by providing a critical response to your classmate's posting.  Be sure to first reference the work of art using the artist's name, title of the work, date, and the page or figure number from Sayre on which the work is reproduced.
• What is the role of beauty in art?  Do you think art must be beautiful?  Explain why or why not?  Choose a work of art from the book to support your answer.  To receive full credit, you must discuss a work of art that hasn't already been chosen by your classmates; OR if you choose the same work, you must add something new to the discussion by providing a critical response to your classmate's posting.  Be sure to first reference the work of art using the artist's name, title of the work, date, and the page or figure number from Sayre on which the work is reproduced.

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 2

• Christo and Jeanne-Claude
• Bierstadt
• Earth Works

Assignment for Week 2

ASSIGNMENT #4    Due Sunday September 11 by 11:59 pm or earlier
WORKSHEET 1

Worksheet 1

A note about the worksheet assignments: The questions on the worksheets draw from all the readings assigned for each section.  In this case, Worksheet 1 covers Weeks 1 through 2, which focused on Basic Questions about Art.  Be sure to reference the previous weeks' readings and online lectures to complete each worksheet fully.

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!
Spelling and grammar do count.

Note: If you do not complete one of the worksheet assignments, it usually drops your final grade in the class by a full letter grade.  Each assignment is an important part of your grade in this class.

Note:  ALWAYS type your worksheet responses in a word processing program such as MS Word first.  That way your work is saved and you have a back up copy.  Then cut and paste your numbered answers into an email and send them to me at bkuo@ohlone.edu.  Should you run into a problem while submitting the worksheets online, you always have a backup copy with your Word document.  Remember, I do NOT accept email attachments or images. 

(Bonnie Kuo <bkuo@ohlone.edu>)

Reception of Art and Its Controversies (Weeks 3-4)

Week 3 (9/12 - 9/18)

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 3

• Read Sayre Chapter 3 Seeing the Value in Art
• Read Sayre Chapter 21 From 1900 to the Present
• Picasso and Cubism
• African Art
• Overview of Dada and Surrealism
• Dada
• Dali

ASSIGNMENT #5   Due Sunday September 18 by 11:59 pm or earlier
DISCUSSION BOARD POSTING 2

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!

Choose ONE of the following proposed topics and post an answer to the discussion board or respond to someone else's post.  Please type the discussion question at the top of your posting.

(A REMINDER: If you choose to respond to someone else's post, make sure your reply adds to the discussion.  Explain why you agree or disagree with your classmate and provide factual evidence to back up your opinion.  If your reply does not add anything new to the discussion but simply restates another student's answer, it will not receive full credit.  Remember the point of the discussion board postings is to have a meaningful discussion and demonstrate to me that you have read and understood the material.)

(How to get an "A" while doing this.)

• After reading Sayre's discussion on the business of selling, collecting, and exhibiting art, what is your reaction?  Is it simply "very-high end shopping" as Sayre points out?  Discuss the complexities of the art market and areas of potential conflicts of interest.
• A work of art can be confusing or even offensive the first time we look at it, but after learning more we often come to a better understanding and appreciation of that same work.  Name a work of art from Chapters 3 or 21 of Sayre in which you experienced this.  Describe your initial reaction and your later understanding of the work once you learned more by reading the text and/or online lecture.   To receive full credit, you must discuss a work of art that hasn't already been chosen by your classmates; OR if you choose the same work, you must add something new to the discussion by providing a critical response to your classmate's posting.  Be sure to first reference the work of art using the artist's name, title of the work, date, and the page or figure number from Sayre on which the work is reproduced.
• People at first had a hard time adjusting to the newer ideas and forms involved with modern art.  Choose a work of art from Sayre's Chapter 21 that you have a strong reaction to and discuss your feelings and the reasons for them.   Do you agree with the artist's choice of theme or purpose in making the piece of art?  To receive full credit, you must discuss a work of art that hasn't already been chosen by your classmates; OR if you choose the same work, you must add something new to the discussion by providing a critical response to your classmate's posting.  Be sure to fully reference the work of art, so your peers can look it up in Sayre (see note above).

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 4

• Read Sayre Chapter 11 on Painting
• Read Sayre Chapter 13 on Sculpture

 

ASSIGNMENT #6    Due Sunday September 25 by 11:59 pm or earlier
WORKSHEET 2

Worksheet 2

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!
Spelling and grammar do count.

Note:  ALWAYS type your worksheet responses in a word processing program such as MS Word first.  That way your work is saved and you have a back up copy.  Then cut and paste your numbered answers into an email and send them to me at bkuo@ohlone.edu.  Should you run into a problem while submitting the worksheets online, you always have a backup copy with your Word document.  Remember, I do NOT accept email attachments or images. 

(Bonnie Kuo <bkuo@ohlone.edu>)
 

Week 5 (9/26 - 10/2)

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 5

• Read Sayre Chapter 4 on Line
• Read Sayre Chapter 5 on Space
• Read Sayre Chapter 8 on The Principles of Design

Assignment for Week 5

No assignment due this week.

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 6

• Formal Analysis
• The development of Perspective in Renaissance Art
• The psychology of Perspective
• An Interactive Site about Perspective
• Perspective in the North and South: Masaccio and Van Eyck

Assignment for Week 6

ASSIGNMENT #7   Due Sunday October 9 by 11:59 pm or earlier
DISCUSSION BOARD POSTING 3a

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!

Choose ONE of the following  proposed topics and post an answer to the discussion board or respond to someone else's post.  Please type the question into your response.

(A REMINDER: If you choose to respond to someone else's post, make sure your reply adds to the discussion.  Explain why you agree or disagree with your classmate and provide factual evidence to back up your opinion.  If your reply does not add anything new to the discussion but simply restates another student's answer, it will not receive full credit.  Remember the point of the discussion board postings is to have a meaningful discussion and demonstrate to me that you have read and understood the material.)

(How to get an "A" while doing this.)
 

• Explain how one goes about determining the symmetry of a work of art.  Then describe the difference between bilateral symmetry and absolute symmetry.  Finally, discuss how a composition can be asymmetrically balanced.
• What is atmospheric perspective (also known as aerial perspective)? Describe how atmospheric perspective is created in a work of art and the effect it has on pictorial space.
• What is foreshortening?  If you compare the foreshortening in Mantegna's The Dead Christ, c. 1490-1501 to this drawing, you may notice that the feet are a bit too small in Mantegna's work and this appears to be done on purpose.    Why do you think Mantegna modified his use of foreshortening?  What purpose do you think it might serve?

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 7

• Read Sayre Chapter 6 on Light and Color
• Read Sayre Chapter 7 on Other Formal Elements
• Color Basics
• Impressionism- Degas and Renoir
• Impressionism- Cassatt and Degas
• Impressionism- Monet
• Seurat 

Assignment for Week 7

ASSIGNMENT #8   Due Sunday October 16 by 11:59 pm or earlier
DISCUSSION BOARD POSTING 3b

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!

Choose ONE of the following proposed topics and post an answer to the discussion board or respond to someone else's post.  Please type the question into your response.

(A REMINDER: If you choose to respond to someone else's post, make sure your reply adds to the discussion.  Explain why you agree or disagree with your classmate and provide factual evidence to back up your opinion.  If your reply does not add anything new to the discussion but simply restates another student's answer, it will not receive full credit.  Remember the point of the discussion board postings is to have a meaningful discussion and demonstrate to me that you have read and understood the material.)

(How to get an "A" while doing this.)
 

• When looking at a reproduction or photograph of a work of art, why is it important to examine the dimensions of a work of art in the caption information?  Use Do-Ho Suh's Public Figures, 1998-1999 (Sayre, Fig. 199) and Claes Oldenburg's Spoonbridege and Cherry, 1988 (Sayre, Fig. 200) as examples.  How does scale change your understanding of each of these works of art?
• Describe the concept of optical mixing.  Given an example of a work of art from the online lectures or textbook that relies on optical mixing.  Be sure to reference the work of art using the artist's name, title of the work, date, and the page or figure number from Sayre on which the work is reproduced. 
• Nonlocal color is the opposite of local color.  Discuss nonlocal color and the difference between perceptual color and arbitrary color.

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 8

• Read Sayre Chapter 9 on Drawing
• Read Sayre Chapter 10 on Printmaking
• Reread Sayre Chapter 11 on Painting

ASSIGNMENT #9    Due Sunday October 23 by 11:59 pm or earlier
WORKSHEET 3

Worksheet 3

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!
Spelling and grammar do count.

Note:  ALWAYS type your worksheet responses in a word processing program such as MS Word first.  That way your work is saved and you have a back up copy.  Then cut and paste your numbered answers into an email and send them to me at bkuo@ohlone.edu.  Should you run into a problem while submitting the worksheets online, you always have a backup copy with your Word document.  Remember, I do NOT accept email attachments or images. 

(Bonnie Kuo <bkuo@ohlone.edu>)

Week 9 (10/24 - 10/30)

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 9

• Read Sayre Chapter 20 on The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
• Romanticism
• Caspar David Friederich

Assignment for Week 10

No Assignment due this week.

• Reread Sayre Chapter 2 Developing Visual Literacy

ASSIGNMENT #10   Due Sunday November 6 by 11:59 pm or earlier
DISCUSSION BOARD POSTING 4

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!

Choose ONE of the following proposed topics and post an answer to the discussion board or respond to someone else's post.  Please type the question into your response.

(A REMINDER: If you choose to respond to someone else's post, make sure your reply adds to the discussion.  Explain why you agree or disagree with your classmate and provide factual evidence to back up your opinion.  If your reply does not add anything new to the discussion but simply restates another student's answer, it will not receive full credit.  Remember the point of the discussion board postings is to have a meaningful discussion and demonstrate to me that you have read and understood the material.)

(How to get an "A" while doing this.)

• Describe the idea of the sublime.  Explain how Caspar David Friederich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1817-1818) illustrates this concept.
• Discuss the subject matter portrayed in JMW Turner's The Slave Ship 1840 and your reaction to it.  Then explain how this work exemplifies the Romantic style.
• What is iconography?  Why is iconography dependent on culture and why does it change over time?  (To receive full credit, do not paraphrase what is written in the textbook.  Please do not discuss or use as an example Jan Van Eyck's The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami, 1434, Figure 34.  Remember to write entirely in your own words to demonstrate you understand this concept.)

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 11

• Review Sayre Chapters 4-8 on The Formal Elements and Their Design

Assignment for Week 11

ASSIGNMENT #11    Due Sunday November 13 by 11:59 pm or earlier
WORKSHEET 4

Worksheet 4

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!
Spelling and grammar do count.

Note:  ALWAYS type your worksheet responses in a word processing program such as MS Word first.  That way your work is saved and you have a back up copy.  Then cut and paste your numbered answers into an email and send them to me at bkuo@ohlone.edu.  Should you run into a problem while submitting the worksheets online, you always have a backup copy with your Word document.  Remember, I do NOT accept email attachments or images. 

(Bonnie Kuo <bkuo@ohlone.edu>)

Week 12 (11/14 - 11/20)

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 12

• Read Chapter 19 The Renaissance through the Baroque
• Review the following online lectures from Week 6:
• The development of Perspective in Renaissance Art
• Perspective in the North and South: Masaccio and Van Eyck

ASSIGNMENT #12   Due Sunday November 20 by 11:59 pm or earlier
DISCUSSION BOARD POSTING 5

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!

Discuss the following proposed topic and post an answer to the discussion board or respond to someone else's post.  Please type the question into your response.

(A REMINDER: If you choose to respond to someone else's post, make sure your reply adds to the discussion.  Explain why you agree or disagree with your classmate and provide factual evidence to back up your opinion.  If your reply does not add anything new to the discussion but simply restates another student's answer, it will not receive full credit.  Remember the point of the discussion board postings is to have a meaningful discussion and demonstrate to me that you have read and understood the material.)

(How to get an "A" while doing this.)
 

• Choose your favorite work of Renaissance or Baroque art reproduced in Sayre Chapter 19 or from one of the online lectures and explain why you like it.  Use the concepts you have learned in this class to support your opinion.  To receive full credit, you must discuss a work of art that hasn't already been chosen by your classmates; OR if you choose the same work, you must add something new to the discussion by providing a critical response to your classmate's posting.  Be sure to reference the work of art using the artist's name, title of the work, date, and the page or figure number from Sayre on which the work is reproduced.

Week 13 (4/19 - 4/25)

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 13

• Giotto's Arena Chapel
• Raphael "School of Athens"
• The School of Athens (An interactive Website)
• Farber's Visual Essay on the "School of Athens"

Assignment for Week 13

No assignment due this week--Happy Thanksgiving!

Readings and Online Lectures for Week 14

• Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel
• Michelangelo's Last Judgment
• Sofonisba Anguissola
• Mannerism Painting

ASSIGNMENT #13    Due Sunday December 4 by 11:59 pm or earlier
WORKSHEET 5

Worksheet 5

I do not accept late work.  So make sure you turn it in on time!
Spelling and grammar do count.

Note:  ALWAYS type your worksheet responses in a word processing program such as MS Word first.  That way your work is saved and you have a back up copy.  Then cut and paste your numbered answers into an email and send them to me at bkuo@ohlone.edu.  Should you run into a problem while submitting the worksheets online, you always have a backup copy with your Word document.  Remember, I do NOT accept email attachments or images. 

(Bonnie Kuo <bkuo@ohlone.edu>)
 

This is your last assignment; there is no final exam in this class.
After you have finished Worksheet 5 you are free.  Happy Holidays!  Have a great winter break!