Faculty of Fine Arts
World Art Before 1400
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course examines a broad range of art, architecture, and material culture from prehistory to 1400. Students will learn to analyze and understand art from different time periods and cultural traditions by analyzing the visual culture of diverse groups and will consider issues such as the representations of authority and power, cultural identity, and cultural exchange. We will examine art from diverse cultures including the prehistoric world, Greece, the Islamic world, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
Equivalent:Art History 2225 (prior to 2020/2021)
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
World Art Since 1400
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course examines art, architecture, and material culture from 1400 through to the mid-twentieth century with a focus on the development, diversity, and interaction of art and cultural traditions globally. Taking a comparative approach, this course will explore the relationship of cultural expression to globalization, colonialism, power, and social change. Understanding how audiences engaged with these cultural forms and considering how global political and cultural exchange has shaped visual culture may help develop critical analysis skills that are valuable in today's image-saturated world.
Equivalent:Art History 1000 (prior to 2020/2021)
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Introduction to Nineteenth Century Art
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course focuses on the development of European art from the French Revolution to 1900, the period when individualism, originality, and a critical stance became the defining characteristics of the artist. It considers the contradictions of these values in the age of Imperialism, which put the European art world into contact with the rest of the world. Thematic issues including the impacts of imperialism, race, gender and the changing art market are explored, alongside the development of the dominant art movements of Neo-Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Symbolism.
Prerequisite(s):One of Art History 1001 or Art History 1002
Substantially Similar:
Art History 3200 (prior to 2026/2027)
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Introduction to Twentieth Century Art
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course explores a broad historical overview of twentieth-century art from a global perspective. The course examines the impact of colonialism and globalization alongside related curatorial, economic, racial, ethnic, and gender issues, as well as perceptual engagement and interpretation. By investigating key movements, styles, and figures from various regions, students will engage with a diverse array of artworks and ideas. Through lectures, discussions, and visual analysis, we aim to understand how art reflects and influences global narratives, fostering a deeper appreciation of the interconnectedness of artistic practices worldwide.
Prerequisite(s):One of Art History 1001 or Art History 1002
Substantially Similar:
Art History 3215 (prior to 2026/2027);
Art History 3220 (prior to 2026/2027)
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Introduction to Indigenous and Canadian Art
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course is a critical survey of Indigenous and Canadian art and visual culture. Students will engage with Indigenous art and visual culture and art produced in the land we now call Canada, examining it in relation to issues of nationalism, colonialism, regionalism, race, gender, and cultural identity.
Prerequisite(s):One of Art History 1000 or Art History 1002
Substantially Similar:
Art History 3240 (prior to 2026/2027);
Art History 3245 (prior to 2026/2027)
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Art and Culture (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Offerings in subject areas dealing with the interactions and relationships between art and culture.
Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Theory and Methods in Art and Art History
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course examines various theoretical and interpretative methodologies for the study of art, art history, visual and material culture. Approaches may include: philosophical aesthetics, formalism, semiotics, hermeneutics, Marxism, feminism, postcolonial and decolonial theories, post-structuralism, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and global studies. The class will involve close readings of theoretical texts with the aim of empowering students to determine which methods and theories are best suited to their own research and artistic interests.
Prerequisite(s):One of Art History 1001 or Art History 1002 AND
One Art History course at the 2000-level
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Art History (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Offerings in subject areas dealing with significant developments in art history.
Prerequisite(s):One of Art History 2200, Art History 2215, or Art History 2240
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Indigenous and/or Canadian Visual Culture (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course offers students an opportunity for advanced study in Indigenous visual culture and/or Canadian art. Topics may include: specific genres (i.e. portraiture, landscape, photography); feminism and gender; racialization and ethnicity; immigration; regionalism; First Nations, Metis, and Inuit visual culture; cultural institutions, and cultural identity.
Prerequisite(s):Art History 2240
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Art of the Past (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course offers students an opportunity for advanced study in the history of art prior to1990.
Prerequisite(s):One of Art History 1001 or Art History 1002 AND
One Art History course at the 2000-level
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Topics in Contemporary Art and/or Museum Studies (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
This course explores critical issues relevant to contemporary art practices and/or art galleries and museums. Topics may include: in-depth examinations of particular art movements or moments; the expanding realm of exhibition sites and modes; the public role of art and artists; curating in a global context; decolonization and Indigenization in the art museum; and the dynamics, subcultures, and economic and political realities that make up the contemporary art world.
Prerequisite(s):One of Art History 2215 or Art History 2240
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Art and Culture (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Offerings in subject areas dealing with the interactions and relationships between art and culture.
Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Global Art Since 1990
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
An overview of a variety of themes and approaches in recent global art practices from the 1990s to the present. Issues include: the legacy of important movements like abstraction, conceptual art, performance and land art; the formation of global modernity and its entanglements with colonialism; the role of centres and peripheries in the history of contemporary art. The course will also explore how contemporary art practices have reinterpreted and expanded painting, sculpture, and photography, as well as performance, video, installation, and new media.
Prerequisite(s):One of Art History 2215 or Art History 2240
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Art History (Series)
Credit hours: 3.00
Contact hours per week: 3-0-0
Offerings in subject areas dealing with significant developments in art history.
Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings
Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities
Undergraduate Thesis
Credit hours: 6.00
Contact hours per week: Variable
This is a challenging, work-intensive, research-oriented course. In consultation with the Thesis Supervisor, students will define a research problem, formulate a research plan, conduct research, report orally, and submit a report in the form of an Undergraduate Thesis or by curating an exhibition with an accompanying essay, which will be made publicly available.
Prerequisite(s):Fourth-year standing (a minimum of 90.0 credit hours) AND
A cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher AND
Completion of a minimum of 9 courses (27.0 credit hours) in Art History and/or Museum Studies AND
Application to the Department of Art
Note:Contact hours will vary. Students should be aware that this course involves regular contact with the Thesis Supervisor as well as considerable independent work.