Art History

During the term, we trace the historical development of community murals. Students participate in studio exercises that give them experience with a variety of methods, materials and techniques necessary to plan, design and produce a large-scale community mural. We produce and document a mural in collaboration with a local community partner.

This course involves a survey of 17th-century Dutch history, art history, etc., which links the scientific analysis to the art and culture of the time. The first 12 weeks (CHEM 156), involving primarily the scientific and technical background, are taught on campus at W&L during Winter Term. The second four weeks (ARTH 356), involving art and culture, are taught at the Center for European Studies (CES) Universiteit Maastricht in The Netherlands.

This course examines the art movements of the last 100 years from India, China, Tibet and Japan primarily through the lenses of the larger sociopolitical movements that informed much of Asia's cultural discourses: Colonialism, Post-Colonialism, Socialism, Communism and Feminism. We also address debates concerning "non-Western" 20th-century art as peripheral to the main canons of Modern and Contemporary art.

This courses explores the ways art and cultural heritage objects have been stolen, laundered, purchased, curated and destroyed in order to express political, religious and cultural messages. Case studies and current events are equally studied to shed light on practices of looting and iconoclasm.

Survey of the art and architecture of Mesoamerica and the Andes before the arrival of the Europeans, with a focus on indigenous civilizations including the Olmec, Maya, Aztec and Inca. Art is contextualized in terms of religious, social, political and economic developments in each region under discussion. The class includes a trip to the Virginia Museum of fine Arts in Richmond or the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Between 1880 and 1950, hundreds of small-press, non-commercial journals were published in cities around the world, their pages filled with a mixture of radical poetry, fiction, avant-garde art, manifestos and criticism. These so-called "little magazines" were small in publication run but not in ambition. In fact, many scholars believe that little magazines were the single most important factor in fostering modernist and avant-garde thought during the period. Through an in-depth exploration of little magazines, this seminar brings together two types of scholarly research: archival and digital.

The Staniar Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of contemporary and historical works in all media by regionally, nationally and internationally recognized artists. The gallery was conceived of as a pedagogical space and works in tandem with the Art Department. Exhibiting artists spend time in the Art Department conducting critiques, giving lectures and mentoring students. Gallery internships provide students the opportunity to participate in the entire exhibition process by working closely with the gallery director and exhibiting artists.

The Student Arts League is geared towards the promotion of the visual and performing arts as well as art history on W&L’s campus.

The I-Hsiung Ju and Chow-Soon Chuang Ju Endowment for Traditional Chinese Art Students is a permanently endowed fund providing support for student travel to China or Taiwan to study traditional Chinese Art at a university or as an apprentice. The Pamela H. Simpson Endowment for Art is a permanently endowed fund to support academics and visitors to work directly with students and faculty at W&L. The Doyon Award recognizes outstanding art historical writing. The Thomas V. Litzenburg Jr. Prize recognizes outstanding academic work that addresses issues pertaining to objects in the University Collections of Art and History at Washington and Lee. The Joan O'Mara Award recognizes a student or students whose work in art history for the duration of their undergraduate career embodies the values and interests of the scholar for whom the prize was named.