This course is designed as a general, one-semester introduction to art history and will serve you well if you would like to know more about and appreciate the art and architecture around you, travel in the USA or abroad, or visit museums.  You will learn by reading assigned textbook chapters, exploring a companion website, writing one short paper, completing weekly quizzes and taking two at-home exams and two proctored exams.  The two proctored exams must be passed in order to pass the course.

 In this course, you will be assigned readings in Gardner's Art Through the Ages:  A Concise Global History.  You will also view videos and work with the interactive learning tools on the companion website for our text, MindTap.  The textbook and website use the "paradigm" method, in which a few selected works serve as key examples to illustrate major cultural and stylistic developments in art and architecture from around the globe.  Through these tools, we'll also explore formal characteristics, iconography and historical, religious and social factors that contribute to artistic expression all over the world and throughout history.  You'll also have the opportunity to take advantage of our proximity to the outstanding museums and monuments in the Washington, D.C. area (or in your own town or city if you live outside this area), when you complete the paper assignment.  You'll find many works by the artists discussed in the textbook and you'll recognize the architectural styles we'll study.

If you successfully complete this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the artists and works of art that are considered to represent the greatest achievements in world art and architecture.
• Recognize art from different world cultures, and the major styles of painting, sculpture and architecture in the Western world and beyond.
• Compare and contrast representative examples of art, discussing historical, social and political factors that influenced them, as well as materials, techniques and styles.

There are four (4) multiple-choice exams in this course.  Two of the exams are take-at-home exams.  Two of the exams are proctored and are password-protected.  You will take these at a campus testing center or a learning lab.  You also have the option of taking the exams at home through ProctorU.  If you are off-campus or out of the area, you will request a proctor through ELI.  If you are enrolled at a sister VCCC campus, you will take the exams at your campus testing center/learning lab. 

Your course grade will be based on the following scale.  You can compute your own final course grade percentage, it is a simple calculation:  take your total points and divide by 800 (total possible points for required assignments) to get the percentage.