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CL AR 444 A: Greek And Roman Sculpture

Ancient Greek and Roman sculpture shards with pieces resembling human eyes, lips, and other parts of the face
Meeting Time: 
MWF 10:30am - 11:20am
Location: 
CDH 125
SLN: 
12218
Joint Sections: 
ART H 444 A
Instructor:
Headshot of Sarah Levin-Richardson
Sarah Levin-Richardson

Syllabus Description:

ARTH/CLAR 444: Greek and Roman Sculpture

Spring 2020

MWF 10:30-11:20am

 

All classes will be held via Zoom or posted on Canvas via Panopto

[classes held via Zoom are noted as such in the schedule below;

if nothing is marked, the lecture will be posted via Panopto]

 

All exams and assignments will be completed online

 

Prof. Levin-Richardson (you can call me Professor Levin-Richardson, Professor L-R, or just Professor)

sarahlr@uw.edu

Office Hours:  Zoom by appointment

 

Description:

This class explores the diverse sculptural practices of ancient Greece and the problematic afterlife of these sculptures as foundational elements of Western art. Among other themes, the class will explore the vivid colors of Greek sculpture, their varied functions (from religion to politics), and the connections between the sculptures of ancient Greece and other Mediterranean civilizations (including Egypt and Persia).

 

Learning Objectives:

  • Be able to discuss key works of Greek sculpture
  • Be able to situate and discuss Greek sculpture in its artistic, chronological, social and historical contexts
  • Be able to discuss some of the complicated afterlives of Greek sculpture

 

Learning Support:

If you know of something that might affect your learning (health or family crisis; religious observance) please contact me as soon as possible, ideally at the beginning of the quarter, so that I can make appropriate accommodations. Below you can find further resources:

  • Disability Resources for Students: http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/
    • If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.
    • If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.
  • Religious Accommodations:
    • Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy . Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form .
  • UW Academic Support: http://depts.washington.edu/aspuw/more/campus-resources/
  • UW Counseling Center: http://www.washington.edu/counseling/

 

Required Readings:

There is no required textbook for this class; all readings will be made available on Canvas or through UW libraries e-books. Each lecture in the schedule below has one or more readings to be read for that class session. For the second class, for example, please have read chapter 1 of the Garland reading (available under the week 1 folder of files on Canvas). These readings are a starting point for class lectures, which often will expand upon the assigned readings and/or present new material. Thus, I strongly recommend careful reading of the assigned material as well as watching the lectures/attending Zoom class sessions.

 

Grading:

  • Exam 1: 30% (Wednesday April 22; due online by the end of class time)
  • Exam 2: 30% (Wednesday May 13; due online by the end of class time)
  • Plaster Cast Assignments: 30% (Part 1 due Friday April 17; Part 2 due Friday May 8; Part 3 due Wednesday May 27; Part 4 due Wednesday June 3; each due online by the beginning of class time)
  • Group Poster: 10% (Monday June 8; due online by the end of the exam period [10:20am])

 

Your final course grade is calculated from these assignments in the proportions given. Please prepare carefully for these assignments, and please email me in advance if you have any questions about how to best prepare. There will be no extra credit.

 

Further Expectations:

  • Online
    • No posting of course materials of any kind is permitted without my written authorization.
    • The University of Washington prohibits the selling of notes online or through any other channels.
  • Getting in touch with each other
    • Please check your UW email daily; this is how I will communicate with you about pertinent information (like if/when we move to an in-person format). You are responsible for all information disseminated over email and through the course website.
    • I’m available via virtual office hours for you! If you are anxious about assignments, please set up a time well in advance of the assignment or exam so we can discuss strategies over Zoom. I’m also happy to chat about any other class-related concerns you have, or (on a happier note), study abroad opportunities, how to follow your interest in archaeology or ancient history, etc. I am happy to answer questions over email, but please check the syllabus first to see whether the answer is there.
    • I will respond to emails by the end of the next working day (which means that if you email me on Friday afternoon, I may not respond until Monday afternoon).
  • Grading
    • Students are expected to adhere to ethical behavior in their work, including following guidelines posted for each assignment concerning group work and plagiarism/cheating.
    • I’d be happy to discuss any of your graded work with you, but I ask that you wait twenty-four hours after receiving your assignment back in order to begin to process my feedback. After the twenty-four-hour period, please feel free to email me to set up a time for a meeting. Unfortunately, I cannot discuss grades over email.

 

Schedule of Topics and Required Readings:

Week 1

M March 30: Introduction

W April 1: Overview of Greek History

  • Garland, Robert. 2014.Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. [chapter 1: Historical Outline]

F April 3: Chronology and Style: Early Iron Age

  • Fullerton, Mark. 2016. Greek Sculpture. John Wiley & Sons. [read chapter 1: “Beginning

and Before: Greek Sculpture in the Iron Age (circa 1000-600)”; e-book accessible through UW library]

 

Week 2

M April 6: Chronology and Style: Archaic

  • Martin, S. Rebecca. 2017. The Art of Contact: Comparative Approaches to Greek and Phoenician Art. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. [read selections from chapter 2: pp. 42-49 (stop before section on “The Picture Mosaic, Part 1”); 53 (starting with “The Kouros, Part 2)-59 (stop before “The Picture Mosaic, Part 2”); bottom of p. 64 (paragraph after heading “Arts of Contact”); and p. 72]

W April 8: Chronology and Style: Transition to Classical

  • Fullerton, Mark. 2016. Greek Sculpture. John Wiley & Sons. [read chapter 5: “The Change to Classical: Democratic Athens and the Persian Conflict”; e-book accessible through UW library]

F April 10: Chronology and Style: Classical

  • Fullerton, Mark. 2016. Greek Sculpture. John Wiley & Sons [read chapter 8, “Classical Moment II: Sculptors and Statuary in the Mid-Fifth Century,” from beginning to just before the heading “Phidias and Phantasia”), and chapter 12, “Idealism and Individuality II,” from beginning to just before heading “Cephisodotus,” and from the heading “Praxiteles” to just before the section on “Unattributed Originals”; e-book accessible through UW library]

 

Week 3

M April 13: Chronology and Style: Hellenistic

  • Fullerton, Mark. 2016. Greek Sculpture. John Wiley & Sons [read all of chapter 13, “Sculpture in Hellenistic Greece I” except for sections on “Macedonian Taste—The Derveni Crater” and “Two Early Hellenistic Originals”; e-book accessible through UW library]

W April 15: Chronology and Style: Hellenistic

  • Fullerton, Mark. 2016. Greek Sculpture. John Wiley & Sons [read chapter 14, “Sculpture in Hellenistic Greece II,” skipping the section on “Sculpture and Classicism at the time of the Roman Conquest”, and stopping before the heading "The Mahdia Wreck, Neo-Atticism, and the Roman Art Market”]

F April 17: Plaster Cast Assignment Part 1 due

 

Week 4

M April 20: Work on your exam :) 

W April 22: Exam 1 due by 11:20am

F April 24: Materials and Materiality: introduction

  • Stewart, Andrew. 1990. Greek Sculpture: An Exploration. New Haven: Yale University Press. [Read pp. 36-42, “Materials and Methods” and “Finish”]]

 

Week 5

M April 27: Materials and Materiality: bronze

  • Mattusch, Carol. 1996. Classical Bronzes: The Art and Craft of Greek and Roman Statuary. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. [read 1-9, 18 (beginning with “An early example of Greek…”)-34]

W April 29: Materials and Materiality: terracotta

  • Burn, Lucilla. 2008. “Terracottas,” In T. J. Smith and D. Plantzos, eds., Companion to Greek Art. Wiley. Pp. 221-234.

F May 1: Materials and Materiality: terracotta and perishable materials

  • Kopestonsky, Theodora. 2018. “Locating Lost Gifts: Terracotta Figurines as Evidence for Ephemeral Offerings.” Journal of Greek Archaeology 3: 245-268. [start at beginning and stop just before “Conclusions” on p. 263]

 

Week 6

M May 4: Materials and Materiality: wood

  • Ridgway, Brunilde. 1992. “Images of Athena on the Akropolis,” in J. Neils, ed., Goddess and Polis. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Pp. 118-142. [read pp. 119-124 [stop before paragraph beginning “The original location…”]

W May 6: Materials and Materiality: polychromy

  • Catalog entries from Vinzenz Brinkmann, Renée Dreyfus, and Ulrike Koch-Brinkmann, eds., Gods in Color: Polychromy in the Ancient World. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

F May 8 VIA ZOOM: Plaster Cast Assignment Part 2 due; discuss group poster

 

Week 7

M May 11: work on exam 2 :)

W May 13: Exam 2

F May 15: Contexts: Athens

  • Fullerton, Mark. 2016. Greek Sculpture. John Wiley & Sons [read chapter 7, “Classical Moment I: The Parthenon, Pericles, and the Power of Persuasion”, except for section on “The Building of the Parthenon”; e-book accessible through UW library]

 

 

Week 8

M May 18: Contexts: Delphi

  • Scott, Michael. 2010. Delphi and Olympia: The Spatial Politics of Panhellenism in the Archaic and Classical Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [read pp. 81 (starting with section heading “Competing statements of Greekness”)-91 (stop before section heading “ ‘Du haut et du bas’”), 101 (starting with the section heading “The eclipse of Athens…”)-110 ]

W May 20: Contexts: Olympia

  • Scott, Michael. 2010. Delphi and Olympia: The Spatial Politics of Panhellenism in the Archaic and Classical Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [read pp. 188, starting with “the sanctuary of Olympia”-192 (stop before “tropaia’s final flourish”); p. 193 “While the dedication…” -201 (stop before the section called  “power games and control”); p. 208 (beginning with “By the mid-fourth century BC”)-214 (stop before “Conclusion”)]

F May 22: Contexts: Melos

  • Kousser, Rachel. 2005. “Creating the Past: The Vénus de Milo and the Hellenistic Reception of Classical Greece.” American Journal of Archaeology2: 227-250 [skip sections on “The Reception of Style” and “The Reception of Myth” on pp. 237-241]

 

Week 9

M May 25: NO CLASS [MEMORIAL DAY]

W May 27 VIA ZOOM: Plaster Cast Assignment Part 3 due; discuss group poster

F May 29: Legacy: Winckelmann

  • Squire, Michael. 2019. “The Legacy of Greek Sculpture,” in Olga Palagia, ed., Handbook of Greek Sculpture. DeGruyter. Pp. 727-767 [read pp. 727-750, stopping before the section on “Broken Statues”]

 

Week 10:

M June 1:  Legacy: Cast Collecting, the Myth of Whiteness, and Cultural Chauvinism

  • Connor, Peter. 1989. “Cast-Collecting in the Nineteenth Century” in G.W. Clarke ed., Rediscovering Hellenism. Cambridge. Pp. 187-235 [read p. 227 (beginning with “In the United States”)-229]
  • Talbot, Margaret. “The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture.” New Yorker. 29 October 2018. [read p. 6 (paragraph beginning with “Lately, this obscure…”-15 (end before paragraph beginning “One day in July…”)]
  • Pons, Jessie. 2017. “Archaeology in Gandhara: A Review of Research at the Crossroads of Disciplines,” in Achim Lichtenberger and Rubina Raja, eds., The Diversity of Classical Archaeology. Brepolis. Pp. 199-219. [read beginning-p. 205 (end before section on “‘Greaco-Buddhist’, ‘Roman-Buddhist’…”)]

W June 3 VIA ZOOM: Plaster Cast Assignment Part 4 due; discuss group poster

F June 5 VIA ZOOM: discuss group poster

  • Read over Group Poster guidelines under Assignments
  • Look at the examples in the "model posters" folder of "Plaster Casts" in files
  • Look at the Poster Design tutorial

 

Monday June 8 10:20am: Group poster due

 

Catalog Description: 
History and development of Greek sculpture and sculptors, their Roman copyists, and Roman portraits and sarcophagi. Emphasis on Greek sculpture of the fifth century BC. Offered: jointly with ART H 444.
GE Requirements: 
Arts and Humanities (A&H)
Credits: 
3.0
Status: 
Active
Last updated: 
February 14, 2020 - 1:17pm
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