Syllabus for graduate class on art historical writing worldwide

Getting feedback on your drafts We won’t do special workshop sessions, but each time we do a video meeting, we can also discuss a draft paper.. Everyone will read your draft and make com

Special Syllabus for the second half of the spring 2020 semester See the original Syllabus for the older stuff.

Requirements

1 Final paper , due May 9

2 Draft of the final paper , due April 22

3 Comments on the required readings and the slideshows , due May 9

4 Individual meetings , at least one

Things that aren’t required anymore!

We won’t be doing presentations, so we don’t have Teams.

Workshops won’t be required However, anytime you would like feedback on your work in progress, you can get it by signing up on this syllabus (More on this below )

We’ll be doing video meetings so we can talk, but they are not required They are all on the schedule, below You can just attend any ones you’d like.

The requirements, in more detail

l The final paper

Let’s make the paper shorter: between 10-12 pages and 10,000 pages — and keep the rest the same Here’s part of the description from the original Syllabus:

I hope the class will be an opportunity for you to think about your relation to global practices of art history Often that means you'll be tying in your thesis work It is possible, for example, to use the paper for this class as a chapter in your thesis.

If you’re an MFA student, here are two possible topics:

A Write a paper that should have been a chapter in Art Since 1900 This can be on any

subject, even those that are already covered by Art Since 1900.

B Write a paper on any theorist, critic, historian, or curator who is not discussed in class, provided their work engages the themes of the class Usually that means they’ve written “big theory” pieces, or curated exhibitions that propose new narratives of art history, or directly engaged the people we’ll be reading in class Example of someone who can work in this

respect: Okwui Enwezor Someone who doesn’t work: Dave Hickey.

The papers can be in any form: academic or experimental.

2 The draft of the final paper

Drafts are due by Wednesday, April 22 But you can upload a draft anytime, and workshop it anytime before or after April 22.

Upload drafts into the Papers folder (Please don’t send it around by email.)

If you’d also like to workshop your draft, please include the following (This is from the original

Syllabus.)

1 A page-long statement of what you’re researching, including your goals, how they relate to the concerns of the class, a list of your primary sources, and your research strategy.

2 Sample pages of the draft of your paper This can be sketchy and informal Work in progress is fine You might want to include a biography of the scholar, critic, or curator you’re studying, or

a general introduction to art history or criticism in the region or country you’re studying It’s often a good idea to include images of the artworks you’re studying.

3 Pages from the sources you’re studying This can be excerpts from essays or books, or from exhibition catalogues They can also be videos Provide enough material so that people in the class can give you suggestions.

I’ll return drafts ASAP after April 22 (and before, if you hand in earlier) You should revise in light of comments you receive If you upload a more or less finished paper, when you hand in the new version

at the end of the semester, please underline all the new passages so I can find them.

3 Comments on the required readings

Comments are required on all the readings and on my slideshows (I have a couple coming up) You need to leave at least two substantial comments on each reading, so I know you have read it and thought about it If you leave fewer comments, or miss readings, you can still get a CR, but your letter grade may be low, and I won’t write a letter of recommendation (if you need one in future).

4 Individual meetings

Let’s make this requirement minimal: one individual meeting between now and the end of the

semester but I am always glad to talk, and I don’t mind emails anytime.

I won’t use the old sign-up sheet anymore: just email me, jelkins@saic.edu, to set up a time.

Where are the readings?

All required readings are now on Google docs in the new Readings folder, so we can share Comments like we’ve been doing.

Recommended readings are on Canvas, under Files.

Getting feedback on your drafts

We won’t do special workshop sessions, but each time we do a video meeting, we can also discuss a draft paper If you’d like feedback on your project, here’s what to do:

1 Put down your name in the schedule, below Everyone in the class has editing privileges for this syllabus, so just add your name wherever you’d like.

2 Upload your draft to the Papers folder (It is best if it is in Google doc format.)

3 Email everyone to tell them it’s there.

4 Everyone will read your draft and make comments on it, and we’ll discuss it at the next video meeting.

Our schedule

So far SAIC is on track to have everyone graduate on time That means there’s a deadline at the end of the semester: final papers are due Wednesday, May 6 at 9 PM Chicago time.

The rest of our schedule is flexible I’ve arranged it so each reading takes 3 or 4 days, and at the end of that period, we’ll have a video meeting to discuss it I will look at the texts and read everyone’s

comments right before the video meeting, so I know who’s read the texts, and what topics we might discuss The conferences aren’t required, and if you can’t get to the readings that week, it’s OK If you haven’t done the reading for a particular conference, feel free to join anyway.

This schedule has the same texts, in the same order, as before, but now each reading leads to a video meeting There will be two each week: one at the usual class time, and another one on Sunday You should try to attend as many as you can (Note: I won’t read comments made after the different deadlines, but I’ll check at the end of the semester to make sure everyone has commented.)

Extra workshop

Sign up here if you’d like to have your draft workshopped We’ll do two of these before

the class officially begins again on April 8 I think we could do three per video meeting

Name for workshop Chenghan

Wed March 25, 7:30 PM = 8:30

AM March 26 China time

Extra workshop

Sign up here if you’d like to have your draft workshopped We’ll do two of these before

the class officially begins again on April 8 I think we could do three per video

meeting

Name for workshop : Sofía Sánchez

Name for workshop Quinn Veasman

Name for workshop: Aishan

Wed April 1, 7:30 PM = Thursday April 2 8:30 AM China time

The master narrative in museums, part one

(Moved the MoMA video to next week Didn’t have time to prepare it this week!)

(This is also our first “official” meeting, so we’ll catch up and review the new Syllabus.)

An essay on how German Expressionism entered the master narrative (File “Langfeld

MoMA Expressionism”) This is in the Readings folder

Recommended (not required): “Duncan Universal Museums” is an excellent survey of

the history of the idea of the universal museum “Lewis Universal Museum” is written

from a legal point of view, in reaction to a recent declaration that is intended to ensure

major museums don’t have to repatriate their artworks, so they can remain

“universal.” Recommended texts are still on Canvas, under Files

Wed April 8, 6 PM

Zoom Meeting Password:

arthistory

Master narratives in museums, continued

Slide lecture (movie): MoMA’s hangs This is in the Readings folder It’s a 400 MB

movie It may take a while to download

Reading: Essay on master narratives in museums, with references to Mary Jane Jacob

and Joseph Grigely (File “Elkins Museum research”), pp 10-13 only

Reading: Essay on the Musée d’Orsay in Paris (file “Sherman Orsay”) Watch for the

battle of different agendas in the organization of the museum If you don’t know this

museum, you might check out a virtual tour, or this introduction by Google To

comment on this file (and all pdfs), don’t open it in an app If you simply click on it,

you’ll get a dark screen, like this:

If you have apps connected to your Google Drive that automatically open pdfs, just

right-click or option-click on the pdf and choose Preview When you see this screen,

don’t click on “Open with…” because then you’ll end up in a badly OCR’d version, and

when you save, you’ll create duplicates and triplicates in our Readings folder Just go

over to the right where you see the Comment bubble with the cross in it

Recommended reading (not required): essay on museums in the Ottoman Empire (File

“Shaw Ottoman Displays”), pp 253-55, and the end, pp 273-76 Watch for the theme

of the absence of narratives in Ottoman museums

Workshop paper (add your name here if you’d like, then upload your

paper to the Papers folder a couple days before the video meeting)

Saturday April 11th at 11 AM Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

Master narratives in museums, concluded

From Saturday: Slide lecture (movie): MoMA’s hangs This is in the Readings folder It’s

a 400 MB movie It may take a while to download

Reading: Essay on master narratives in museums, with references to Mary Jane Jacob

and Joseph Grigely (File “Elkins Museum research”), pp 10-13 only

Reading: Essay on the Musée d’Orsay in Paris (file “Sherman Orsay”)

Slide lecture (movie): the narrative of the Louvre Abu Dhabi (c 50 mins.) There isn’t a

simple way to leave comments on movies; we’ll talk about it on Wednesday

Wed April 15, 6 PM

Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

18th at 11 AM

John Clark, Asian Modernities: Chinese and Thai Art Compared, Introduction Note: this

text is in two files, “Clark Asian Modernities” 1 and 2 The second one is a pdf of a scan

(possibly the world’s worst scan, so bad I could not even OCR it) If anyone can

improve either one of these two files, or put them together into one file, please do!

Workshop paper: Muxi

Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

Emphasizing the local

Monika Juneja, interview on “transregional” art history, here (For people who read

German, another text is “Juneja Kunstgeschichte,” on Canvas.)

Piotr Piotrowski, “On the Spatial Turn, or Horizontal Art History." Piotrowski’s essay is

one of the clearest articulations of the problem of writing about art in the “margins.”

Workshop paper: Barbie

Deadline for drafts of papers

Wed April 22, 6 PM

Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

The possibility of using non-European art terms

Impending Single History of Art, chapter 5, “The State of the Field,” section 4 only.

Section 4 mentions Piotrowski and Juneja, so read them first

Impending Single History of Art, chapter 7, “Finding Terms and Methods for Art

History.” This is a short chapter, but it’s important

Recommended reading: Sjoukje, “Middle East,” on the place of the Middle East in

global art history

Saturday April 25th at 11 AM Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

What is art history outside the North Atlantic model?

First we’ll finish the last meeting: Impending Single History of Art, chapter 7, “Finding

Terms and Methods for Art History.,” section “2 Translating terms using the glossary

concept”—from there to the end of the chapter

Rangihiroa Panoho, Maori Art, chapter 1 This file is on a new platform, Perusall Visit

the site and enroll in the course using this password: ELKINS-D23BR

You can skim this if you’d like: just watch for things that seem different from North

Atlantic expectations This is an extreme example of the use of indigenous, “local”

concepts, in this case from the Maori (= te reo) language

FYI, there is a good review online The author also has a blog, which has some reviews,

including ones by Anthony Byrt and Aaron Smale (recommended by Anna Parlane)

There are also magazine reviews here and here None of the reviews are required

reading

Workshop paper: Nancy :)

Wed April 29, 6 PM

Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

Password: ARTHI

Ming Tiampo, Gutai, Introduction, pdf pp 15-22 (We won’t be using using the page

numbers in the original.) This is a widely praised text; look for her principal strategies

(critique of originality, the ideas of translation, recontextualization, and quantization,

attitude to center and periphery) The entire book is included in this pdf, so you can

search “originality” etc in different chapters to see how they are developed

Workshop paper: Aishan

Multiple modernities

Patel, “Are Theories of Multiple Modernities Eurocentric?”

Impending Single History of Art, chapter 8, “Writing about Modernist Painting Outside

Western Europe and North America”

(Highly) recommended readings: Therborn, “Entangled Modernities”; Keith Moxey, “Is

Modernism Multiple?”

Final papers due today at 9 PM

Wed May 6, 6 PM

Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

Empathy

The chapter omitted from the book, “Two Modes of Judgment.”

This is about how empathetic it’s possible to be regarding practices that are very far

outside the art world

My own answer to all this

Impending Single History of Art, chapter 9, “The Most Difficult Problem”

Recommended: a brief essay on nonstandard English in fiction

Saturday May 9,

11 AM Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

Summary of the class

Draft of the summary document, here (p 139, or search for “Main Points”)

“Party” (bring drinks, etc to make people jealous)

Wednesday May

13, 6 PM Zoom Meeting Password: ARTHI

The last meeting overlaps the end of the semester; depending on people’s interests we may put these readings into earlier weeks.

We may have some meetings after May 6, depending on what happens with the SAIC schedule!