CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA
ACADEMIC SENATE
GENERAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE
REPORT TO
THE ACADEMIC SENATE
GE-002-910
ART 211
GE Area C1
General Education Committee
Executive Committee
Received and Forwarded
Date:
Academic Senate
Date: 1-16-13
FIRST READING
2-13-13
SECOND READING
Date: 1-9-13
GE-002-910, ART 211 GE Area C1
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BACKGROUND:
The art history faculty proposes to add Art 211 (Arts of Africa, Oceania and Native America)
to GE area C1 Humanities/Fine and Performing Arts and to add the prefix of “World Art” to
the existing title of Art 211. “Arts of Africa, Oceania and Native America” will become “World
Art: Arts of Africa, Oceania and Native America.” The change in title will align this proposal
with GE referral GE-001-910.
The course Art 211 is part of a series of 200-level introductory art history survey courses
(already including Art 212, 213, 214, and 216) offered by the Art Department. However, it was
unduly omitted from the current GE list of art history courses.
In recent years, the department has been able to offer this course on a yearly basis, and so
requests that the course have the same GE status as the other introductory art history survey
courses: Art 212, 213, 214, and 216. The addition of Art 211 to the GE series is also crucial
to the department’s effort to provide a more global—less Eurocentric—approach to the study
of art history.
RESOURCES RECOMMENDED:
ART 211 ECO
ART 211 justification
ART 211 consultation
Faculty who teach in the GE Area C1
Sarah A. Meyer, Art Department
Babette R. Mayor, Art Department
RESOURCES CONSULTED:
ART 211 ECO
ART 211 justification
ART 211 consultation
Faculty who teach in the GE Area C1:
Dr. Alison Pearlman, Associate Professor of Art History, Art Department
Dr. Chari Pradel, Associate Professor of Art History, Art Department
Sarah A. Meyer, Chair, Art Department
Babette R. Mayor was not consulted because she is no longer Art Department Chair, as she
was when this proposal was initially developed.
DISCUSSION
The GE Committee agreed that the addition of this course to the series of existing GE
offerings in the C1 area gives appropriate cultural breadth to the series of introductory art
history survey courses (including Art 212, 213, 214, and 216) by adding another nonEuropean course.
GE-002-910, ART 211 GE Area C1
RECOMMENDATION:
The GE Committee unanimously recommends approval of Art 211 (Arts of Africa, Oceania
and Native America) to GE area C1 Humanities/Fine and Performing Arts and to add the
prefix of “World Art” to the existing title of Art 211. “Arts of Africa, Oceania and Native
America” will become “World Art: Arts of Africa, Oceania and Native America.
ATTACHMENTS:
ART 211 ECO
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GE-002-910, ART 211 GE Area C1
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California State Polytechnic University
Department of Art
Course Title: Arts of Africa, Oceania and Native America
Course Number: Art 211
Prepared by: Dr. Maren Henderson
Updated by: Dr. Chari Pradel and Dr. Alison Pearlman, Fall 2012
COURSE OUTLINE
I. Catalog Description
Art 211 Arts of Africa, Oceania and Native America. (4). Art of the Indigenous peoples of
Africa, Oceania and Native North America as understood within the context of religious
beliefs and political, economic and social functions. 4 hours lecture.
II. Required Background or Experience
No prerequisites to date.
III. Expected Outcomes
Students will receive a survey of select artistic achievements from the African continent,
Australia, Micro and Melanesia and Indigenous North American communities, beginning in
prehistoric times where applicable but emphasizing the art of the historic period (18 th-19th
centuries) and continuing into the 20th century.
Upon completion of this course, students should
A. Be familiar with the artistic traditions and history of the art and architecture of the selected
indigenous cultures of Africa, Oceania and Native America.
B. Understand the cultural achievements and historical significance of the arts in these
cultures.
C. Understand the worldviews and ideas expressed in the visual arts of these cultures.
D. Be able to identify continuities and commonalities in the prevailing ideologies of
civilizations in each region, and to recognize differences among the groups.
E. Understand the structural principles, materials, and techniques that help determine
objects’ forms and functions.
F. Acquire the disciplinary tools of analysis for interpreting art objects within their cultural
context.
C. Recognize the importance of extra- and intra-cultural influences on art within various
communities.
H. Be able to express the above in discussion and in writing with accuracy, thoroughness,
and sound reasoning.
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IV. Texts and Readings
Texts as required by the instructor. Examples:
Caruana, Wally. Aboriginal Art. London & New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
Penney, David W. North American Indian Art. London & New York: Thames and Hudson,
2004.
Thomas, Nicholas. Oceanic Art. London & New York: Thames and Hudson, 2002.
Visona, Monica, et.al. A History of Art in Africa. Prentice Hall, 2006.
Additional & current periodical readings may be assigned. Examples might include the
following:
Ben-Amos, Paula. The Art of Benin. London: Thames & Hudson, 1998.
Berlo, J The Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas: Selected Readings. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 1992.
Ruth B. Philips. Native North American Art. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press,
1998.
Fagg, W. et al. Yoruba Sculpture of West Africa. New York: Knopf, 1982.
Feest, C.F. Native Arts of North America. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1992.
Morphy, Howard. Aboriginal Art. London: Phaidon, 2001.
Rubin, Arnold. Art as Technology: The Arts of Africa, Oceania, Native America and Southern
California. Beverly Hills: Hillcrest Press, 1989.
Wade, E.L. ed. The Arts of the North American Indian: Native Traditions in Evolution. New
York: Hudson Hills, 1986.
V. Minimum Student Materials
Textbooks, Electronic reserve, course syllabus, and usual note-taking materials. Computer
access for Blackboard, digital image database, ARTstor, research and writing assignments.
VI. Minimum College Facilities
Smart classroom, or a classroom with data projector, VCR and Internet access, and lighting
appropriate for projection and note taking, as room 13-2218, presently used for art history
classes. Seating and writing surfaces for a minimum of 50 students; instructor needs a
lectern. Blackboard storage quota of no less than 150MB.
VII Course Outline
This survey in art history begins with the arts of Pacific cultures beginning with the ancient art
of Australia and including the arts of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, as well as some
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examples of contemporary work. The course continues with the early arts of Sub-Saharan
Africa including Rock art, the ceramics of Nok and early metalworking of the Nri and Ife
peoples; royal arts of Benin and the Asante, women’s arts in Cote d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe;
divination arts among the Yoruba; and recent contemporary painting. The concluding third of
the course focuses on the Indigenous arts of North America. This includes the pre-contact
Southeast, historic Plains, pre-contact and historic Southwest, historic Northwest coast, and
contemporary arts.
The course studies a range of art and architecture produced for individual and communal
use, all of which are examined for social function, style, material, craft techniques, and
iconography. Special emphasis is put on the meaning of each work in its original context, with
careful attention paid to social, political, religious, and contextual factors in the interpretation
of meaning.
Works of art studied are necessarily very selective and represent the high points in cultural
achievement and historical significance. The course is intended to give the student a solid
foundation in tribal arts through knowledge of these important tribes, key works and sites, and
through skills in aesthetic and contextual analysis.
Week
1.1,
1.2
2
3
Introduction
Oceania
4
5
Africa
6
7
8
9
10
North
America
Subject
Introduction. Ethnocentrism. Art as technology;
Aboriginal Rock art
Aboriginal painting;
Masculine & Feminine symbolism in the Sepik River;
The Asmat: cannibalism and ritual
Polynesian textiles & featherwork; Maori: ancestors and
lineage; Body and body ornamentation.
Sub-Saharan Africa: Rock art and early sculpture;
Royal arts of Benin & the Asante
Women’s arts of the Kuba, Mende and Zulu;
Masquerade & Divination among the Yoruba
Architecture of the Djenne & Dogon; Contemporary
Africa
Archaic and precontact Woodlands cultures: the
Moundbuilders
Archaic and precontact Southwest; the historic Plains
Historic Northeast Coast; Contemporary Native artists
VIII. Instructional Methods
A. Lecture with PowerPoint presentations and videos
B. Class discussion
C. In-class exams
D. Online review sessions and recorded lectures are offered on Blackboard as study aids.
IX. Assessment of Outcomes
Three exams (90% of grade) to evaluate knowledge and comprehension of information as
well as analytical skills. In every exam students are required to visually identify major works
of art and architecture and must be able to answer short questions based on the reading and
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lecture material. They are also required to write short essays about works that demonstrate
their contextual knowledge of specific works of art shown on screen during the exam.
In-class presentation of assigned weekly article, done independently or as a team (10%)
X. Course Assessment
To assess this course students will fill out the course evaluation forms used by Cal Poly
Pomona. Ongoing feedback during the quarter will allow the instructor to make changes as
necessary to meet the students’ needs.
XI. Relationship of Course to Art History Program Learning Outcomes
The Learning Outcomes for the course are in bolded text, and are to introduce students to
the following:
LO 1. Understanding of works of art and design from various historical periods and
geographical areas using art historical tools of visual analysis: formal, iconographical
or stylistic, as required by course content.
Short exam questions allow this outcome to be evaluated.
LO 2. Understanding of works of art and design in their historical and cultural
contexts.
Exam essays allow this outcome to be evaluated.
LO 3. Skills of critical thinking through the analysis of art works or art historical
writing.
The in-class presentation of an assigned article allows this outcome to be evaluated.
LO 4. Skills of research--general and those unique to the period, region, and/or theme of the
course via appropriate use of library tools-and writing using vocabulary about art and art
history.
In addition, students will be exposed to
LO 5. The creative process in the visual arts via the production of visual artwork
LO 6. Reading and writing in French or German languages via courses in these languages
LO 7. Other humanities disciplines via courses in history, foreign languages, generaleducation courses, and electives
XII. Relationship of Course to GE Program Learning Outcomes
According to the Curriculum Guide, courses in Area GE-C1 are supposed to "enable students
to experience and appreciate the fine and performing arts in relation to the realms of
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creativity, imagination, and feeling that explore the meaning of what it is to be human.
Courses could include active participation in aesthetic and creative experience.” Art 211 does
this by exposing students to many concrete examples of works of art and design in lectures
and video materials.
The Curriculum Guide also states that, after taking GE-C1 courses, “Students should
understand how disciplined, individual creativity can produce objects that are obviously useful
or practical but that clarify, intensify and enlarge human experience. Courses will provide a
sense of the values that inform artistic expression and performance, and their
interrelationships with human society." These goals are central to Art 211. This course, like all
art history courses, strives to show students how artistic forms relate to their historical and
cultural contexts. Item III in this ECO, entitled “Expected Outcomes,” makes the form-context
connection explicit, especially in its list of the following outcomes:
B. Understand the cultural achievements and historical significance of the arts in these
cultures.
C. Understand the different worldview and ideas expressed in the visual arts.
D. Be able to identify continuities and shared ideologies that characterize common origins
of civilizations of each region, and recognize aspects that differentiate the groups.
C. Possess knowledge of the structural principles, materials, and techniques that help
determine an object’s form and function.
D. Acquire the necessary tools to interpret art within cultural context and to recognize the
importance of extra- and intra-cultural influence within these communities.