AP Art History
Course Description
This course offers the serious student the opportunity to explore, in depth,
the history of art from ancient times to the present. Through readings,
research, slides, videos, and museum visits, students will view significant artworks from around
the world. Writing skills will be important in the description, analysis, and comparison of these
works. Students are encouraged to keep a notebook to record class discussion on significant
historical events, art periods/styles, specific artworks, and issues/themes that connect these
artworks.
Course Objectives
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Students will develop skills in identifying, describing, and analyzing works of art.
Students will learn to identify common characteristics among diverse artworks based on
periods/styles and themes.
Students will develop strong writing skills when describing, analyzing, and comparing
works of art.
Students will cultivate an appreciation for all styles of art.
Students will relate works of art to their proper cultural and historical origins
Assignments and Projects
Daily/Weekly
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Students are required to read approximately 15 pages a night from their primary textbook
as well as complete supplemental readings from Web sites, articles, and other texts (see
instructional materials list).
Videos are also shown to supplement the textbook, which students are required to take
notes on to prepare for a short quiz the following class period.
Students will complete an analysis graphic organizer for 4–6 artworks per chapter. The
graphic organizers include the following information for each artwork: identification,
period/culture, subject/iconography, style/technique, significance/function/purpose
(includes social, political, and religious values of the culture; patronage; art
historical/historical significance).
Students will also complete pages in their graphic organizers that compare and make
connections between artworks of the same period/culture as well as to other
periods/cultures.
Students should be prepared to answer questions in discussions based on reading
assignments. Students will often work in small groups to come up with solutions to
problems posed by the teacher, or participate in a game/ activity to reiterate learning.
Some of these activities include:
1. Socratic seminar (partner, each partner is in an opposite circle, students record
partner’s participation in the discussion and grade based on a rubric)
2. Speed Dating (where one student interviews another and records the responses)
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3. Dry Erase Recall (each student is given a small whiteboard and marker with
which to practice drawing floor plans, features, and other artistic concepts)
4. Visual Descriptions (students work in small groups to try to come up with the
most complete visual description of an artwork in the class)
Students will be given a study guide to complete prior to each unit’s exam.
Students will be given pop quizzes on reading assignments, as well as an extensive exam
at the end of each chapter/unit (these include multiple- choice, short-answer, and slide
questions, as well as essays)
Other Assignments/Projects
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Students will complete several essays based on themes that connect a Western/European
artwork with an artwork from outside of the European artistic tradition. Each artwork
must be fully analyzed (as in the analysis organizers) and compared based upon one of
the given themes. Students must also address how cultural background influences how
the piece is read and valued (how might each work be perceived in the context of the
other culture?). Some of the themes include:
1. The human body
2. Religious objects
3. Narrative
4. Religious sites/spaces
5. Gender
6. Politics and power
Quizlet: Students will participate in a group Quizlet to create a class set of flash cards.
Instruction sheet will be handed out.
Supplies needed:
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Preferred writing utensil (pen or pencil)
Preferred graphic organizer Sketchbook or Notebook or binder with plenty of
paper
Highlighter
Glue stick or tape (some glue sticks will be provided)
Index cards for flash cards
Remind 101:
Text: @mcapah To :81010
Grading:
Tests/Essays:60% Quizzes: 20% Classwork: 20%
Primary text
Kleiner, Fred S., Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Global History, (Enhanced 14th Edition.) Cengage
Learning, (2013).
Additional text
Kleiner, Fred S., Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Concise Western History, (2nd Edition.) Cengage Learning,
(2010).
Freeland, Cynthia., But is it Art? Oxford University Press. (2001)Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about Art.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.
Strickland, Carol, and John Boswell. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History, from Prehistoric to
Post-modern. Kansas, MO: Andrews McMeel Pub., 2007. Print.