ARH240 Ancient Art
Schedule of Activities After Midterm
Monday, October 25
 Introduce Assignment #2: Work in pairs to create museum-quality educational
materials for two works of art on the same theme or in the same media created
between the so-called First Dark Age, c. 1200 BCE, and the Sack of Rome in 410
CE.
 Assign pairs and select from available themes and media:
1. Ceramics, preferably figurative or narrative _________________, ___________________
2. Painting on any surface including ceramics and sculpture, preferably
figurative or narrative _________________, ___________________
3. Metalwork, preferably figurative or narrative _________________, __________________
4. Sculpture, preferably figurative or narrative _________________, ___________________
5. Images of animals and/or nature _________________, ___________________
6. Images of gods, goddess and/or worshippers _________________, __________________
7. Images of men _________________, ___________________
8. Images of women _________________, ___________________
9. Writing, including objects that feature text or that depict writing tools or
supports _________________, ___________________

View PowerPoint introduction to the Ancient Near East and the Ancient Greece
after the First Dark Age.
Homework: select one example of a work of art that suits your theme from each of the
following cultural eras:
1. Assyrian, Art, c. 900 – 612 BCE
Object:
2. Neo-Babylonian and Persian Empires, c. 612 – 330 BCE
Object:
3. Greek Geometric and Orientalizing Art, c. 900 - 600 BCE
Object:
4. Greek Archaic Art, c. 600 – 480 BCE
Object:
5. Greek Early and High Classical Art, c. 480 – 400 BCE
Object:
6. Greek Late Classical Art, c. 400 - 323 BCE
Object:
7. Greek Hellenistic Art, c. 323 – 20 BCE
Object:
Turn in your selections at the start of next class.
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Wednesday, October 28
 Turn in list of selections of art from the Ancient Near East and Ancient Greece.
 Introduce the cultures of the ancient Italian peninsula.
 Select, by the end of class, one example of a work of art that suits your theme
from each of the following cultural eras on the Italian Peninsula:
1. Etruscan Orientalizing and Archaic Art, c. 700– 480 BCE
Object:
2. Etruscan Classical and Hellenistic Art, c. 480 – 270 BCE
Object:
3. Art of the Roman Republic, c. 753 – 27 BCE
Object:
4. Art of the Early Roman Empire, c. 27 BCE– 96 CE
Object:
5. Art of the High Roman Empire, c. 96 BCE– 192 CE
Object:
6. Art of the Late Roman Empire, c. 193 BCE– 410 CE
Object:

Show your selections to Peter before leaving class.
Homework: select one example of a work of art that suits your theme from each of the
following regions of the world outside of the Mediterranean:
1. China and Korea: Zhou, Qin, and Han Dynasties and the Period of Disunity, c.
1050 BCE – 581 CE
Object:
2. South and Southeast Asia: Maurya, Shunga, Andhra, and Kushan Dynasties, c.
323 BCE – 320 CE
Object:
3. Pre-Classic Mesoamerica: Olmec and Teotihuacan, c. 1200 BCE - 250 CE
Object:
4. Africa outside of Egypt: Nok (Nigeria) and Lydenburg (South Africa), c. 500
BCE – 200 CE
Object:
Turn in your selections for four assigned regions of the world outside of the
Mediterranean at the start of next class.
Monday, November 2
 Turn in selections of art outside of the Mediterranean.
 Start to construct a timeline by following the instructions at the dohistory.org
website: http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/timeline.html
Homework:
Draft of your timeline is due next class for a group critique.
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Wednesday, November 4
 Group critique of timeline drafts.
 Refine your timeline.
 Add pages to your website for this course.
Homework:
Refine your timeline, upload it to your site, and print a copy for assessment.
Monday, November 9
 Due Date for your Timeline. The timeline and expanded website is worth 10% of
your course grade and will be graded on whether the content is appropriate for
your selected theme/medium, and whether you followed the directions at
dohistory.org.
 Each student selects one work from his or her team’s timeline to investigate indepth. So that we get a broad range of presentations on these objects for the
class, only three objects may be from the clusters of cultures listed below, and
each student must investigate a unique object.
 Start building an annotated bibliography for your selected object.
 By the end of class use the Internet to make sure there will be sufficient
information for your selected objects.
 Start your annotated bibliography by adding entries in any academic style
(Turabian, Chicago, MLA, APA) for two of the books on Peter’s bookshelf with
information relevant to your object. Show your annotation to Peter before
leaving.
Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian and Persian art:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Greek Geometric, Orientalizing and Archaic art:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Greek Early and High Classical art:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Greek Late Classical and Hellenistic art
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
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Etruscan art:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Art of the Roman Republic:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Art of the Early Roman Empire:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Cart of the High and Late Roman Empire:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Ancient Asian art from South and Southeast Asia or China and Korea:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Ancient Pre-Classical Mesoamerican art and art from Africa outside of Egypt:
1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
Homework:
Add links to two websites not only to your annotated bibliography but also to the
Links page at your website:
 Find at least one academic, credible website, such as a museum website or .edu
source related to your selected object and read what it says.
 Also find one wiki site, such as a Wikipedia page that is relevant to your selected
object.
 Within these two online sources look for a citation to a book or an article that you
can trace (find and read) at the Library.
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Wednesday, November 11
Class meets at the Siena Heights Library today. Melissa Sissen will be there to help
you find materials related to your selected object. For each object, find and add to
your annotated bibliography at least one of each of the following types of sources
that helps to explain some aspect of your selected object, such as its discovery,
media, subject, political context, social context, technological context, religious
context, etc. Please note that your goal is not just to check off a list of requirements,
but also to become an expert on the object and its original context. If you cannot
find enough information, you will need to select a different object.
 At least one book, either a real book or an eBook that you find through Siena’s
databases or through scholar.google.com.
 At least one scholarly, full-text article found through Siena’s databases. You
must print and read the article and turn it in at the final exam.
 At least one non-internet source, such as a book, article, or DVD that you find by
tracing a citation from one of your online sources. (See homework for November
9.)
 At least one source in any format that helps to explain the myths, religion,
politics, military conflicts, of the era, with a focus the ones that help to explain
the meaning of your selected object.
Homework:
Create a draft of your annotated bibliography to share at the start of next class.
Monday, November 16
Share drafts of your annotated bibliography. As you read your classmates’
bibliographies, look for sources that might be useful to your own research; then look
them up, and add them to your own list.
In class, write a draft of a detailed description of your object and bring it to the next
class along with an illustration to share with your classmates. Consider all of the
following in your description:
 Elements of art (color, value, line, shape, form, space, point of view, texture,
movement, time, and pattern)
 Principles of composition or design (balance, emphasis, figure/ground
relationship, repetition, rhythm, unity, and variety)
 An explanation of the tools, materials, and process used in its construction.
Homework:
Polish your annotated bibliography to turn in next class for assessment.
Polish up your descriptions, add an illustration for each one, and print it out to share
with the rest of the class.
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Wednesday, November 18
Turn in a printed copy of your annotated bibliography for assessment, worth 10% of
your final grade.
Share drafts of your descriptions.
Discuss and start creating a virtual collection of objects from the same culture as
your selected object. Use the survey texts and your classmates’ websites as
principle sources.
Homework:
Polish your description, upload it to your website along with a fully labeled and linked
illustration and print it out—to turn in next class.
Start to upload all of the images to a Virtual Collections page and make sure they are
in chronological order, fully labeled, and include links to sources.
Monday, November 23
Turn in your description, worth 10% of your course grade.
Finish uploading, linking and labeling all of the objects in your Virtual Collection.
Revisit what “context” means in art history.
Homework:
Write a list of possible topics that you could include in a contextual analysis of your
selected object.
Wednesday, November 23: Thanksgiving Break, No Class 
Monday, November 30
Share your list of possible topics for your contextual analysis paper with the class.
Note topics that other students used in their analyses that you can use in your own.
Spend the class writing the introductory paragraph for your contextual analysis.
Homework:
Write a draft of your contextual analysis essay. Be sure to add citations as necessary
for any stated facts and quotations. Be careful not to plagiarize (use someone else’s
words or ideas without giving them explicit credit).
Wednesday, December 2
Share your draft of your contextual analysis with other members of the class.
Work with your partner to prepare notes for a comparison/contrast essay about
your two works.
Write an introductory paragraph before the end of class.
Homework:
Revise your draft based on feedback from the class, upload the paper to your website,
and print a copy for assessment.
Practice presenting your website publically in six minutes: time your presentation.
This presentation is worth 5% of your course grade.
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Sunday, December 6, 1:30 pm, visit the ancient art collection at the Kelsey
Museum of Archaeology, 434 South State Street, Ann Arbor, MI , 48109, 734 7649304, https://www.lsa.umich.edu/kelsey. It takes about 55 minutes to drive to the
museum from Adrian, and another fifteen minutes or so to park and find the
Maynard Street entrance, where we will meet, so allow about an hour and 15
minutes travel time from Adrian. I have room for five passengers in my van, and
will be leaving Studio Angelico at 12:15 sharp. Admission to the museum is free,
metered parking spaces are free on Sundays, if you can find one. Parking is available
in the nearby Maynard Street Parking structure.
Monday, December 7
Due: Contextual Analysis Paper, worth 15% of your course grade.
Presentations, part one: six minutes each presentation.
Wednesday, December 9
Presentations, part two, six minutes each.
Homework:
Prepare and memorize a comparison/contrast essay, comparing and contrasting your
selected object with the work selected by your timeline partner, for the final exam.
Monday, December 14: Final Exam!
Turn in the printout of your scholarly article.
Write your comparison/contrast essay in class from memory.
The printout and essay are worth 10% of your course grade.
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