Courses

CVSP 251: Civilization through the Arts:

                    Modern Art’s Many Faces

                    (Focus: Lebanon and Iraq)

Class Times:    TT 9:30-10:45 a.m.

Room:              Nicely 409

Instructor:       Dr. Sonja Mejcher-Atassi

Office Hours: Wednesday 10-12 a.m., Nicely 200E

Email:              sm78@aub.edu.lb

Course Description

The course’s aim is to give you a better understanding of modern art. Part I deals with questions in art theory. It examines the terms “art” and “modern”, as they have developed in Europe. Taking Timothy Mitchell’s text “The Stage of Modernity” as a point of departure, Part II draws the attention to places beyond Europe: the Arab Middle East. How has modern art evolved here? How has it coped with social, political and economic changes? Does it have an identity of its own or does it solely follow Western models? My suggestion is to take Lebanon and Iraq as case studies but we can include other Arab countries, if you wish.

Course Requirements and Grading

Students are required to give a presentation on an artist from either Lebanon or Iraq (15 min.) and to write a paper (5 pages) on a subject of their choice but related to the course. You can turn your presentation into a paper. This gives you the opportunity to discuss your ideas in class, before you write them down in a final version. I am happy to help you with references and other material. The paper must include a critical bibliography of your sources. The presentation is 15% of your final grade, the paper 25%.

Class participation is 10% of your final grade. Attendance and good conduct in class are essential. This means that coming late to class and disturbance in class have a negative impact on your grade. Any absence exceeding 8 will mean that you have to drop the class. You have to read all texts listed below and should be capable to summarize them briefly. You have to write a summary of one of the texts and provide the class with a handout which is another 10% of your final grade. The final exam is 40%.

Presentation                15 %

Paper                           25 %

Class Participation        10 %

Summary                      10 %

Final Exam                    40 %

A course pack containing all required reading is on reserve in the Jaffet Library. You can also buy a copy at Future Graphics on Jeanne d’Arc Street.

Syllabus

Introduction

PART I: Modern Art

1. What is Art? (1.-2. week)

Texts:

- John Berger (1977). Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1977, 7-34.

- Pierre Bourdieu and Alain Darbel (1991). From “The Love of Art”, in: Francis Frascina and Jonathan Harris (1999) (eds.). Art in Modern Culture. An Anthology of Critical Texts. London: Phaidon, 174-180.

- Hans Belting (2003). “Global Art and Minorities: A New Geography of Art History”, in: Art History after Modernism. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 62-73.

2. What is Modern? (3.-4. week)

Texts:

- Charles Baudelaire (1859-1863). From “The Painter of Modern Life”, in: Charles Harrison, Paul Wood and Jason Gaiger (eds.) (2003). Art in Theory 1815-1900. An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Oxford: Blackwell, 493-506.

- Walter Benjamin (1936). “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, in: Charles Harrison, Paul Wood (eds.) (2003). Art in Theory 1900-2000. An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Oxford: Blackwell, 520-527.

- Timothy Mitchell (2000). “The Stage of Modernity”, in: (ed.). Questions of Modernity. Minneapolis/London: University of Minnesota Press, 1-34.

- Olu Oguibe (1993). ‘In the “Heart of Darkness”’, in: Eric Fernie (ed.) (1999). Art History and its Methods. A Critical Anthology. London: Phaidon, 314-322.

PART II: The Arab Middle East (Lebanon and Iraq)

1. Where Can We See Modern Art? (5. week)

Texts:

- Christel Braae (2001). “The Early Museums and the Formation of Their Publics”, in: Hans Chr. Korsholm Nielsen and Jacob Skovgaard-Petersen (eds.). Middle Eastern Cities 1900-1950. Public Places and Public Spheres in Transformation. Proceedings of the Danish Institute in Damascus, I. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 112-132.

PRESENTATIONS (6./7. to 9./10. week)

2. Lebanon (11.-12. week)

Texts:

- John Carswell (1989). “The Lebanese Vision. A History of Painting”, in: The British Lebanese Association (ed.). Lebanon. The Artist’s View. London: Quartet Books, 15-19.

- Helen Khal (1987). The Woman Artist in Lebanon. Beirut: BUC, 19-43.

3. Iraq (13.-14. week)

Texts:

- Ulrike al-Khamis (2001). “An Historical Overview 1900s-1990s”, in: Maysaloun Faraj (ed.). Strokes of Genius. Contemporary Iraqi Art. London: Saqi, 21-32.

-شاكر حسن آل سعيد (1973). البيا نات الفنية في العراق. بغداد: وزارة الاعلام، 25-29.

- Lorna Selim/Ulrike al-Khamis (2001). “Lorna Selim Remembers”, in: Maysaloun Faraj (ed.). Strokes of Genius. Contemporary Iraqi Art. London: Saqi, 41-46.