California University of Pennsylvania
New Course Proposal
University Course Syllabus
Approved: 4/16/13
Department of Art and Design
A. Protocol
Course Name: Modern Art
Course Number: ART 324
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: none
Maximum Class Size (face to face): 40 students
Maximum Class Size (online): N/A
B. Objectives of the Course:
In the context of modern art:
1. Students will synthesize information and concepts gained from course readings.
2. Students will evaluate written material and reach conclusions.
3. Students will conduct careful, thoughtful observations of objects related to art and
society.
4. Students will describe observations using appropriate visual art terminology.
5. Students will apply course theories to problem solving exercises.
6. Students will interpret, analyze, and evaluate visual images.
7. Students will compare, contrast, and classify stylistic characteristics in the arts.
8. Students will analyze visual art in relationship to contemporaneous social, political,
religious and cultural issues.
9. Students will demonstrate essential basic art historical methods of inquiry emphasizing
clear observation, critical thinking, informed judgments, abstract reasoning, and
problem-solving skills.
10. Students will present art historical content using clear written and oral exposition.
11. The students will explore requirements under the guidelines for “Knowing the Content”
established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for Art Education
Certification.
C. Catalog Description:
This course traces the development of modern painting, sculpture, photography, design and
architecture from Neoclassicism to Abstract Expressionism with an emphasis on
understanding the works within their specific social-historical contexts. Artists including
Jacques-Louis David, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Jackson
Pollock will be discussed. While the course focuses primarily on modernity in the western
world, the question of multiple modernities in a global context will also be addressed.

D. Outline of the Course:
1. Neoclassicism, Romanticism
2. Realism, Impressionism, Early Photography
3. Post-Impressionism
4. Art Nouveau and the beginnings of Expressionism
5. Fauvism, Early Modern Design and Architecture
6. Cubism, Futurism, Abstraction in Russia, de Stijl
7. German Expressionism
8. Dada, New Objectivity
9. Surrealism
10. School of Eight, Stieglitz Circle, American Scene Painting
11. International Abstraction between the wars
12. Modern Design and Architecture between the wars
13. Abstract Expressionism
14. The Question of Multiple Modernities
E. Teaching Methodology:
1. Traditional Classroom Methodology
The class will be taught in a lecture-discussion format. Participation in class discussions is
required so that students may enhance both critical thinking and communication skills. The
instructor will present material for discussion from a variety of media sources, and when
possible, the class will make visits to museums to see works of art produced during the
periods considered in the course. The textbook is intended as a source of background
information, and the instructor extends its scope, often with primary source material. The
instructor draws connections among the historical events of the period, the aesthetic ideas
current in the period, the technologies of the time period, specific cultural milieux, and the
development of individual artists. The course is designed to present the study of art history
as an examination of the contributions of artists within the context of broader historical,
religious, and cultural developments
2. Online Methodology – this course will not be offered online.
F. Text
A textbook such as the following will be required:
Arnason, H. H. and Elizabeth Mansfield. History of Modern Art vol. 1. 7 ed. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2013.
Additional readings drawn from primary sources will include texts like those in:
Harrison, Charles, and Paul J. Wood, ed. Art in Theory, 1900-2000: An Anthology of
Changing Ideas. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2003

Harrison, Charles, Paul J. Wood and Jason Gaiger, ed. Art in Theory, 1815-1900: An
Anthology of Changing Ideas. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001.
G. Assessment Activities:
1. Traditional Classroom Assessment - Exams, Quizzes, Short Writing Assignments, as well
as in-class and online individual and group activities
2. Online Assessment – This class will not be offered online.
H. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities:
Reserve the right to decide when to self-identify and when to request accommodations.
Will register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) each semester to receive
accommodations.
Might be required to communicate with faculty for accommodations which specifically involve
the faculty.
Will present the OSD Accommodation Approval Notice to faculty when requesting
accommodations that involve the faculty.
Requests for approval for reasonable accommodations should be directed to the Office for
Students with Disabilities (OSD). Approved accommodations will be recorded on the OSD
Accommodation Approval notice and provided to the student. Students are expected to adhere to
OSD procedures for self-identifying, providing documentation and requesting accommodations
in a timely manner.
Contact Information:
Location:
Azorsky Hall – Room 105
Phone:
(724) 938-5781
Fax:
(724) 938-4599
Email:
osdmail@calu.edu
Web Site:
http://www.calu.edu/current-students/studentservices/disability/index.htm
I. Supportive Instructional Materials, e.g. library materials, web sites, etc.
1. The library owns a number of books and provides access to journals and databases that
will support the teaching of this class, including, but not limited to:
Antliff, Mark. Avant-Garde Fascism: The Mobilization of Myth, Art, and Culture in
France, 1909-1939. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2007.

Boime, Albert. Revelation of Modernism: Responses to Cultural Crises in Fin-de-Siècle
Painting. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 2008.
Brennan, Marcia. Modernism’s Masculine Subjects: Matisse, the New York School, and
Post-Painterly Abstraction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004.
Foster, Hal et. Al. Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. New
York: Thames & Hudson, 2011.
Wilson, Kristina. The Modern Eye: Stieglitz, MoMA, and the Art of the Exhibition, 192534. New Haven: Yale UP, 2009.
ARTstor
Art Abstracts
BHA and RILA
JStor
Project MUSE
2. Various websites will also support the teaching of this course. These include, but are not
limited to:
http://www.moma.org/
http://www.googleartproject.com/
http://www.metmuseum.org/
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arthistory/courses/Multiple-Modernities/moxey-essay.html
Additional Information for Course Proposals
J.

Proposed Instructors: Qualified art history instructors/professors

K. Rationale for the Course: This upper level art history course will serve as an upper
division elective for the new BA in Art focus in art history.
L. Specialized Equipment or Supplies Needed: None beyond digital projectors provided in
Smart classrooms.
M. Answer the following questions using complete sentences:
1. Does the course require additional human resources? (Please explain)
No additional human resources are required.
2. Does the course require additional physical resources? (Please explain) No
additional physical resources are required.
3. Does the course change the requirements in any particular major? (Please explain)
No, the course does not change the requirements in any particular major, although it is an
elective major course for the BA in Art focus in art history.

4.

Does the course replace an existing course? (If so, list the course) No, the course is a
new course.
5. How often will the course be taught? The course will be taught at least once every
three years.
6. Does the course duplicate an existing course in another Department or College? (If
the possibility exists, indicate course discipline, number, and name) No, the course
does not duplicate an existing course in another Department.
N. If the proposed course includes substantial material that is traditionally taught in another
discipline, you must request a statement of support from the department chair that houses
that discipline.
The course does not include substantial material that is traditionally taught in another
discipline.
O. Please identify if you are proposing to have this course considered as a menu course for
General Education. If yes, justify and demonstrate the reasons based on the categories
for General Education. The General Education Committee must consider and approve the
course proposal before consideration by the UCC.
Yes, we would like to have the course considered as a Fine Arts menu course for
General Education.
“Students will have an ‘appreciation of and experience with ... the arts’ (PASSHE
BOG Policy 1993-01). Fine arts courses are those that present organized values,
beliefs, or emotions using the senses and physical expression as the creative vehicle,
and include courses in art, dance, music, and theatre.”
Provide Approval Form (electronically).
Additional Guidelines
The following are additional guidelines that you must follow which will expedite your
course proposal. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in the return of the proposal to the
department.
1.

Be sure that your proposal is in the correct format (Guidelines for New Course
Proposals) and that all questions have been completely answered.

2.

Be sure that you have completed and attached the Application to Establish a New
Course form and/or the Advisement Sheet Revision form and that the appropriate
signatures have been affixed. Please send through the process electronically (the
preferred method) or by paper. No items will be placed on the agenda until the
Chair of the UCC is in possession of these forms.

3.

Be sure that you include an updated advisement sheet for any course that is being
required by the department or is classified as a restricted elective. In addition, you
must include an electronic copy (MS Word or PDF) of the current advisement

sheet(s) with your proposal. Be certain that all advisement sheets affected by the
proposed course change be included with your proposal.
4.

When submitting materials for consideration by the Curriculum Committee, you
must provide an electronic copy of each item to be reviewed to the Chairperson.

5.

All completed items must be in the hands of the Chairperson of the Curriculum
Committee a minimum of one week prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting.

6.

Any department requesting a course name change, number change, prefix changes,
credit changes, etc. must submit this request on the Application to Establish a New
Course Form and submit electronically.

7.

New advisement sheets, major proposals, minors, or changes to advisement sheets
will become effective the fall semester following committee approval. The
advisement sheets must also include the committee approval date and the
effective date on the advisement page. Submit this request on the Advisement and
/or Program Changes form.

8.

New courses will become effective the semester following committee approval.

9. Any references listed must be in the appropriate bibliographic format for the
discipline.
10.

Online courses must follow the Quality MattersÔ rubric and is posted on the
UCC website. Be sure that you include the online teaching methodology statement
(refer E.2 above) that refers to the Quality MattersÔ rubric.

11. All course objectives must follow Bloom’s Taxonomy learning domains located on
the UCC website.