Course Search Results

Art and architecture of the Mediterranean world (ca. 3500 B.C.E.) to death of Constantine (337 C.E.); Egyptian, Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman cultures; artistic responses to life and death; impact of breakthroughs in technology and engineering on visual culture; role of art in empire building; interrelationships of art, politics, religion.

This course surveys the art and architecture of the ancient Mediterranean world from ca. 3500 BCE to the death of Constantine in 337 CE. Cultures under consideration include Egyptian, Near Eastern, Minoan, Mycenaen, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Among the topics examined are the varied artistic responses to life and death, the impact of breakthroughs in technology and engineering on visual culture, the role of art in empire building, and the interrelationships of art, politics, and religion. Course requirements include three exams.

This class examines medical ethics in historical perspective.  We will consider largely Western historical sources of medical ethics, from ancient Greece, medieval Islam, the Renaissance and Reformation, and the Enlightenment.  We will contrast these ideas of virtue ethics with contemporary biomedical ethics to seek to understand what role virtue ethics plays in contemporary medical ethics and why it is of increasing interest to scholars.

Continuation of THTR:2410; 1700 to 1960; revolutionary and modern European theatre and culturally diverse postwar U.S. theatre. Offered fall semesters.

It is impossible to understand French national identity--whether it be political, social, religious or artistic--without some knowledge and understanding of its beginnings. This will be only one of the educational benefits that 9:113, an overview of French civilization and culture from prehistoric times up to the Renaissance, can offer the student. French national unity and identity were forged through the actions of strong kings such as Clovis (6th century), Charlemagne (9th century), Philippe Auguste (13th century) and Louis IX (15th century), leaders whose example King Louis XIV (17th century) and Emperor Napoleon I (19th century) would follow in succeeding centuries. Their efforts to first strengthen, and then weaken the economic, social and political structures of feudalism, the institution through which the aristocracy held power, will also be studied.  This struggle between the king, aristocracy and the developing bourgeois class created conditions which would eventually lead to the French Revolution of 1789.  A central component of French national identity was provided by the Catholic Church, which, after the fall of the Roman Empire, was for many centuries the premier religious and cultural institution in France and, at certain historical moments, the most influential economic and political institution as well. From mysterious prehistoric cave drawings toRoman triumphal arches and the complex military structures of the feudal castle, from the highly symbolic Romanesque sculpture in the abbeys built on pilgrimage routes to the intricate stained glass windows found in the soaring cathedrals of late medieval cities, French art and architecture will be shown to both to reflect and influence aspects of this evolving French identity.  The course will provide students the opportunity contextualize many contemporary issues, such as the relationship of France with its close neighbors, England and Germany, with other religious and social traditions such as Islam, and with the very notion of Europe as a transnational political and economic institution. Taught by Professor Wendelin Guentner in French. Coursepak. Requirements include informed class discussion, two exams and oral presentations.

Organized around a series of case studies of exemplary objects, the course explores the wide range of Asian art across different times, regions, cultures, materials, and themes. Special attention will be placed on interactions and influences between different regions through religion, war, travel, and trade. Each class will start with a formal analysis exercise on the key object, followed by a lecture that contextualizes the object, and then online discussion based on required readings

This is the foundational course for the study of Art History, the discipline devoted to the skillful wrapping of words around images. The class surveys the history of western art, from pre-historic cave paintings through the age of Gothic cathedrals, touching along the way on the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the early medieval world. In richly illustrated lectures and weekly discussion sections, students will be invited to consider big questions such as: What do we really mean by “art”? What roles has art played in pre-modern societies? How can study of ancient and medieval art contribute valuable perspectives on modern art and culture? Or, more specifically, why was the Old Capitol in Iowa City designed to look somewhat like a Greek temple? By the end of the course, students will have gained familiarity with the broad outlines of western artistic tradition through the late Middle Ages, and they will also have developed valuable skills in decoding and writing about visual imagery, which can be useful in analyzing everything from political advertisements to website design.

Examination of conflict between state power and individual liberty; philosophical and historical examination of theories from Plato through today.

Should we spend more/less money on social programs or the military?  Should there be more/less censorship of movies, television or the internet?  Is torture morally permissible under certain circumstances?  Should we legalize many of the drugs that are now illegal?  While these and other similar issues will be explicitly discussed in the course, we will also address even more fundamental and general questions, the answers to which might influence our views on these and other matters.  These questions include:  How should an ideal state be governed and how should its leaders be chosen?  When should a government have the authority to use force to prevent a person from acting as he or she chooses?  What reason or obligation do people have (if any) to act in accord with the laws of their government even when they disagree with those laws?  In deciding what to do, should we make the decision based solely on what is in our self-interest or should we take into account the interests of others?  We examine these questions by looking at works of some of the most influential philosophers in history, and, when possible, we try to understand their views within the larger context of the historical and intellectual climate in which they were expressed. Readings include The Republic by Plato, Leviathan by Hobbes, and On Liberty and Utilitarianism by Mill.  We also look at some recent Supreme Court cases that deal with controversies concerning freedom. All assigned readings will be posted on ICON.

This course surveys the historical and cultural development of media in the U.S. and global community from the printing press to the digital age. This course counts toward the General Education requirement for Historical Perspectives.

This course critically explores the full range of ancient Greece’s cultural exploits within the broad scope of historical change, based on a variety of evidence and perspectives. Topics include the rise and fall of political regimes; the diversity of social experiences of women, men, slaves, and foreigners; works of literature and art; advances in science and technology; methods of war and diplomacy; and debates over how to live a good life in a chaotic world.

The Italian nation was created in 1861. Prior to this date the Italian peninsula was a patchwork of states, each with its own history and traditions. Consequently, the construction of a national identity in Italy is a fairly recent process, and some of the problems that beset such a process at its inception still remain unresolved.  In fact, while a variety of landscapes and traditions greatly contribute to Italy’s famed charm, differences such as those between the prosperous, industrialized North and the poor, rural South have been a persistent source of divisiveness and political instability. The aim of this course is twofold: to offer a survey of Italy’s history since Unification, and to familiarize students with diverse aspects of modern Italian culture and society through various visual and textual materials.  Focusing on ethnicity, religion, politics and gender as means with which people define themselves and others, we will examine notions of the Italian nation, the “South,” and the family expressed through cinema, literature, and the media.  Topics for discussion also include the following: the role of cinema and literature in shaping both collective memories and the understanding of contemporary realities; cultural policy and cultural consumption; political identities and Catholic culture; migrations and multiculturalism; and the new myths of sport, fame, fashion, and style. Class is taught in English, with a discussion session in Italian for students enrolled for 4 sh.  Readings are in English (for students of Italian, some readings are in Italian); films are in Italian with English subtitles.  Requirements include an oral presentation on one of the main topics headlined on the syllabus, a final project (to be presented in class) expanding upon or complementing topics covered in the readings and films, two written tests, and class participation.  Grades will be calculated as follows:  participation 20%, first oral presentation 20%, final project 20%, midterm 20%, and final 20%.  The plus or minus grading system will be adopted.

Russian Folklore is an introduction to the culture, history, and art of Russian people.

It is amazing oral art full of the myths about powerful gods, brave warriors, clever and beautiful maidens, vampires, witches, fire birds, black magic, evil eye, and superstitions based on ancient pagan beliefs. During this course, the students will learn different genres of Russian Folklore: fairy tales, myths, legends, songs, cries, sayings, and riddles. Students will regularly get the short questionnaires to check attendance and readiness to pass 4 quizzes and 3 tests with a good grade. No background knowledge required. All readings and discussions are in English.  

This is an introduction to the history and the culture of the Roman people, from the late bronze age (ca. 1000 B.C.E) to the time of Constantine (4th century C.E.). The lectures, discussions, and assignments will be focused on several recurring themes: the ideas of citizenship and political authority; the nature and function of religion; art as the expression of identity; and the changing significance of civilization and barbarism. The goal of the course is to develop an understanding of the Romans; to identify some central characteristics of Roman society; and to examine the evidence on which the Romans' long-lasting cultural influence is based.

Fundamental and universal question—what is the relationship between humanity and nature; how ornamental garden has functioned as a metaphor for paradise across time and among diverse cultures; basic tools to analyze any landscape design; how artful manipulation of nature has served to express various political, religious, and social ideals across the globe; comprehensive and chronological survey of garden design development.

This course poses a fundamental and universal question: what is the relationship between humanity and nature? In order to address this problem, students will examine how the ornamental garden has functioned as a metaphor for paradise across time and among diverse cultures.The course has three central goals. First, it provides students with the basic tools with which to analyze any landscape design. Secondly, it demonstrates how the artful manipulation of nature has served to express various political, religious, and social ideals across the globe. Finally, this course offers a comprehensive and chronological survey of the development of garden design. Topics for analysis include the water gardens of Islam, the Zen gardens of Japan, and the humanist gardens of Renaissance Italy. This course will be included as an elective for the Sustainability certificate in the The Power of Culture and Society breadth area.

This course serves as a broad survey of the political, social, and cultural history of France from antiquity up to the twentieth century.  At one level, it examines and questions what we mean by the term ‘civilization,’ and how this term has evolved in meaning from when it was coined in the 18^th century. After examining various ways in which we have employed the term for various ends, we will look more closely at what it is we mean when we speak of la civilisation française as well as the ideological value suggested by the term, civilisation française, as aspecific subset of Civilization proper.

           To do this, we will look closely at what the French tend to point to as their cultural heritage—the places, people, events, movements, traditions, social structures, etc. that give a recognizable flavor to French culture and provide the French with a certain identity or set of values which they recognize as their own.

            As we engage in this study we will ask and endeavor to answer such questions as: Who are the French and where do they come from? Who was here before them? Where did the French language come from and what is the importance of language to culture? How did monarchy, and then absolute monarchy, come about? What role did geography affect the political space France occupies? What was the global extent of French power and what was this power built upon? How did it decline? Etc.

            The course will involve readings from a number of sources and active discussions of these readings in class. There will be two exams (2 x 20% = 40%) a final exam (25%) and a final paper (20%) as well as a semester score representing daily preparation and participation in discussions (15%).

Text: La civlisation française en évolution I : Institutions et culture avant la Ve République  by Steele, St. Onge et St. Onge, isbn 0838460089.

Additional readings and PowerPoint images will be available on Icon

Survey of the Western world's visual arts from Renaissance (ca. 1400) to present; major movements and principal masters of Western Europe and the United States in their social and historical contexts; focus on stimulation of visual literacy and familiarity with outstanding cultural monuments.

This is the foundational course for the study of art history.  No prior study of art history is necessary. The course is a survey of Western Art from the European Renaissance to the contemporary world. It introduces some of the most famous and exciting works of art produced in the West from the Renaissance to the present day, including works of painting, sculpture, architecture, prints, photography, performance and installation art. We follow artistic developments through the centuries, looking at major artists and works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, 18^th and 19^th-centuries, and from the world of modern and contemporary art.  Art is presented in historical, cultural, and aesthetic contexts.

What do archaeologists know about the past? And how do they know about the past? This course covers the evolution of human cultures from the Ice Ages to the first cities and describes archaeological methods used to understand the past. Discussion sections supplement topics covered in lecture and include graded assignments.

The world is changing fast. People use religion to struggle against these changes, create meaning out of them, or change along with it. This is as true (and disorienting) today as it has ever been. But it was also true at the dawn of the Reformation more than 500 years ago. So, we’ll start there with Martin Luther and his hammer at the door of the Wittenburg Church on October 31, 1517 and follow the ripples, effects, and threads through to today. Focusing on Europe and the United States, we will explore the explosion of Christian and religious diversity, the violence of the Wars of Religion, anti-Semitism, the rise of religious tolerance, the changing perspectives on class, race, and gender, and the challenge of science and modernity in their larger context. Course requirements include three multiple-choice examinations and two short essays based on common readings.

Representative plays as performed in social contexts of ancient Egypt; classical Greece, Rome, India, and Japan; and medieval and early modern Europe. Duplicates THTR:2410.

This course offers a fun and exciting way to learn about world history through the theatre. We study plays not just as texts on the page but as performance events that reveal a great deal about how people in different societies through time saw themselves and their world. Considering Ancient Egyptian influences and moving into Classical Greece, Rome, India, Japan, and Medieval and Renaissance Europe, we read plays–including works by Aeschylus, Shakespeare, and Aphra Behn, one of the earliest known women playwrights–that range from shocking tragedy to bawdy comedy. Course material is covered through lectures accompanied by audio/visual presentations and once-weekly discussion sections. Special attention is given to helping students improve their writing as they fulfill course requirements. Primary assignments include a mid-term and a final exam in short-answer and essay format, attendance at two University Theatre productions, and a five-page analytical paper.

AREA: Literary Theory and Interdisciplinary Studies and PERIOD: Early Literatures through 17^th Century Literature. English majors and English and Creative Writing majors on the publishing track may apply this course to the History of the Book and Publishing Industry requirement.

How did students in premodern China use clothing to smuggle answers into their civil service examinations? How did sixteenth-century indigenous Mesoamericans combat and work with Spanish colonizers with books and documents that incorporated both European and Aztec materials, languages, and cultural elements? How did nineteenth-century Africans refashion the Christian language of pilgrimage to define specific uses of the written word? These questions of power, resilience, and the book define this course’s inquiry into the history of writing, publishing, and reading across the globe.

We’ll explore these questions via dynamic lectures, readings, and discussions; interactive sessions with rare books in University of Special Collections; and hands-on lab sections in which you will experiment with making books using historical methods, including papermaking, letterpress and woodblock printing, and book binding. Requirements include active participation, essays, short presentations, and a research-based final project. 

By the end of the semester, you will understand how people have shaped books and how books have shaped history around the globe. You will gain experience in historical writing and communication and in the interpretation of historical sources.  You will also be prepared to take advantage of the unique resources the University of Iowa has to offer for the advanced study of the history of the book and book arts. No prerequisites. 

This course fulfills the General Education requirement in Historical Perspectives.

How do we understand the past on its own terms and what is its relevance to the present? Introduction to historical thinking through a variety of topics.

Visual analysis, media and techniques, artistic subject matter and aesthetic issues; historical periods and movements from ancient times to present; provides strong orientation to visual aspects of humanities, background for other art history courses, and introduction to visual arts for personal enrichment; for students new to art history.

Art and Visual Culture is an introductory course designed for students who have had no previous art history courses.  Throughout the course students learn to analyze visual objects, become familiar with media and techniques that artists have used over time, explore different approaches to artistic subject matter and aesthetic issues, and develop an acquaintance with the dominant historical periods and movements from ancient times to the present.  Writing about art and its history will also be emphasized.  Focusing especially on art of the western world, this course provides a strong orientation to the visual aspects of the humanities, good background for additional art history courses, and an understanding of the visual arts for personal enrichment.  

This course explores European religion, principally Western Christianity, and its broader cultural setting from the end of antiquity to the eve of the Reformation (ca. 1500).  It examines beliefs and practices among the intellectual and social elite as well as the meaning of religion for the largely illiterate and unlearned majority of the population.  Topics also include the role of women, religious opposition, the place of the liturgy, religious art and architecture, politics and religion, and the syncretic blend of “official” and folk religion.  Three examinations and three short papers.

Introduction to American Art is an undergraduate level survey course designed to provide students with a foundational knowledge of the art produced in the United States through 1945. Throughout the semester, we will consider American art in a variety of contexts, including politics, nationalism, geography, gender, class, and race. By considering art in context, students will develop the tools to analyze American painting, prints, sculpture, and material culture.

This course will be a survey and careful examination of answers to the question: what is the meaning of life? This seems to be an important question; indeed it seems to be the question, but philosophers have taken a number of different positions in attempting to answer it. In the first segment of the course, we will consider the issue of whether or not there is a connection between the value of human pursuits and the existence of God and the afterlife. In the second segment we will address the related issue of whether or not the best life is a life of hedonistic self-interest or a life that is guided by a concern for those around us. In the next segment of the course we will consider the Stoic and Buddhist view that happiness is not a matter of making things go as we please but instead is a matter of adjusting to the way that things happen inevitably and on their own. Then we will discuss what some critics have taken to be obstacles in the way of a meaningful life--for example the internet, technology, modernity, and the I-pod. The semester will conclude with a discussion of the prospect that life is just absurd. Philosophers have offered compelling insights on the different sides of these issues, and we will have a lot of discussion to try to sort it all out. Assignments will include study-question assignments, two exams, and active participation in discussion section.

How does history help to explain our interconnected world? Introduction to international and global thinking through a variety of topics.

This class thematically examines the intellectual, practical, and social dimensions of medicine in the ancient Mediterranean world, from ancient Egypt through ancient Greece and Rome to the early Islamic and Christian middle ages: the nature, theories, and intellectual development of medical thought; its dietetic, pharmacological, and surgical practices; and the institutional, class, and geographic setting of its practitioners and patients. The theories and practices of ancient Greco-Roman physicians, the focus of this class, became the prevailing medical tradition of the Islamic world and European medicine until the mid-19th century. This class also introduces the major historiographical perspectives involved in studying and understanding historical medicine.

Historical narrative of popular music; focus on understanding and analyzing music of past and present in relation to major issues central to popular culture and society; production, dissemination, and reception of popular music; interpretation of ways in which music forms individual and collective identities and how contemporary musical experiences are shaped by historical processes.

Influences of digital media on religion and spirituality today.

Some characterize the digital age by the rise of science and technology and the death of religion.  This course offers a different perspective.  It explores diverse relationships between religion and technology—from enthusiastic fusion to adamant prohibition—focusing on three questions: What makes a medium digital? How do we connect to and disconnect from the world around us? And is there such a thing as "online religion"? Capitalizing on the vibrant world of digital technology in contemporary lived religion, from kosher cell phones to aboriginal satellites, this course inquires critically into the ways that a humanities approach provides unique and important resources for understanding new media and cultural life.

This course concentrates on the lives of ordinary people of the past to promote a greater understanding of the history of everyday life--the history of the great majority of humanity--in a selection of past cultures and time periods, among them medieval and early modern Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa. The particular communities studied vary from section to section, but in each the readings explore the interplay of elements of stability and forces for change leading to shifts in the structures and values of these communities--their patterns of authority, social and economic hierarchies, and their sense of self-identity. Students are urged to contact the Department of History, 280 SH, for descriptions of the topics dealt with in each section offered. These topics also are posted on the web site, http://www.uiowa.edu/~history, when they become available.

How did today's globalized world come to be? Which aspects of globalization are new and which are inherited from the past? Taking a long-term perspective, this course traces the development and acceleration of global interdependence since the 14th century; how far-flung parts of the globe have been linked to one another, how long-distance connections affected the societies involved, and how individuals have experienced and contributed to such global networks; students develop an understanding of globalization's long history leading up to the present and of their place in contemporary global networks.

This course examines how theater has both reflected and created social structures, perceptions, and values in ancient Egypt; classical Greece, Rome, India, and Japan; and medieval and early modern Europe. Representative plays, ranging from shocking tragedy to bawdy comedy and including works by Shakespeare and the earliest known women playwrights, are analyzed as performed events within their respective historical contexts. Course material is covered through lectures, extensive use of audio/visual presentations, and group discussions. Assignments include weekly play and text readings, a research paper, and periodic exams, including a final exam. Grading is based chiefly on the quality of papers, exams, and participation in discussion.

Representative plays as performed in social contexts of revolutionary and modern Europe and postwar United States. Duplicates THTR:2411.

Focusing on the romantic and rebellious impulses of theatre artists and audiences, this course explores how plays in performance have both revolutionized and reinforced social structures, perceptions, and values from the early modern era to the present. Course units cover plays dealing with rebellions of and within the middle and lower classes from the French to the Russian Revolutions; modernist revolts against artistic and social conventions in the decades around the world wars; and diverse challenges to the American dream in the postwar period. Course material is covered through lectures, audio/video presentations, group discussions, and attendance at University Theatre productions. Grading is based chiefly on the quality of essay assignments and exams, and participation in class discussion.

This course is for students with an interest in learning about the Islamic civilization, the religious practices and beliefs, and/or the history or the regions where Muslims are in the majority.  We will examine the traditions and main social and legal institutions of Islam. Arguably, Islam, as a major system of beliefs and practices in the world, affects both Muslims and non-Muslims. Consequently, besides examining the basic tenets, texts, and ideas of the Islamic civilization, this course focuses on the variety of ways in which Muslims and non-Muslims have understood and interpreted Islam. We will review the discussions surrounding the life of the Prophet of Islam, Islamic pre-modern and modern history, the place and role of individuals and society, the legal and economic status of women, and Islamic governments and movements. As a survey course, we will examine these topics through an interdisciplinary approach: we will apply textual, legal/normative, anthropological, geographical, sociological, analytical, linguistic, and historical methodologies.

Surveying the civilization of a vast region that includes present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, this course will impart basic geographic, political, religious, cultural, economic and social information from antiquity to the present, and foster an appreciation of the region's lasting achievements in art, literature, science, social organization, religion and philosophy.

The instructor is Professor Fred Smith.

The focus of the course is the Ancient Russian Culture (IX-XVII centuries): transition from Pagan Kievan Rus to Christianity, and establishment of Moscow as the Third Rome.
During the course students will learn about:
• history of Early Rus and its neighbors: Byzantium, Scandinavian (Vikings) and Mongols (The Golden Horde);
• famous Russian princes and tsars,
• needs in new religion, icons and written language;
• masterpieces of The Old Russian literature, Church music and Iconography.
Students with interest to the Ancient History, Art and Literature, International, Global, Anthropology, History, Women Studies, Political Science and Comparative Literature are encouraged to take this course.

How have the events of European history shaped modern institutions, politics, and culture worldwide – and how have other regions of the world shaped Europe? This course explores this question by tracing European history in a global context from the late Roman Empire to the eighteenth century.

From 400 to 1400, we will follow the rise of Christianity, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the development of the “heirs of Rome:” the Holy Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and the medieval Islamic caliphates.

The years 1400-1800 bring radical scientific and religious change as well as a dramatic new global reach. We’ll look at the Renaissance, the Reformation, the advent of the printing press, contact between Europe and the Americas, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, witchcraft panic, the Scientific Revolution, and the rise of modern forms of warfare, governance, and global trade.

By the end of the semester, you will be able to see links between political, economic, and cultural changes over time. Through reading and discussing primary historical sources and completing short writing assignments, creative, research-based essays, and exams, you will learn to interpret historical evidence and write and speak confidently about it. You will bring an informed historical perspective to many crucial questions facing modern global societies.