COURSE OUTLINE (ART HISTORY) The History of Italian Art. This course investigates the artistic achievements that occured in the region called today Italy. Beginning with prehistoric evidence through contemporary accomplishments, lectures and on-site visits acquaint the student with Italian art.

The course objectives 1) acquire an appreciation for the role of Italian art in our western culture. 2) Develop an understanding of factors that influence artistic creativity. The setting, circumstances and personalities associated with art created in Italy will become apparent. 3) Understand the relationship between creativity and environment as it occurred historically as well as in the present through the analysis and interpretation of artworks done in Italy. 4) Provide the most uninterrupted and focused attention to the subjects under study. 5) Develop a journal reflecting ideas and images made apparent during your stay.

Requirements for Art 4321: 1) Mandatory attendance at on-site meetings and lectures. 2) Formation of a journal concerning ideas and insights into Italian art, artists, society, and artistic prototypes. 3) Presentation of the journal on or before July 1, 2004 DAILY SCHEDULE There will be a two-day period for orientation before the course begins. Each class day will be divided into two sessions, three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. The morning session will be used primarily for on site lectures during field trips and excursions both within and outside of Florence. The class will break for lunch. The afternoon session will consist of concentrated research time generally taken at the visited sites of that morning.. The daily schedule is flexible, especially during excursions out of Florence, during bad weather or other unforeseen events. Students taking this course for college credit must follow this schedule or the one revised by the instructor. The course instructor will have the final say on course expectations and grading. Class attendance is mandatory. Non- credit participants, however, are free to attend or not attend according to personal needs or research. For those wishing to do more extensive studies: Because nearly 30% of the world's great art exists in Florence there are many opportunities to daily observe significant artworks. Because many of these are in public sites, we are provided the opportunity to engage them, to question their reason for being, their impact upon us and how all this finds form and significance to us at the cusp of the 21st century. This urban space we study has been studied and written about for centuries. We are becoming more aware of the effect of our culture on our ability to see and understand. This approach has no significant models but depends on the student's ability to question, to commit to writing all impressions, and finally to merge our understanding of the past with our complex perceptions of the present. It will be the students responsibility to study over time, the signification and purpose, the effect and the result, the interplay and meaning that a work had and has. It is expected that concepts will change, that in gathering recorded as well as empirical information, resultant determinations will enrich the final results. Should the student began by looking at illustrations it will be necessary to record those reactions as well. Historical information can be much easier uncovered in U.S. libraries than it can in Florence. This too must be duly recorded. Another outcome of this study is the sharing in an oral manner of gathered results. This will be required at a point during some morning meeting or field trip. Throughout the study the journal will be the recording site so ideas may be shared when necessary.