Richard Gantt
         288 Cone

Fall 2002

 THE CONTRACT

This syllabus is the operational contract between the professor and the student.  Read it carefully.  The information contained herein is intended as a guide to allow the student to know what the policies of this class are, and to help her/him achieve success within the structure of the course.

 CONSULTATIONS

 I will be glad to schedule individual office appointments to discuss class material from lectures, readings, or examinations with any student.  At the end of a lecture, see me, and we will book your appointment.

 THE COURSE

  Art 200 is the introductory course on the history of western architecture.  The content will provide the student with an overview of the components of style, theory, structure, and material as represented by architecture from antiquity to that of this century.  We are also concerned with the roles of function and meaning in architecture's social context.  Since this is an enormous undertaking, the material for study will be necessarily be selective.

The content of the course is not concerned with "appreciation," nor is it specially designed for "non-majors."  Rather, it is a genuine art history course on the introductory level.  Therefore, any university student should be able to handle the required work and succeed in the class.  The professor and text will present material within a common art historical perspective, context and methodology, and the student will be tested on these same aspects.

Additionally, it is intended that the course serve as an introduction upon which the student may build by taking more advanced courses within the discipline.  A selection of these courses is offered by the Department of Art each semester.

 LECTURES

Lectures will be held twice a week.  During the lectures, material will be presented that is based upon the assigned reading (see: WORK DUE).  The points of the lectures will be demonstrated by the projection of slides of architectural works, drawings, diagrams etc.,—for instance.  Questions about the material under consideration are strongly encouraged.  The lecture meeting will be the best time for the student to ask about any aspect of the readings he or she found difficult or unclear.

 ATTENDANCE

The days that you come to class are entirely your own business.  WHEN you come during lectures and examinations is entirely the professor's business.  Class begins promptly at its appointed time.  Do not come late thereby interrupting your peers and the professor.  When class has started, we are busy; do not bother us.  You will know that our class is underway because the door(s) to the lecture hall will be shut; do not come in.  If you need to see the professor or a peer, wait until the class is over.

 GRADES

The grade for this course will be determined by the average of four examinations.  Your only opportunities for grades are to take the examinations at their appointed times.  Do not request special favors that cannot be granted to all of your peers; "extra work" does not exist.  These examinations are scheduled (see WORK DUE).  You should mark those dates on your personal calendar immediately.  Examinations are given neither earlier nor later than the scheduled slot.

Make-up examinations are not given.  Should you miss—for any reason whatsoever—either EXAM I, II or III, the final grade will be determined by an average of three grades rather than four.  Should you miss two of these examinations, a grade of zero will be recorded for each of the missed exams.  The final examination--EXAM IV--on MAY 08 is required of all students (see Undergraduate Bulletin under "Grading"); if it is missed, a zero will be averaged with the other grades rather than an INC (incomplete) assigned as the course grade.  The lowest grade will not be dropped in order to determine your final grade.

In keeping with the policy of this university which has no standardized grading scale, I have determined that the scale for this course will be:  A 100-95;  B+ 94-92; B 91-88; B- 87-85;  C+ 84-82; C 81-78: C- 77-75;  D+ 74-72; D 71-68; D- 67-65;  F 64--.

 EXAMINATIONS

Blue Books are required.  Only complete (no pages missing) Blue Books with a signed honor pledge will be acceptable.  Ink--blue or black--is the only proper medium for your examination writing.  Your submitted examinations must fulfill all of the above requirements or they will not be accepted for grading.  The examinations for Art 200 will consist of three sections:

1. Identifications--provide the crucial data for major artifacts.  Information such as the name of the architect, his/her nationality, the title of the work, its date, city and country of location, the style/period to which it belongs, will be required.  Information for this section will be taken directly from your text unless otherwise indicated during lectures.

2. Stylistic analysis--an unknown work will be projected for you to provide statements which detail the crucial stylistic properties of the work.

3. Terms--often have a specialized usage in art and architecture.  Mastery of terms is essential since they are often keys to understanding both the general properties of a style and the specific properties of an artifact.  Should you be required to define a term, do so fully; short answers are unlikely to be clear enough to allow you to receive credit.

     Each examination will test only the material (text and lecture) covered since the previous exam.  Note:  Spelling is essential.  As in any discipline, the student is required to know the material.  2 + 2 = 5 is not correct, and neither is Ludwig Mies van der Roeh for Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

 POSTED GRADES

 In order to fully comply with the Federal Rights of Privacy Act, grades are never posted or given out over the telephone.

 TELEPHONE CALLS

Telephone calls should not be necessary.  Information and questions can be dealt with by your professor during class times and conferences.  Remember: you already have a scheduled appointment with your professor every Tuesday and Thursday—31 times this semester—and he can always be found then.   Also, the departmental and museum staffs are  occupied with their duties; please do not hinder them in their work by calling on the telephone.  Never call the Weatherspoon Gallery if you are trying to locate a faculty member.

 TEXT:

  required:  Trachtenberg and Hyman. Architecture from Prehistory to Post-Modernism.

 WORK DUE:

Each reading is due for the class that falls on the date cited.  Also, examinations are scheduled in this calendar.

* These videos are not required viewing, but are intended both for your explication and enjoyment.  They will be held in reserve--building use only--for you at The Learning Center in McNutt Building for three weeks from the date noted on this syllabus.  I have listed them here in the viewing-order most beneficial to your studies.  CHECK-OUT PROCEDURE:  At reference desk you will need--my name (Gantt), video # (listed above), your valid I.D. (somewhere on your person).

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