F26 - Art History / Visual Culture (Capstone Seminar) (ARTH*4000)

Code and section: ARTH*4000*01

Term: Fall 2026

Details

COURSE:                             ARTH*4000 CAPSTONE/AVC*6300 Topics ARTH/Visual Culture (1 Credits) F26

TIME:                                    Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30pm–3:50pm

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

This seminar course is a capstone course, designed to explore one or more issues or topics in Art History and Visual Culture depending on the expertise of the instructor. Students should consult the department for specific offerings. Using an experiential learning model, this course will develop the essential skills necessary for success in researching and writing critical, extensive and thoughtful research papers, producing professional standard catalogue essays and entries, learning grant writing techniques, formulating and assessing exhibition concepts, and the implementation and project management of exhibitions. Requisites: 10.00 credits, including 1.00 credits in Art History at the 3000 level, must be completed prior to taking this course.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This cross-listed (undergraduate/graduate) seminar will explore the development of aesthetics, connoisseurship, and criticism in the early modern and modern periods spanning art history’s emergence as a discipline to the 1970s, when critical theory took on a more prominent role in the development of analytical modes and methods. The key competencies to achieve success in this course are preparation and thoughtful/productive participation. 

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES:

This seminar will take a selected historiography of the discipline as its object of analysis. Students will develop skills in conducting textual analysis, gain insight on impactful contributions to the state of the debate, and situate their own work within a relevant historiographic context. Students will also develop capacities in written/verbal presentations and grow their teaching/learning practice by facilitating productive discussion. Students will also refine techniques supporting effective argumentation and gain experience revising work following peer and professor feedback.

REQUIRED TEXT:

Students will not be required to purchase a textbook. As all readings are out of copyright, they will be provided to students via Courselink.

METHOD OF EVALUATION: (Graduate students taking this course will meet higher expectations for quality and quantity of submitted work. For specifics on all assignments, please see related handouts in our Assignments folder on Courselink.)  

Policy on Artificial Intelligence and other forms of Academic Misconduct*:

Students’ work must reflect their unique intellectual capacity and demonstrate the application of critical thinking and problem solving. Unauthorized use of AI (ChatGPT or equivalent) to complete assessments (including summarizers) violates the fundamental intellectual purposes of the University and does not demonstrate student achievement of course learning outcomes. Submission of materials completed by AI without permission of the instructor constitutes an offence under the University's academic misconduct policies, either as a form of plagiarism or the use of unauthorized aids. Please familiarize yourself with all other regulations regarding Academic Misconduct: https://calendar.uoguelph.ca/undergraduate-calendar/undergraduate-degree-regulations-procedures/academic-misconduct/