Course Description

This course asks you to consider art and visual culture from a variety of theoretical perspectives. It also asks you to communicate your ideas about art in several ways: written papers, recorded presentations, and creative projects, and to view visual culture through historical and political lenses. The course encourages students to explore answers to the following questions:

  • How does science and psychology affect the way people view art?
  • How has history shaped the way Americans view art? In what ways is national identity affected by art?
  • How does my own history and positionality affect the way I view art?
  • What is ‘good taste,’ and how do I know if I have it?
  • How do race, class, and gender affect ‘taste’?

The course is designed primarily for Liberal Studies Online students, or for students interested in learning about different ways to think of the intersections between art, visual culture, and history.

Learning Outcomes for the Course:

  1. Students will gain a broad understanding of the visual arts and ways of seeing art.
  2. Students will recognize and understand major artists and theories and be able to assess the qualities of works of art in their historical and cultural settings.
  3. Students will be able to locate, interpret and analyze primary and secondary sources relevant to research questions.
  4. Students will use innovative approaches to generate new approaches to the history of representation understood within broader socio-cultural perspectives.
  5. Students will be able to express their ideas about visual arts both verbally and in writing.

Meeting Place and Times

Online

Instructor(s)

Dr. Jesine Munson, MA in Art History & Ph.D. in American Studies

Tuition and Fees

If you are accepted into a qualified online program, see the appropriate MSU Online Only Tuition and Fee table.

If you are also taking a face-to-face course, please refer to the MSU Fee Schedules.

Required Books/Materials

  • Shimamura, Arthur P. Experiencing Art in the Brain of the Beholder. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2013
  • Nigel Warburon The Art Question, London and New York: Routledge, 2003
  • All other texts and films available on D2L

Textbooks are available from most online retailers or the MSU bookstore.

Computer Requirements:

  • Internet access
  • A device and browser that pass the system check for Brightspace LE, MSU's learning management system.

For More Information

For course information, please contact Jennifer Storment.

How to Register

You must be accepted as a student to Montana State University to take this course.

Learn how to apply.

After your application has been accepted, you will register via MSU's online registration system, MyInfo.

Registration requires a PIN number. Learn how to find your PIN.

Once you have your PIN, learn how to register through MyInfo.