This syllabus provides an overview of an AP Art History course, including required and recommended texts, course expectations, content and units of study. The key points are: 1. The course examines major forms of artistic expression from prehistory to present across world cultures and contexts. 2. Students will learn to analyze and critically examine works of art based on visual and historical properties. 3. The course aims to prepare students for the AP Art History exam through various assessments including slide identification, essays and multiple choice questions.

1. AP Art History Course Syllabus
** PARENTS – please acknowledge your reading of this syllabus by signing
the attached form at the end of this packet (by Fri. Sept. 3rd!)
Required Text-Provided to student.:
Stokstad, Art History, Prentice Hall, 2007, Revised Third Edition
Do not ever bring your textbook to class. It is too heavy and one will be provided for
you in class. Do bring your homework notes/binders with you to lectures.
Recommended Texts and Materials—Not provided but HIGHLY
recommended. Available on Amazon.com or Half.com
Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing About Art, Prentice Hall, 2008, Ninth Edition
Strickland, The Annotated Mona Lisa, 1992, Andrews and McNeel
Strickland, The Annotated Arch, 2001, Andrews and McNeel
REA, AP Art History, 2009, Research and Education Association, Inc.
ITEMS HIGHLY SUGGESTED: 3” BINDER AND 4X6 NOTECARDS (COLOR
CODED OPTIONAL)
Some notecards and binder paper provided.
Websites and Resources
http://www.teachers.sduhsd.net/avanlier
http://prenhall.com/stokstad
http://www.apcentral.collegeboard.com/arthistory
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm?HomePageLink=toah_l
http://www.getty.edu/
http://www.nga.gov
http://arthistory.about.com/mbody.htm
http://prenhall.com/janson
http://arthistory.net/
http://art.wadsworth.com (navigate to student resources section)
How Art Made the World (V. 1 &2)
Art of the Western World Video Series
Art 21 (PBS Series)
Course Description
The AP Art History course presents high school students with the same range of curriculum
and rigors that college students experience in their college or university art history survey
courses. In this course, students examine the major forms of artistic expression, painting,
sculpture and architecture, from the pre-historical to the present within a world-wide diverse
historical and cultural context. Students learn to see and look at works of art critically, with
intelligence and sensitivity, and to articulate what they see or experience to others.
The works in the course will be explored and understood within the context and culture that
produced them (iconology). This includes such issues as patronage, gender, socio-political
situations, and the functions and effects of art in history, culture and society.

2. Course breakdown:
1.) Art and History - AP Art History is a visual and historical study of art. This means
that we study and write about the visual or formal qualities of art (what it looks like and
how it was created) as well as the historical context (how the artwork fits in its own
place and time). Another way to look at it is as an internal (all the things in the piece)
and external (where it comes from) study of art.
2.) Reading and Writing - The course requires a lot of reading and writing about the
visual and contextual properties of art. We read from the textbook and other primary
resources and write about the visual and contextual properties of art. Grammar and
style issues are addressed as they become evident in student writing.
3.) The Exam – This course is designed to help you learn what you need to know to
pass the AP Art History Exam. You will take the AP Art History Exam on Wednesday
May 3rd. When you pass the exam, you receive credit at most colleges and universities.
4.) Critical Analysis - We will study many different types of artwork and learn how to
identify unknown or unfamiliar artwork based on a broader understanding of a history
of art (related styles, time periods, artists, media, etc.). You will be tested on your ability
to critically analyze and identify known and unknown artwork.
5.) Course Intensity - This course is condensed, requires self-discipline, and is equivalent
to a college survey art history course that would span two semesters. The exam is in
the afternoon on Wednesday May 3rd. Time absent from class will heavily impact your
performance in the class.
6.) Museum Visits (budget permitting)- While you will be strongly encouraged to take
the AP Exam, this course is meant to indulge those students who love art. This said, it is
important to go and visit actual artwork. We will have two all-day field trips to LACMA
and the SDMA in Balboa Park. Obviously, you are strongly encouraged to seek out art
museums and galleries on your own time and will have one museum visit sheet to
complete PER QUARTER.
7.) Homework – Average homework load is 45 minutes-1 hour per night (depending).
While this is not a lot of time outside of class, you will be expected to work very hard
during class time. Some homework assignments are heavier than others. It is HIGHLY
suggested to read the material BEFORE coming to class so that lectures are
easier to remember.
8.) Tests – You will have many opportunities to demonstrate what you have learned on
a daily basis. Daily quizzes are to reinforce the material to help you. In addition, there
will be unit tests and from time to time, the unexpected test. Most tests include slide
identification of known and unknown works of art, short answer and long answer essays
that relate visual and contextual properties of one or more works of art, and multiple
choice questions regarding artistic/historical/religious/cultural terms and key concepts.
9.) Q-cards– At the start of the semester, I will suggest you to purchase 3x5 notecards
and bring them to class every day (we have some). These Q-cards will have pertinent

3. information on each card, plus a print out of each highlighted piece of art and will be an
indispensible study aid. By the end of the course, you will have about 800 notecards.
Class Expectations
This is an AP class and I expect “college behavior”.
THE “SLIDE LECTURE”-It’s dark—you cannot have your head down-no exceptions.
Take notes, pay attention, ask questions. If you are caught sleeping, I will call home.
CELL PHONES – On your 1st offense, you get a warning. On your 2nd offense, I will
take your phone and you can pick it up at the end of the day. On your 3rd offense, I will
again take your phone and give it to an AP in the office. You can pick it up there at the
end of the day. On your 4th offense, I will take your phone and a PARENT must pick up
your phone from the office.
TARDIES – 1st-verbal warning. 2nd-call home. After your 3rd offense, you have an
automatic 4 hour Saturday school.
FIGURE STUDIES-In our visual art courses--specifically in AP Art History, the student
will be working with visual materials such as famous art works, films of famous artists,
charts and diagrams, slides, DVDs, the World Wide Web, and computer programs. This
material may contain complete anatomical references, nude model poses and views of
artists working from the nude in their studios, as well as scenes from modern films. The
material may also mention and discuss the alternative lifestyles sometimes lived by
famous artists, and may be expressed in language that might be considered offensive to
some people. Current issues, as they relate to art and freedom of expression, are also
discussed. If you have questions, please email me.
EATING IN CLASS IS NOT AN OPTION. PERIOD.
Course Content
Content Approximate
Percentages
I. Ancient Through Medieval 30%
a. Greece and Rome 10-15%
b. Early Christian, Byzantine, Early Medieval 5-10%
c. Romanesque 3-7%
d. Gothic7-10%
II. Beyond European Artistic Traditions 20%
Africa (including Egypt); the Americas; Asia; Near East,
Oceania, and global Islamic tradition
III. Renaissance to Present 50%
a. Fourteenth through Sixteenth Centuries 12-17%
b. Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 10-15%

4. c. Nineteenth Century 10-15%
d. Twentieth Century 10-15%
Units of Study
Art History Starter Kit
Themes:
• Elements of Art and Architecture, Principles of Design
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will learn how to use art terminology to describe the visual properties
of a work of art.
Prehistoric, Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Near East, Aegean Art
Themes:
• Figurative Art and its reflection on the culture that created it
• Post and Lintel Architecture
• The affect of written history on our interpretation of the work of art
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will learn to analyze art and architecture.
• Students will make connections between the visual properties of the work of art
and the historical/cultural/religious context in which it was created.
Greek, Roman, and Etruscan Art
Themes:
• Western canons of art originating in Greece
• Development of the architectural orders and the arch, engineering and urban
design
• Depictions of women, men, gods and goddesses in art and architecture
• Art and philosophy
• Art and power in sculpture and monumental architecture
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will identify the similarities and differences Greek, Roman, and Etruscan
art
• Students will analyze innovation and copying in Roman art and architecture
• Students will begin to learn how to identify unknown works of art
Early Christian, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Art
Themes:
• Intermingling of Pagan, Jewish, and Christian imagery
• Hieratic style, allegory, narrative
• Development of the Christian basilica from the Roman basilica
• Art and religious authority, iconoclasm
Student Learning Outcomes:

5. • Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will identify the relationship between Western European and Eastern
European art after the time of Constantine
• Students will identify distinguishing features of art and architecture from the
middle ages and understand how art and architecture were used to promote
Christian belief
•
Islamic Art
Themes:
• Non-figurative art
• The influence of Islamic law and the Koran on Islamic art and architecture
• The influence of math and science on the development of architecture and
architectural ornamentation
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will understand how figurative and non-figurative art is used in Islamic
art and architecture
• Students will apply knowledge about the fundamentals of Islam to analyze the
function of art and architecture in Islamic society
Indian, Chinese, Japanese Art
Themes:
• Natural materials, asymmetry, brushwork, non-Western spatial organization,
Hellenistic influence
• Buddhist, Hindu, Shinto beliefs
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will understand meaning in temples and images having to do with
Buddhist, Hindu, and Shinto values.
African Art, Oceanic Art, and Art of the Americas
Themes:
Portraiture, architecture, city planning, earth, textiles
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will acknowledge the impact of European occupation

6. • Students will identify the function of art in the family/religious beliefs/individual
life
Early Medieval, Romanesque, and Gothic Art
Themes:
• Key structural units of the vault, the rib, and the buttress
• The form and function (design and structure) of architecture
• The emergence of a unified style of architecture throughout Europe
• The affects of the Black Death in Europe
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will analyze the synthesis of interior and exterior space as well as
structural innovations in architecture
• Students will analyze how middle age art and architecture reflects historical and
religious context
Renaissance Art – 14th and 15th Centuries
Themes:
• Rediscovery of classical art, science and art, illusionistic painting, private
patronage, portraiture
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will become familiar with developments in France, Flanders, Spain,
Portugal, Germany, and Italy
• Students will apply the term “Humanism” to art
• Students will contrast developments in art and architecture in Northern Europe
and Italy
Renaissance Art – 16th Century
Themes:
• Social status of the artist, “self-consciousness” of place in history, architecture
and decoration
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will know what the great figures of the High Renaissance shared and
how they were different from one another
• Students will appreciate Mannerism
• Students will understand that figures in the Renaissance were conscious of their
achievements and place in history
• Students will understand how art played an active role in the changes in the
history, culture, and religion at the time

7. Baroque, Rococo, and Early American Art
Themes:
• Decorative style, aristocracy, Protestantism and Catholicism expressed in art
and architecture, naturalism, the Enlightenment, Neoclassicism, Romanticism
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will identify the factors that influenced the shift from the rationalism of
the Renaissance to the decorative style of the Rococo.
19th Century
Themes:
• Photography, technology and industrialization, arts and crafts, Impressionism, art
nouveau, American civil war, Neoclassicism, Romanticism
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will identify the influence of photography on traditional art
• Students will identify artists that broke with convention
20 Century
th
Themes:
WWI and WWII, re-interpretation of art, mass-production, Dadaism, Surrealism,
function over form in architecture, regionalism, formalism, expressionism, Post-
Impressionism, Cubism, German Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism, alternatives to
Abstract Expressionism, Modernism
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will categorize art into two major themes: formalism and expressionism
• Students will investigate how Cubism laid the foundation for 20th century
modernism
• Students will analyze the impact of WWI and WWII on art
• Students will appreciate the extent to which art is in dialogue with other art
The Postmodern Age
Themes:
Post-Modernism, Neo Expressionism, Photorealism, Conceptual Art, Appropriation,
Earth Art, Installation Art, Performance Art, Street Art, Postmodern Architecture
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will investigate the concept of Post Modernism and the aesthetic of the
banal (high brow vs. low brow)

8. • Students will discuss the relationship between the artist and the critic (including
philosophers, Foucault and Derrida)
• Students will discuss and understand the shift in art towards Contemporary
works for a global audience
Women and Racial Identity in Art
Themes:
• Women and artists of color in history
• Depictions of women in art
• The feminist movement and the civil rights movement
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will identify similarities and differences compared with previous units of
study
• Students will identify unknown works of art and place them in
historical/religious/cultural context
• Students will analyze the presence or absence of women artists and artists of
color in written history
• Students will analyze the way that women are represented in art
• Students will learn what artists and art historians today are doing to write
women and artists of color back into the history of art
Art Beyond the Western Tradition Review
Themes:
• Non-European and European art relationships
Student Learning Outcomes:
• Students will practice for the AP essay question by comparing and contrasting
non-European art with European art
• Students will analyze what art from various regions of the worlds reveals about
the religious/cultural/historical context in which it was created.
Museum Field Trips (budget permitting)
AP Exam Review

9. Please return THIS SHEET ONLY.
Signature Page – Due Friday Sep. 3rd, 2010
Parent/Guardian: I have read and understood the AP Art History
Course Syllabus.
Parent/Guardian Name
(printed):____________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian
Signature:____________________________________________________
Date
Student: I have read and understood the AP Art History Course
Syllabus.
Student Name
(printed):_____________________________________________________
Student
Signature:_____________________________________________________
Date
I have access to the internet @ home: ______
I have a working printer @ home:_______