Current Undergraduate Courses

PLEASE NOTE:

• Times and locations of courses are published in the Public Class Schedule.
• Official Calendar Course Descriptions are available in the Undergraduate and Graduate Calendars.
• Official Course Outlines will be distributed at the first class of the term.

Fall 2025-Winter 2026

First Year

ARTH 1100A Art and Society: Prehistory to the Renaissance  – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Morgan Currie
• DESCRIPTION: This course is a broad survey of different artistic traditions from prehistory to the Renaissance that explores how works of art were produced, and the roles that they played in their societies. Principle theories of art from the ancient and medieval worlds will also be introduced. Participants will gain the ability to recognize images from a wide range of times and places, and their relationships with the societies and cultures where they originated. Course activities develop basic visual analysis skills that are valuable in today’s image-saturated world.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: Three-part analysis and virtual exhibit assignment 45% total; In-class Midterm test 15%; Final Exam 25%; Tutorial 15%
• READINGS: Students are not required to purchase textbooks or other materials; lecture are supported by a background video and on-line readings

ARTH 1101A Art and Society: Renaissance to Present – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Morgan Currie
• DESCRIPTION: This course is a broad survey of the theoretical and practical developments in Western art and its changing relationship to society from the Renaissance to the present. Major ideas, artists, and works will be introduced and analyzed. Participants will gain the ability to recognize images from a wide range of times and places, and their relationships with the societies and cultures where they originated. Course activities develop basic visual analysis skills that are valuable in today’s image-saturated world.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: Three-part analysis and virtual exhibit assignment 45% total; In-class Midterm test 15%; Final Exam 25%; Tutorial 15% 
• READINGS: Students are not required to purchase textbooks or other materials; lecture are supported by a background video and on-line readings

ARTH 1200A History & Theory of Architecture 1: Prehistory to 1500 – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Peter Coffman
• DESCRIPTION: This course is an introduction to the major monuments and themes of Western architecture from prehistory to the Renaissance. It will also include reference to some monuments of the Middle East and western Asia. Formal and technological developments will be explored through a variety of building types including religious, military, commercial and domestic. In all cases, the goal will be to situate the monuments on a broad cultural and historical landscape, connecting them to the ideas, events and circumstances that originally gave them meaning. It will be taught in a blended format, with asynchronous, online lecture combined with weekly in-person meetings.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: Details TBA; will include weekly in-person and online activities, quizzes, participation, a short essay, and a final exam.
• READINGS: TBA

ARTH 1201 B History and Theory of Architecture, 1500 to the present – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Alessandra Mariani
• DESCRIPTION: This course examines the development of the built environment from the Renaissance to the present within a global perspective. While it emphasizes culturally significant Western architecture, it also incorporates key examples from non-Western traditions to highlight parallel and intersecting histories. Architectural works and projects are studied in relation to their cultural, social, political, and economic contexts, and analyzed through the concepts that shaped their form, materiality, and function across diverse geographies.
• Students will develop an understanding of the language of architecture and its evolution, across a variety of programs and typologies, as well as the technologies and cultural exchanges that made them possible. The course will explore themes such as: the architecture of faith and power; image and representation; architecture of reason and autonomy; the role of architecture; the geometrization of space; mechanization and rationalism; the architecture of colonialism and post-colonialism; resistance movements; form and function; globalization and formal experimentation; critical spatial practices.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBD
• READINGS: TBD

Second Year

ARTH 2004A Indigenous Arts: Turtle Island – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Carmen Robertson
• DESCRIPTION: Indigenous Arts: Turtle Island explores how multigenerational forms of visual storytelling impact Indigenous art expressions in a variety of territories. This survey course focuses on understanding relational ways of knowing particular to a community and its artists, interconnected with other narratives. Privileging processes and innovations outside temporal constraints, Dr. Carmen Robertson introduces Indigenous ways of seeing art as an active form of storying.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: Participation (10%); 2 Midterms (2 x 30%); Review of an Indigenous event (10%); Final written response 20%)
• READINGS: TBA
• CROSS-LISTED WITH: CDNS 2000A

ARTH 2108A Art Worlds on Display: Global Art Biennials (1895-present) – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Amy Bruce
• DESCRIPTION: What is an art biennial? Have biennials changed the way contemporary art is being made? How do global art worlds intersect with local artistic production? What is the work of the curator, artist, and art historian when producing, participating, and understanding the art biennial and the issues that they generate? This course, as a critical survey of the art biennial, will address these questions by examining past global biennial editions in conjunction with biennial art historical scholarship and the predominant framings of biennial history
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: TBA

ARTH 2202B – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Peter Coffman
• DESCRIPTION: This course is a survey of major monuments of medieval architecture and art from about the fourth to the fifteenth centuries, with a decided emphasis on architecture. While the great cathedrals and abbeys unavoidably (and rightly) play a central role in the course, we’ll also look at parish churches and secular buildings ranging from castles to middle-class houses. While exploring the architecture, we will look at closely related arts such as stone sculpture, mosaic and stained glass, as well as media such as metalwork and illuminated manuscripts.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: Students will be evaluated based on a variety of assignments, including weekly online activities, quizzes, participation, and a final essay or design assignment (students choose which).
• READINGS: TBA

ARTH 2300A Renaissance Art – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Morgan Currie
• DESCRIPTION: This course will examine artistic developments in Western Europe between roughly 1400 and 1600 as a unified phenomenon rather than the usual division into Italian and Northern European components. This broad perspective will open the artistic impact of the wider socio-cultural changes that shaped the post-medieval West, while remaining attentive to important localized differences. As new intellectual, religious, and political 
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: Short Terminology Quiz 10%; Midterm Test 25%; Term Project 30%; Final Exam: 30%; Attendance: 5%
• READINGS: There is no assigned textbook for the course. Weekly readings will be posted on the class Brightspace page.

ARTH 2310A Architecture of the Early Modern World [1400-1750] – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Dijana Omeragić Apostolski
• DESCRIPTION: This course provides an overview of the histories and theories of architecture between 1400 and 1750. The geographical scope is broad and fragmentary, and lectures will address built heritage across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the premodern Mediterranean and Atlantic Worlds. The course frames and studies architecture’s various histories and theories as culturally and socially constructed phenomena that inform contemporary questions and concerns regarding the built environment. Concepts such as memory, place, atmosphere, power, empire, and colonialism will serve as thematic hinges between our present and the diverse pasts. We will also discuss historiographical questions and consider the practice of writing history. This inter-temporal dialogue introduces students to critical uses of history and inspires interest in architectural history and theory. 
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: Attendance and participation (10%); Presentation (10%); Short essays (2X10%=20%); Quizzes (3X10%=30%); Final paper (30%); No midterm and final exams
• READINGS: TBA

ARTH 2503A Art in the Global Context Since 1945 – FallTerm

• INSTRUCTOR: Amy Bruce
• DESCRIPTION: This course examines the shifting landscapes of contemporary art from 1945 to the present, with a focus on global circulation, cultural exchange, and political context. Students will explore how artists have responded to decolonization, globalization, war, migration, and the rise of new media. Moving beyond Euro-American narratives, the course highlights diverse artistic practices from around the world and considers how institutions like biennials, museums, and markets shape what we see as “global” art today
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: TBA

ARTH 2601B History and Theory of Photography – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Amy Bruce
• DESCRIPTION: This course traces the development of photography from its invention in the 19th century to its expanded forms in the digital age. Students will explore how photography has shaped ways of seeing, remembering, and representing the world. Through case studies and critical texts, we’ll examine photography’s roles in art, science, journalism, activism, and everyday life. Emphasis is placed on key debates in photographic theory, including questions of truth, authorship, power, and visual culture 
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: TBA

ARTH 2610 A Twentieth Century Architecture

• INSTRUCTOR: Alessandra Mariani
• DESCRIPTION: This course examines the origins of twentieth-century architecture in the innovations of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the Modern Movement in Europe, America, and beyond. It considers the movement’s aesthetic and spatial principles, its various adaptations, the critiques and revisions it encountered, and the emergence of postmodern and globalized architectures. Key architects, projects, and concepts—such as functionalism, the International Style, brutalism, and deconstruction—will be explored to highlight the diversity and specificity of twentieth-century architectural expression.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: weekly notes 20%, bi-weekly short answers 25%, midterm exam 25%, final exam 30%
• READINGS: Posted on Brightspace

ARTH 2710A Experiencing Architecture – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Michael Windover and Peter Coffman
• DESCRIPTION: What does architecture look like, sound like, smell like? How do we best communicate our experience of the designed environment? These are some of the questions this course explores through a series of site visits, class activities and multimedia projects.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: Students will be evaluated through participation in class and work on a wide variety of projects including descriptive and analytical writing, photography and podcasting.
• READINGS: Required texts will be posted through the library’s digital reserves service ARES.

Third Year

ARTH 3006B Themes in Canadian Architecture – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Peter Coffman & Michael Windover
• DESCRIPTION: This course explores Canadian architecture of all eras and regions through a series of thematic lenses. The themes we consider have reached an almost mythological status in the Canadian lexicon: what do “peace, order, and good government” look like in the when realized in stone and mortar? Are we really “hewers of wood and drawers of water”, and if so how has that impacted our built environment? Have we, or can we, literally build a “just society”? These ideas and others will be explored through readings, class discussions, and other activities.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: TBA

ARTH 3102A The Greek Sanctuary – FallTerm

• INSTRUCTOR: Susan Downie
• DESCRIPTION: Every Greek city-state had a sanctuary at its heart: the acropolis of Athens, the oracle of Delphi, ancient Olympia (home of the Olympic Games), and the Eleusinian Mysteries are most famous.  We discuss religious ideology and practice at these sites, in addition to history of excavation, religious continuity, architecture of the Greek temple, and the evolution of Greek art evidenced in votives dedicated to the gods.  Where relevant, we read and discuss ancient texts (in English).
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: TBA
• CROSS-LISTED WITH: RELI 3732A & CLCV 3306A

ARTH 3107B History and Methods of Architectural History – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Michael Windover
• DESCRIPTION: How is architectural history done? What sources and methods are used and how has the methodology of architectural history changed over time? Through a combination of close, critical reading and class activities, this course trains students how to use research methods and provides opportunities to put them into practice.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA, but will include written assignments, participatory activities, and the creation of an online, multimedia project based on use of primary sources
• READINGS: Required texts will be posted through the library’s digital reserves service ARES or on the course’s Brightspace page.

ARTH 3108A History and Methods of Art History – Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Jill Carrick
• DESCRIPTION: The study of current methodologies and research tools employed by art historians. This course examines the writing of art history and the methods and theories that underpin art historical texts.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: Online readings

ARTH 3501A Digital Media Production for Emerging Arts Professionals – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Paul Jasen
• DESCRIPTION: This course is designed for emerging arts (and design) professionals in any field. Our focus is on developing fundamental skills in digital media production that will be of use to students planning careers in the arts sector or related industries. Through lessons, case studies, workshopping and collaborative production sessions, students will gain experience in the following areas: website design and development, image editing, audio recording and podcasting, digital photography, streaming video, designing for print, social media integration and writing for the web. Students will leave this course having developed a multi-faceted portfolio project related to their field, as well as confidence and demonstrated proficiency using current media production tools and platforms.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: In-class workshopping activities; small, skills-building assignments; production of a multi-part media project on a topic related to your field or creative practice.
• READINGS: TBA
• CROSS-LISTED WITH: FILM 3901A/MUSI 3201A

ARTH 3809A Palladio and the Architecture of Humanism – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Morgan Currie
• DESCRIPTION: The Italian Renaissance was a period of transformation of Western art and intellectual culture, including radical new ideas about architecture with far-reaching consequences. The introduction of architectural theory, the idea of the architect as an intellectual and liberal artist, renewed interest in the art and ideology of the ancient past, and changing socio-political landscapes contributed to changing attitudes towards the design and the built environment. This course will examine these developments through the work of the Venetian architect Palladio and his predecessors, including Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Jacopo Sansovino, and others.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: This is a split-level course meaning students can enroll at the 3000 or 4000 level. Students at the 3000 level will be evaluated on the basis of a midterm and final exam as well as a term paper of approximately eight pages. 4000 level students will not sit the tests but will write a seminar-type paper of approximately sixteen pages for the research experience and two short response pieces during the term.
• READINGS: There is no assigned textbook for the course. Weekly readings will be posted on the class Brightspace page.

• CROSS-LISTED WITH: ARTH4809

ARTH 3809B Mobile Subjects: Migration and Diaspora in Contemporary Canadian Art – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Ming Tiampo
• DESCRIPTION: Mobile Subjects: Migration and Diaspora in Contemporary Canadian Art, is an exploration of Migration and Diaspora in Contemporary Canadian art. In addition to readings on the history and theory of BIPOC artists in Canada, Migration, and Diaspora, the course will be structured around hands-on assignments where students will be making real-world contributions to Art Historical research.
  Students will be working on two projects throughout the semester: The first, will be to create two entries on the Canadian BIPOC Artists Rolodex, a digital archive and living network that showcases the work of BIPOC artists, and links them with each other and with curators and academics with the purpose of nurturing community, raising visibility and deepening our artistic, curatorial, critical projects, as well as intercultural allyship. The second, will be a small-scale temporary exhibition of artworks at the Art Bank, selected from their collection through a series of 4 in-person visits plus the exhibition opening and presentations of your final projects.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: No Textbook

ARTH 3809D Special Topics in Art and Visual Culture – Art of India and the Subcontinent – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Stephen Inglis
• DESCRIPTION: For over four thousand years, the Indian subcontinent has been a source of international trade in products renown for their quality, design, colour and meaning. This course traces the role of artists and artisans throughout this long history, with highlights of their roles in architecture, religion and politics
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: participation 10%, presentation 30%, slide tests 30%,
  research paper 30%
• READINGS: online readings and some library references

ARTH 3810C Architecture of the Southern Americas: Spatial Histories and Critical Perspectives  – WinterTerm

• INSTRUCTOR: Julia Tischer
• DESCRIPTION: This graduate seminar offers a critical introduction to modern and contemporary architecture across the Southern Americas. Drawing on a cultural landscapes methodology, it explores how architecture both reflects and shapes political conflict, social change, economic inequality, and cultural identity. Organized around key paradigms and regional case studies, the course examines projects ranging from informal settlements to urban plans, schools, housing, monuments, and unbuilt utopias. These examples are situated within broader architectural movements and geographical contexts, revealing how form, materiality, and spatial practice intersect with colonialism, nationalism, globalization, resistance, gender, and memory. The course combines weekly lectures with shared readings, student-led presentations, and collective dialogue. Through this format, students will develop a critical understanding of spatial histories in the Southern Americas and strengthen their ability to analyze architecture through decolonial, intersectional, and politically engaged lenses
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: TBA

Fourth Year

ARTH 4002A Reconstructing Canada: Postwar Architecture and Design – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Michael Windover
• DESCRIPTION: The decades following the Second World War witnessed great change in Canada’s designed environment. Cities grew, transportation and media infrastructures expanded, modes of design and planning principles evolved, and new institutions emerged. This course explores architecture and design in the years between World War II and the Oil Crisis of the early 1970s as a way of understanding how policy makers, designers, planners, advocates, and ordinary citizens contributed and responded to the changing built environment of this period. How did architecture and design embody particular values? What do we learn from critically reading histories of architecture of this period? Who and what is in these narratives (and who and what has been left out)?
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA, but will include participation, oral presentations, and written work based on engagement with primary and secondary sources.
• READINGS: Readings will be made available through the library’s electronic reserves system (ARES) and/or will be posted on the course’s Brightspace page.
• CROSS-LISTED WITH: ARTH 5404F

ARTH 4107B Special Topics in Islamic Architecture and Art – Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Marika Sardar
• DESCRIPTION: Moving from examples of the early Islamic period to the newest constructions being erected today, each unit of this course will explore the basic features of a different building type such as the mosque, the palace or the school. It will consider the functional requirements of each type of structure and reflect on how architects over the centuries have created their own interpretations of these forms. We will also explore paintings and objects that reference architecture and help us understand how buildings were decorated and used in the past.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: 10 Weekly Discussion or Design Questions 50%; 2 Quizzes 30% ; Class attendance and participation 20%
• READINGS: Online readings

ARTH 4800C Architecture of the Southern Americas: Spatial Histories and Critical Perspectives – Winter Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Julia Tischer
• DESCRIPTION: This graduate seminar offers a critical introduction to modern and contemporary architecture across the Southern Americas. Drawing on a cultural landscapes methodology, it explores how architecture both reflects and shapes political conflict, social change, economic inequality, and cultural identity. Organized around key paradigms and regional case studies, the course examines projects ranging from informal settlements to urban plans, schools, housing, monuments, and unbuilt utopias. These examples are situated within broader architectural movements and geographical contexts, revealing how form, materiality, and spatial practice intersect with colonialism, nationalism, globalization, resistance, gender, and memory. The course combines weekly lectures with shared readings, student-led presentations, and collective dialogue. Through this format, students will develop a critical understanding of spatial histories in the Southern Americas and strengthen their ability to analyze architecture through decolonial, intersectional, and politically engaged lenses.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: TBA

ARTH 4809F Art Brut! – Fall Term

• INSTRUCTOR: Jill Carrick
• DESCRIPTION: Art Brut (also known as ‘Outsider Art’) is a term coined by French artist Jean Dubuffet to designate art created by untrained, non-professional individuals working outside of ‘official’ art institutions, groups, standards and expectations. This seminar examines new theoretical interpretations of Art Brut. Classwork includes on-site visits to examine artworks and documents held in the Carleton University Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Canadian Museum of History.
• METHOD OF EVALUATION: TBA
• READINGS: Online readings
• CROSS-LISTED WITH: ARTH 5115F

Previous terms

• 2024-2025 Course Listings (F/W/S)
• 2023-2024 Course Listings (F/W/S)
• 2022-2023 Course Listings (F/W/S)

Courses in the BA programs

The goals of the majors and honours program in Art History are to give students a thorough knowledge of the history of art, and to engage them critically in the current debates within the discipline and in the humanities in general. Such an education provides students with an awareness and understanding of various cultures as well as an appreciation of cultural difference. It also enables them to think and look critically. Students gain important communication skills, verbal and oral, through exchanging ideas in the classroom and writing research papers.

This training gives students a curiosity for intellectual endeavours, as well as a critical advantage that is necessary for professional life. It also provides them with the communication and research skills that are demanded in a variety of workplaces. Finally, our thorough training in art historical matters enables students to go on to studies at the graduate level, as many of our students do.