AP Art History Course Syllabus

Course Prerequisite
A student, according to the District Course Listing Guide, must have taken and passed a level II
Art course and meet Pre-AP/AP Criteria.

Course Description
The course is designed to assist the student in fulfilling the requirements necessary to
successfully complete the AP Art History Exam. The student will use the essential questions;
What is art and how is it made? Why and how does art change? How do we describe our thinking
about art? In doing so the student explores the big ideas of AP Art History, learning how to
analyze visually and contextually works of art from diverse cultures. Using a variety of sources,
questioning techniques, discussion, guided and independent learning, students analyze the
works of art in their context, content, form, and function considering issues of patronage,
gender, politics, religion, and ethnicity. Interpretation of the work of art from the AP Art
History’s ten cultural units is based upon its intended use, audience, and the role of the artist
and the work of art in its society. Students will expand their knowledge of history, geography,
politics, religion, languages, and literature, as they develop an understanding of global artistic
tradition in the exploration of the story of people as told through the art they created.

Informational Resources
Primary Resources
▪ Marilyn Stokstad and Michael Cothren, Art History. Combined volume 6th edition,
Pearson, 2018

Secondary Resources
▪ Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages: A Concise Global History, Cengage,
15th edition, 2016
▪ Debra DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann , M. Katherine Shields, Gateways to Art, AP
edition, Thames& Hudson, 2016

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 AP Art History Course Syllabus

Online Resources
▪ Metmuseum.org
▪ Getty.org
▪ Smart History https://smarthistory.org/
▪ Kahn Academy https://www.khanacademy.org
▪ Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History- https://edsitement.neh.gov/websites/metropolitan-
museum-arts-heilbrunn-timeline-art-history
▪ Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe – Art History Resources
▪ Annenberg Learner- Art Through Time
▪ https://Getty.edu
▪ www.artbabble.org
▪ Art21 on PBS
▪ http://www.artnews.com
▪ Archaeology.org

Additional Resources
▪ A large collection of books about individual artists, techniques, schools of art, and
collections, as well as encyclopedias of art and show catalogues are available in the
classroom. Additionally, a collection of DVDs on media and techniques and biographical
information on artists is housed in the classroom.

▪ The school library has a range of current reference books for all periods of art history
and art techniques. The library staff is an invaluable resource for the exploration of
works of art. They are knowledgeable about the various databases to which the school
subscribes and teaching students to use online research tools.

▪ The classroom is equipped with access to a computer with Internet for each student. The
room is equipped with an LCD projector, large projection screen, black and white and
color printers are available.

▪ Students also have access to studio space to explore media and art-making techniques.
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 AP Art History Course Syllabus

The AP Art History course meets for one school year that is broken into six, six-week periods.
This allows for approximately 150 instructional days before the AP exam. Each class period is 45
minutes in length. To best prepare students the course is organized to address the need for an
introductory section and the time remaining after the exam. This course is based on the AP Art
History set of 250 images representative of the range of art through location and time. Structure
is established around the big ideas and essential questions from the AP Art History Course and
Exam Description.

Big Idea 1: Artists manipulate materials and ideas to create an aesthetic object, act, or event
Essential Question: What is art and how is it made?

Learning Objective 1.1: Students differentiate the components of form, function, content, and/or context
of a work of art
Learning Objective 1.2: Students explain how artistic decisions about art making shape a work of art
Learning Objective 1.3: Students describe how context influences artistic decisions about creating a work
of art.
Learning Objective 1.4: Students analyze form, function, content, and/or context to infer or explain the
possible intentions for creating a work of art

Big Idea 2: Art making is shaped by tradition and change.

Essential Question: Why and how does art change?

Learning Objective 2.1: Students describe features of tradition and/or change in a single work of art or in
a group of related works
Learning Objective 2.2: Students explain how and why specific traditions and/or changes are
demonstrated in a single work or group of related works
Learning Objective 2.3: Students analyze the influence of a single work of art or group of related works
on other artistic production.

Big Idea 3: Interpretations of art are variable.

Essential Question: How do we describe our thinking about art?
Learning Objective 3.1: Students identify a work of art
Learning Objective 3.2: Students analyze how formal qualities and/or content of a work of art elicit(s) a
response
Learning Objective 3.3: Students analyze how contextual variables lead to different interpretations of a
work of art
Learning Objective 3.4: Students justify attribution of an unknown work of art
Learning Objective 3.5: Students analyze relationships between works of art based on their similarities
and differences.
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 AP Art History Course Syllabus
Course Organization First Semester

First and Second Six Weeks:

Unit 1- Introduction to AP Art History 5 Days

• Understand methods used to analyze works of art and interpret meanings within
original and subsequent cultural contexts. The language of the discipline.
• Assess the way art historians identify conventional subject matter and symbols
• Writing about Art – Essay structures and rubrics
• Research — Reliable, scholarly, primary, secondary sources.
• Rules and Expectations-Binder organization, Discussion Etiquette, Working in Groups.

Unit 2- Global Prehistory 30,000-500 B.C.E. (11 works) – 6 days

• Human expression existed across the globe before the written record. While prehistoric art of
Europe has been the focus of many introductions to the history of art, very early art is found
worldwide and shares certain features, particularly concern with the natural world and
humans’ place within it.
• First instances of important artistic media, approaches, and values occurred on different
continents, with Africa and Asia preceding and influencing other areas as the human
population spreads.
• Over time, art historians’ knowledge of global prehistoric art has developed through
interdisciplinary collaboration with social and physical scientists.

Unit 3 - Mediterranean 3500 B.C.E.-300 C.E. (36 works) –21 days

• Artistic traditions of the ancient Near East and dynastic Egypt focus on representing royal
figures and divinities and on the function of funerary and palatial complexes within their
cultural contexts. Works of art illustrate the active exchange of ideas and reception of artistic
styles among Mediterranean cultures and the subsequent influence on the classical world.
• Religion plays a significant role in the art and architecture of the ancient Near East, with
cosmology guiding representation of deities and kings, who assume divine attributes.
• The art of dynastic Egypt embodies a sense of permanence. It was created for eternity in the
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service of a culture that focused on preserving a cycle of rebirth.
• The art of Ancient Greece and Rome is grounded in civic ideals and polytheism. Etruscan and
Roman artists and architects accumulated and creatively adapted Greek objects and forms to
create buildings and artworks that appealed to their tastes for eclecticism and historicism.
• Contextual information for ancient Greek and Roman art can be derived from contemporary
literary, political, legal, and economic records, as well as from archaeological excavations
conducted from the mid-18th century onward. Etruscan art, by contrast, is illuminated
primarily by modern archaeological record and by descriptions of contemporary external
observers.

Unit 4 - Indigenous Americas 1000 B.C.E.-1980 C.E. (14 works) – 8 days

• Art of the Indigenous Americas is among the world’s oldest artistic traditions. While its roots
lie in northern Asia, it developed independently between c. 10,000 B.C.E. and 1492 C.E., the
beginning of the European invasions. Regions and cultures are referred to as the Indigenous
Americas to signal the priority of First Nations cultural traditions over those of the colonizing
and migrant peoples that have progressively taken over the American continents for the last
500 years.
• Ancient Mesoamerica encompassed what are now Mexico (from Mexico City southward),
Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras, from 15,000 B.C.E. to 1521 C.E., the Mexican
(Aztec) downfall. General cultural similarities of ancient Mesoamerica include similar
calendars; pyramidal stepped structures, sites and buildings oriented in relation to sacred
mountains and celestial phenomena; and highly valued green materials, such as jadeite and
quetzal feathers.
• The ancient Central Andes comprised present-day southern Ecuador, Peru, western Bolivia,
and northern Chile. General cultural similarities across the Andes include an emphasis on
surviving and interacting with the challenging environments, reciprocity and cyclicality
(rather than individualism), and reverence for the animal and plant worlds as part of the
practice of shamanistic religion.
• Despite underlying similarities, there are key differences between the art of Ancient America
and Native North America with respect to its dating, environment, cultural continuity from
antiquity to the present, and sources of information. Colonization by different European
groups (Catholic and Protestant) undergirds distinct modern political situations for
Amerindian survivors. Persecution, genocide, and marginalization have shaped current

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identity and artistic expression.
• Although disease and genocide practiced by the European invaders and colonists reduced
their population by as much as 90 percent, Native Americans today maintain their cultural
identity and uphold modern versions of ancient in addition to creating new art forms as part
of the globalized contemporary art world.

Unit 5 - Africa 1100-1980 C.E. (14 works) – 6 days

• Human life, which is understood to have begun in Africa, developed over millions of years
and radiated beyond the continent of Africa. The earliest African art dates to 77,000 years
ago. While interpretation of this art is conjectural at best, the clarity and strength of design
and expression in the work is obvious.
• Human beliefs and interactions in Africa are instigated by the arts. African arts are active;
they motivate behavior, contain and express belief, and validate social organization and
human relations.
• Use and efficacy are central to the art of Africa. African arts, though often characterized,
collected, and exhibited as figural sculptures and masks, are by nature meant to be
performed rather than simply viewed. African arts are often described in terms of the
contexts and functions with which they appear to be associated.
• Outsiders have often characterized, collected, and exhibited African arts as primitive,
ethnographic, anonymous, and static, when in reality Africa’s interaction with the rest of the
world led to dynamic intellectual and artistic traditions that sustain hundreds of cultures and
almost as many languages, contributing dramatically to the corpus of human expression.
African life and arts have been deeply affected by ongoing, cosmopolitan patterns of
interaction with populations around the world and through time.

Third Six Weeks:

Unit 6: Early Europe and Colonial Americas 200-1750 C.E. (51 works) – 30 days
• European medieval art is generally studied in chronological order and divided into
geographical regions, governing cultures, and identifiable styles, with associated but
distinctive artistic traditions. There is significant overlap in time, geography, practice, and
heritage of art created within this time frame and region. Nationalist agendas and
disciplinary divisions based on the predominant language (Greek, Latin, or Arabic) and
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religion (Judaism, Western or Eastern Orthodox Christianity, or Islam) have caused
considerable fragmentation in the study of medieval art.
• Medieval art (European, c. 300-1400 C.E.; Islamic, c. 300-1600 C.E.) derived from the
requirements of worship (Jewish, Christian, or Islamic), elite or court culture, and learning.
• Art from the Early Modern Atlantic World is typically studied in chronological order, by
geographical region, according to style, and by medium. Thus, early modernity and the
Atlantic arena is highlighted, framing the initiation of globalization and emergence of
modern Europe, and recognizing the role of the Americas in these developments. More
attention has been given in recent years to larger cultural interactions, exchanges, and
appropriations.
• The arts of 15th-century Europe reflected an interest in classical models, enhanced
naturalism, Christianity, pageantry, and increasingly formalized artistic training. In the 17th
century, architectural design and figuration in painting and sculpture continued to be based
on classical principles and formulas, but with a pronounced interest in compositional
complexity, dynamic movement, and theatricality. There was an increasing emphasis on
time, narrative, heightened naturalism, and psychological or emotional impact.
• The 16th-century Protestant Reformation and subsequent Catholic Counter-Reformation
compelled a divergence between northern and South-western European art with respect to
form, function, and content.

Course Organization Second Semester

Fourth Six Weeks:

Unit 7: Later Europe and Americas 1750-1980 C.E. (54 works) – 31 days

• From the mid-1700s to 1980 C.E, Europe and the Americas experienced rapid change and
innovation. Art existed in the context of dramatic events such as industrialization,
urbanization, economic upheaval, migrations, and wars. Countries and governments were
re-formed; women’s and civil rights movements catalyzed social change.
• Artists assumed new roles in society. Styles of art proliferated and often gave rise to artistic
movements. Art and architecture exhibited a diversity of styles, forming an array of “isms.”
• Works of art took on new roles and functions in society and were experienced by audiences
in new ways. Art of this era often proved challenging for audiences and patrons to
immediately understand.
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Fifth and Sixth (partial) Six Weeks:

Unit 8 - West and Central Asia 500 B.C.E.-1980 C.E. (11 works) – 6 days

• The arts of West and Central Asia play a key role in the history of world art, giving form to
the vast cultural interchanges that have occurred in these lands that link the European and
Asian peoples.
• The religious arts of West and Central Asia are united by the traditions of the region:
Buddhism and Islam.
• Use of figural art in religious contexts varies among traditions, whereas figural art is common
in secular art forms across West and Central Asia.
• Artists of West and Central Asia excelled in the creation of art forms exhibiting key
characteristics unique to their regions and cultures. Important forms include ceramics,
metalwork, textiles, painting, and calligraphy.

Unit 9 - South, East, and Southeast Asia 300-1980 C.E. (21 works) – 12 days

• The arts of South, East, and Southeast Asia represent some of the world’s oldest, most diverse,
and most sophisticated visual traditions.
• Many of the world’s great religious and philosophic traditions developed in South and East
Asia. Extensive traditions of distinctive religious art forms developed in this region to support
the beliefs and practices of these religions.
• South, East, and Southeast Asia developed many artistic and architectural traditions that are
deeply rooted in Asian aesthetics and cultural practices.
• Asian art was and is global. The cultures of South, East, and Southeast Asia are interconnected
through trade and politics and were also in contact with West Asia and Europe throughout
history.

Unit 10: The Pacific 700-1980 C.E. (11 works) – 6 days

• The arts of the Pacific vary by virtue of ecological situations, social structure, and impact of
external influences, such as commerce, colonialism, and missionary activity. Created in a

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variety of media, Pacific arts are distinguished by the virtuosity with which materials are
used and presented.
• The sea is ubiquitous as a theme of Pacific art and is a presence in the daily lives of a large
portion of Oceania, as the sea both connects and separates the lands and peoples of the
Pacific.
• The arts of the Pacific are expressions of beliefs, social relations, essential truths, and
compendia of information held by designated members of society. Pacific arts are objects,
acts, and events that are forces in social life.
• Pacific arts are performed (danced, sung, recited, and displayed) in an array of colors, scents,
textures, and movements that enact narratives and proclaim primordial truths. Belief in the
use of costumes, cosmetics, and constructions assembled to enact epics of human history
and experience is central to creation of and participation in Pacific arts.
.

Unit 11: Global Contemporary 1980 C.E. to Present (27 works) – 16 days

• Global contemporary art is characterized by a transcendence of traditional conceptions of

art and is supported by technological developments and global awareness. Digital
technology in particular provides increased access to imagery and contextual information
about diverse artists and artworks throughout history and across the globe.
• In the scholarly realm as well as mainstream media, contemporary art is now a major
Phenomenon experienced and understood in a global context.

Unit 12: Review and Enrichment

• Exam Review and visual and written practice until the exam
• Saturday and afterschool review sessions will be scheduled during Spring Semester
• Explore making 2-D Art
• Experience making 3-D Art
• Create art with a social purpose

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 AP Art History Course Syllabus

Student Expectations

The AP Art History student is expected to exhibit an autonomous work ethic and complete all
in-class and out-of-class assignments. The AP Art History student should exhibit an interest in
and develop knowledge of a wide range of artists, artistic styles, artistic approaches, cultural
influences on art and history, art and its influence on cultures and history, historical influences
on art and cultures, aesthetics and techniques to be better able to synthesize, analyze, interpret
and understand the arts. Students are given opportunity to investigate these areas through a
variety of ways in preparation for written assignments presentations, and related content. The
school or public library, reliable internet sources and class library are accessible to the student.

All students will commit to and sign up for taking the AP Art History Exam in May

Assessment
Grades will reflect individual achievement exhibited by the fulfillment of class requirements.
Grades will be reported and calculated using percentages mandated in District Policy. District
policy regarding retesting and failing grades will be followed.

Major Assessments- 60% of student grade

Students will be informed of rubric criteria or provided with a grading rubric for major
assignments. Major and Secondary assessments are inclusive of but not limited to the following:

• Completed individual work

• Projects
• Presentations
• Completed Group work
• Projects
• Presentations
• Formal written analysis
• Unit exams tests
• Semester exams

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 AP Art History Course Syllabus
Secondary Assessments- 40% of student grade
• Research
• Critique notes
• Review notes
• Quizzes
• Group Critiques
Completion of the CollegeBoard Exam is required. Given the GPA weight of the course, failure
to complete the exam will result in failing grades for the last six weeks and Final Exam

Sample Assignments
• Top 5- Before starting instruction, have students quickly look through the 250. Student
chooses the first five that they find interesting within time allowed. Record information.
Student writes briefly why they selected, what they thought the connection is. Outside of
class student investigates information on pieces on Kahn Academy. With what the student
has learned about the pieces, they write a one-page paper about the attributions that
they believe connect the pieces
• Choose a work of art from either the Indigenous Americas or West and Central Asia.
Conduct research, using sources beyond the textbook and write a one-page essay on a
stolen work. Connect your theme to an enduring understanding and essential knowledge
statement.
• Attribution Challenge: Analyze an unknown work at the beginning of the unit. Provide
your best attribution, and then write a paragraph justifying your attribution by means of
comparison. At the end of the unit, revisit and evaluate your attribution.
• Analyzing an Interpretation: Analyze Author’s interpretation of assigned work. Using
another reputable written source, discuss how the interpretations differ. After reading,
what is your interpretation?
• Group Assignment: Working in groups of three, create a presentation exploring the
influence of an innovative artist on subsequent artistic production. Fully identify each
work you illustrate.

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 AP Art History Course Syllabus
• Style Sheet: Create a style sheet for ten “isms” of the 20th century. Provide a column for
1) the artist’s name, 2) the name of the art movement, 3) your own descriptive words, 4)
the title of the work, with year and medium, and 5) a thumbnail of the art work
• Oral Presentation: Choose and fully identify two works from the current unit, one that
exemplifies tradition and one that demonstrates change from traditional forms. What do
you think may have caused the creator of the second work to deviate from traditional
forms?
• Interpreting Art Discussion: Visually study Julie Mehretu’s Stadia II. What do you think it
is about? How does the artist use form and content to communicate meaning? View:
http://magazine.art21.org/2009/10/01/meet-the-season-5-artist-julie-
mehretu/#.WWvQtYjytPY and read Kahn Academy’s article on the piece. Did hearing and
reading the artist’s own words change your interpretation of the work?
• Beyond the textbook: Choose and research a work of contemporary art. Identify which of
the Global Contemporary enduring understanding and essential knowledge statements
relate to your research. Use print and online sources beyond the textbook for your
research. Create a presentation of your analysis, which will include an image or video of
the work, all identifying information, analysis of materials and techniques, form, function,
content, and context, as well as work’s place in art history--its connection to Global
Contemporary understandings and knowledge.
• Themed Gallery: “Collect” either ten examples of art that depict the human figure, one
from each content area or 10 examples of architecture, one from each content area.
Resize and print in color to 3.5” X 2.5”. Mount, in a row, on a strip of black poster board.
Under each image, attach a label with the artist (if known), title, medium, time period,
and date. On the back, attach the function and context information for each work.
• Debate- Is it really Art? Using Raphael’s fresco, School of Athens students look at work
from contemporary artists Dale Chihuly and Sol Le Witt to explore the question of the
“art” being in the idea or in the execution?

• Text and Meaning: Half of class reads Lin articles; others read Xu Bing articles. Groups pair
up; partners do formal comparison and explain artists’ intentions. We examine the
relationship between text and meaning, beginning with Lin’s minimalist work. How is its
meaning revealed experientially? After seeing Lin videos, students compare negative
reactions with those toward Burghers of Calais. We discuss Xu Bing’s experiences in
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China’s Cultural Revolution with Mao’s propagandistic language, anti-intellectualism, and
censorship. Students examine Xu Bing’s combining traditional materials and painstaking
techniques with invented/nonsensical characters. How does this challenge connections
between text and meaning?
• In groups of 3, students will be given a group of five seemingly unrelated images. Students
will work together to research and assign connections in form, function, content, and
context between the pieces.
• Thematic Connections: Student pairs draw an image matched with one of the optional
course themes or subthemes from a hat. Students choose two other works from the
required course content that offer different approaches to their theme, then prepare for
a roundtable discussion to discuss their works using the skills we have been practicing.
They prepare to do both visual and contextual analysis as they justify their thematic
choices and connections.

Sample Assessments

• Unit Exam: Students take an exam composed of multiple choice, visual identification and
one 15-minute essay question asking them to analyze ways an artist of their choice
incorporates new technology to either support or challenge an established artistic
tradition.
• Beyond the textbook: Choose and research a work of contemporary art. Identify which of
the Global Contemporary enduring understanding and essential knowledge statements
relate to your research. Use print and online sources beyond the textbook for your
research. Create a presentation of your analysis, which will include an image or video of
the work, all identifying information, analysis of materials and techniques, form, function,
content, and context, as well as work’s place in art history--its connection to Global
Contemporary understandings and knowledge.
• 30-minute exam formatted essay comparing works from different units.
• Subject specific informational, evaluative, or descriptive essay using required format.
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 AP Art History Course Syllabus

Experiencing Art

Students will be reprised of current shows locally in galleries and at the local museum. The
students will be required during Unit on Indigenous America to meet at the local Costume
museum that houses a variety of Indigenous clothing from Mexico and South America. Students
will also be required to meet at the local museum for the annual International Show in the
Spring. We have revolving student exhibits from our Studio students on campus that students
will be responsible for attending and interviewing student artists. The Dual Enrollment classes
also have an annual installation exhibit that the students will be required to experience.

Behavioral Expectations

Respect yourself. Respect everyone else. Commitment to:

• Attend class
• Be prepared
• Be on time
• Listen
• Turn in work when due

Student supplies
Students are responsible for supplying all required materials for this class

▪ 2” three ring binders

▪ College lined notebook paper
▪ 15 binder dividers
▪ Spiral notebook
▪ Pens, pencils, highlighters
▪ 4x6 index cards
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 AP Art History Course Syllabus
▪ 2 Packages of Avery 8.5x11” adhesive shipping labels (to print images for your notes)

Student Agreement
I have received and read the expectations of me while enrolled in the AP Art
History Class. I agree to fulfill the expectations and take the exam for credit by the
deadlines set forth by the College Board.

Student Printed Name_______________________________________

Student Signature ____________________________ Date __________

Phone numbers (home and cell) ________________________________

Parent Agreement
I/We have read the expectations and agree to support our son/daughter in
achieving these expectations.

Parent Printed Name_________________________________________

Parent Signature ________________________________Date_________

Phone numbers (home and cell) ________________________________

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Please return this form, signed by both student and parent, by September 1, 2017.

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