An overview of the visual arts in France, defined broadly: painting, architecture, urban design, photography, cinema, book production, gardens, fashion, cuisine, television, comic books, magazines, everyday objects and their relationship to French culture and society. France's national identity and cultural heritage is embodied in its rich tradition of visual expression and France's contributions to the visual arts have had a profound global influence. We will study the Neolithic cave paintings of southwestern France which mark the dawn of the arts in Western culture, Roman architecture and design and its influence on French civilization, the writing and illumination of Medieval manuscripts, the construction of castles and churches in the Middle Ages, book production in the Renaissance, the building of the palace of Versailles and its gardens, Romantic and Impressionist painting, the erection of the Eiffel Tower, the invention of photography and cinema, the fashion industry, the Surrealist revolution in Paris and its impact on popular culture, the aesthetics of advertising, of comic books, and more.

No knowledge of French necessary.

This course fulfills the GEP Global Knowledge and Visual and Performing Arts
requirements as well as the CHASS Arts & Letters requirement.

GEP Rationale & Category Objectives for Visual & Performing Arts:  The Visual and Performing Arts constitute a separate, unique, and independent mode of inquiry distinct from both the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics disciplines. Being conversant in the symbolic languages of the Arts is as important as familiarity with other modes of inquiry. Many of the most profound expressions of meaning and value are embodied in the arts, and developing sensitivity and responsiveness to these through visual and performing arts courses encourages students' aesthetic sensibilities, critical judgment, and creativity. Courses in the arts also provide students with an understanding of the cultural and historical dimensions of artistic expression. Category Objectives: Each course in the Visual and Performing Arts category will provide instruction and guidance that helps students to: deepen their understanding of aesthetic, cultural, and historical dimensions of artistic traditions; strengthen their ability to interpret and make critical judgments about the arts through the analysis of structure, form, and style of specific works; and strengthen their ability to create, recreate, or evaluate art based upon techniques and standards appropriate to the genre.

GEP Rationale & Category Objectives for Global Knowledge: Global knowledge is necessary for students to understand the world and their place in it. The global knowledge requirement provides students the opportunity to explore the complex interrelationships among nations, to gain a deeper appreciation of other cultures and peoples, and to evaluate the impact of U.S. culture and policy on the rest of the world.  Category Objectives:  Each course in Global Knowledge will provide instruction and guidance that help students to achieve the goal listed above plus at least one of the following: (1) Identify and examine distinguishing characteristics, including ideas, values, images, cultural artifacts, economic structures, technological or scientific developments, and/or attitudes of people in a society or culture outside the United States. And at least one of the following: Compare these distinguishing characteristics between the non-U. S. society and at least one other society; (2) Explain how these distinguishing characteristics relate to their cultural and/or historical contexts in the non-U. S. society; (3) Explain how these distinguishing characteristics change in response to internal and external pressures on the non-U. S. society.

Claude Lorrain
Seaport, 1638