Current Upper Level Courses in Art History
Rose Hill
Spring 2026 Courses
ARHI 2226 - Religion, Philosophy, and Entertainment in Premodern Asia
This course will explore the arts of religion, philosophy, and entertainment across South and East Asia from approximately the 3rd century BCE to the 19th century CE. Topics include the art and architecture of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; ink painting traditions in China; and woodblock prints in Japan. The course will also engage with influential scholarship by leading art historians in the field to examine how visual culture reflected and shaped the spiritual and cultural life of premodern Asia.
ARHI 2550 - 20th Century Art
This course is a study of major trends in global 20th century art, including but not limited to: Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Postcolonial Modernism, and Conceptualism. Students will learn about significant art movements such as the Harlem Renaissance, Gutai in Japan, the Black Arts Movement in the United States, Cubism and “Primitivism” in Europe, Négritude, Mexican Muralism, Brazilian (Neo) Concretism, Hurufiyya in the Islamic world, Dansaekhwa in Korea, and the Young British Artists, among others.
Rose Hill
Fall 2025 Courses
ARHI 2528 – Asian American Art
What does it mean to study “Asian American art”? Although the term Asian American is itself relatively new, having emerged through activist movements in the 1960s, work by artists of Asian descent has long circulated in the Americas, from the 1565 opening of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade onward. This class explores the diverse histories of Asian American art in what is now known as the United States, across a range of topics and themes, including mercantile trade networks and “export art”; immigration, exclusion, and diaspora; Orientalism; World’s Fairs; modernism, abstraction, and postmodernism; and popular culture. Throughout, we will pay special attention to the work of Asian American artists in New York, both historical and contemporary, with visits to museums, galleries, and studios in the city.
ARHI 2576 - Black Art and Fashion, 1850-Present
From 19th-century portraits of enslaved and formerly enslaved African American sitters to contemporary handbags designed by Black queer icons Telfar Clemens and Brandon Blackwood, this course explores the relationship between art and fashion in African and African diasporic history and culture. We will analyze a vast range of visual culture, including historic and contemporary advertisements for the beauty companies of Madam C.J. Walker, Rihanna, and Beyoncé, as well as the intricately patterned textiles and hairstyles in the work of African photographers Malick Sidibé and J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere. The exhibitions "Africa Fashion" (2022-25) and "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" (2025) will serve as primary sources for engaging the art history of Black fashion.
ARHI 3200 - Museum Studies in Ancient Art
This class examines the display of Ancient Art using the collection at Fordham as a foundation. The class considers the aesthetic issues of exhibiting ancient objects and addresses the ethical concerns of collecting “un-provenanced” antiquities.
ARHI 4562 - Art and the Second World War
This upper-level art history seminar will examine the production, circulation, and reception of art about World War II in Europe, North America, and Asia. We will look at paintings, sculptures, posters, and architecture from Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan, and China from the 1930s and 1940s, and analyze them in relation to the ideologies of fascism, anti-fascism, and communism. We will also scrutinize images that represent the violent consequences of the global conflict, such as the Holocaust, the Nanking Massacre, comfort women (sex slaves managed by the imperial Japanese government), and the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Questions will include how we define propaganda and what it looks like; what kinds of messages art tried to propagate; what artistic styles and theories were employed; what our ethical responsibilities are in dealing with artworks that served to justify violence; and what we can learn from the art to be mindful about propaganda today. Through discussions of artworks from the most turbulent and globally devastating period of the 20th century, this class will consider the moral dimensions of art appreciation. This is a reading-, writing-, and speaking-intensive course.
ARHI 4600 - Senior Seminar
As the capstone seminar for art history majors, this seminar has several goals: to give art history majors an introduction to the principal thinkers who shaped the field of art history; to explore some of the key methodological approaches to art history today; to hone students’ skills in critical reading and viewing; and to provide students the opportunity to conduct independent research on an art historical topic of their own choosing. Offered fall semesters only; required for majors.
Lincoln Center
Spring 2026 Courses
ARHI 2365 - Medieval Art and the Museum
Medieval works of art were not made to be seen in museums. The luxurious sculptures, paintings, manuscripts, and tapestries of the Middle Ages (ca. 500-1500) mostly were created for the eyes of nobles or priests, and the makers and original users of these objects never could have imagined the diverse museum-goers of today in the USA. But over the past two hundred years, such works were transferred to museums and in these settings have been used to tell stories about nation, faith, and identity. In this class, we will examine the modern engagement with medieval art, considering diverse phenomena such as: the destruction of monuments in the French Revolution, the development of Gothic Revival style in the Victorian era, the formation of the art market, the establishment of museums as public institutions, and the use of medieval themes in today’s social media and gaming. Students in the course will also have the special opportunity of collaborating on an upcoming exhibition of medieval manuscripts.
ARHI 2408 - Early Italian Renaissance Art
This course serves as an introduction to the painting, sculpture, and architecture of the early Italian Renaissance, c.1300-1450. Topics will include the importance of communes as patrons of the arts; the competition among artists; the rise of new devotional practices and their influence on the arts in Italy; and the relationship between art and science.
ARHI 2620 - Introduction to Fashion History
This course surveys developments in fashion from antiquity to the modern era, with particular attention paid to the impact of technology and the social contexts of fashion makers and consumers.
ARHI 4610 - Art History Senior Thesis
This course allows students to pursue an independent research project, putting into practice and further refining the knowledge and insights gained about historiography and disciplinary discourses in the Methods of Art History seminar. Students will gain advanced skills for research in the humanities, taking advantage of resources at the Fordham Library and other institutions in New York City. Guest speakers from Fordham and beyond will introduce a variety of modes for organizing and sharing research in traditional and digital platforms.
Lincoln Center
Fall 2025 Courses
ARHI 2260 – Global Modern Architecture
What do we think of when we see such words as “modern,” “modernism,” and “modernity”—especially as they pertain to architecture and the built environment? How can we reinterpret and challenge existing views of these terms when we start from the regions of the world (sometimes called the non-west and the global south) that are home to the majority of the world's people? In this course, we'll examine the production of space in Asia, Africa, and Latin America from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries as breaks from the past, yet inextricable from the colonial encounter.
ARHI 2418 – Gender and Sexuality in Renaissance Art
This course explores the role of gender and sexuality in the art of the European Renaissance. We will consider how the visual arts both constructed and reflected ideals of feminine and masculine identity, homosocial relations, and erotic desire. Investigating the roles and identities of women and men as patrons, creators, viewers, and subjects of early modern art, we will also consider discourses of feminism, gender, and sexuality both in the early modern period and in contemporary academic practice.
ARHI 2621 – Art and Fashion in the Modern Age
A course that examines the intersections of art, design, and fashion from the 20th century to the present.
ARHI 3350 – Age of Cathedrals
Gothic cathedrals were the skyscrapers of the Middle Ages. These impossibly tall and profusely decorated buildings were center points for urban life in northern Europe between circa 1150 and 1400. This course explores the architectural innovations behind the Gothic style as well as the extensive adornment of Gothic structures (especially sculpture and stained glass) and objects that were used in them (such as illuminated manuscripts and metalwork) in relation to their sacred, political, social, and economic meanings. Issues examined include the technology of Gothic architecture, the use of images to shore up the power of the church, images and the social status of women, relations between Christians and Jews, and encounters between Europeans and Africans. Site visits will be included when possible.
ARHI 4600 - Senior Seminar
As the capstone seminar for art history majors, this seminar has several goals: to give art history majors an introduction to the principal thinkers who shaped the field of art history; to explore some of the key methodological approaches to art history today; to hone students’ skills in critical reading and viewing; and to provide students the opportunity to conduct independent research on an art historical topic of their own choosing. Offered fall semesters only; required for majors.