Art History 701
Practicum in Art History: Bibliography, Historiography, Methods

The “Practicum in Art History” is integral to your preparation for graduate work in that the seminar seeks to build a practical base of knowledge in the theories and methods of the discipline and develop a set of skills in critical reading, research, analysis, writing, and oral presentation that will be of use to you throughout graduate school and in your professional life beyond. Toward this end, the course has three main facets. As your introduction to graduate work here, the course will acquaint you with the resources in the Department of Art History, on the University campus, and in the Madison/upper Midwest region of the United States that may be of use to you during your time with us. As your introduction to the practice of graduate and professional work in Art History, the course explores the contested and changing approaches to art history and its methods from its origins and formation as a discipline through the current challenges to and transformations of the field such as the “New Art History” and “Visual Culture Studies.” As the readings are necessarily selective and partial, you are encouraged to use the syllabus as a map leading you to deepen your knowledge through further study. As a practicum, the seminar also emphasizes the development of essential skills in critical reading and analysis, primary and secondary research methods, the writing of various kinds of professional prose, oral presentation, and oral response to questions that are vital to success in graduate study and future viability in the field. In addition to weekly readings and discussion, work for the course will include examining and analyzing objects, conducting primary and secondary library and archive research, and producing polished oral presentations and expository prose pieces that correspond to specific kinds of professional writing such as the critical book review, the abstract or conference paper proposal, the literature review or annotated bibliography, the prospectus, and the prospectus presentation and defense.