Art History 201:

Survey of Western Art-Ancient

Winter 2026

MWF 1:00-2:20pm

CDH 135

• Levin-Richardson (you can call me Professor Levin-Richardson, Professor L-R, or just Professor)
• Pronouns: she/her/hers
• sarahlr@uw.edu
• Office Hours: Mondays 3-4 pm in person or by Zoom (please email me in advance so I can send you the link); and by appointment
• Office: Denny 227; enter the main doors of Denny, pass the water fountain and elevator, and it’s the first office on the left

Description:

This course surveys select developments in architecture, sculpture, painting, and other arts in Southern Europe, Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa from the bronze age to the 4^th century. There are no prerequisites.

Learning Objectives:

1. identify and correctly apply art-historical terminology and concepts
2. locate ancient art and architecture within its geographic context
3. discuss ancient art and architecture within its historical, cultural, and social contexts
4. engage the ways in which ancient art and architecture influences, and is influenced by, modern cultures

Supporting your learning and well being:

I will post powerpoints and record all lectures. If you know of something that might affect your learning (technology problems; health or family crisis; religious observance) please contact me as soon as possible, ideally at the beginning of the quarter, so that I can try to find ways to support you. Below you can find further resources:

• UW Academic Support: http://www.academicsupport.washington.edu/
• UW Counseling Center: http://www.washington.edu/counseling/
• Husky Health and Well-Being: http://wellbeing.uw.edu
• Student Technology Loan Program: https://stlp.uw.edu/
• UW Food Pantry: https://www.washington.edu/anyhungryhusky/the-uw-food-pantry/
• Department of Classics Undergraduate Textbook fund (for majors and minors in Classics)
• Disability Resources for Students: http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/
  • If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.
  • If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at uwdrs@uw.edu or uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.  Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS.  It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.
• Religious Accommodations:
  • Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy . Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form .

Required Readings:

The required textbook for this class is listed below; a digital version can be rented for around $60 plus tax from the publisher, and a print copy is on course reserve at Odegaard Library. The Undergraduate Textbook Fund is designed to defray the cost of textbooks for Classics majors and minors; more information can be found here. Please be sure to get the right edition of this textbook (the easiest way to do that is to use the ISBN number below). Other required readings can be found on the course canvas site. Each meeting in the schedule below has one or more assignments to be completed before that class session.

Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective, Volume I. 16^th Edition. Wadsworth, 2013. ISBN: 978-0357370384  

These readings are a starting point for class lectures, which often will expand upon the assigned readings and/or present new material. Thus, I strongly recommend careful reading of the assigned material (using the posted study guides to direct your focus) as well as attending class lectures.

Assignments and Grading:

AI/Chat GPT is not allowed for any assignment, including studying for quizzes/exams/assignments. Use of AI/Chat GPT will be considered an academic integrity violation and be reported to the Office of Student Conduct.

• Canvas Quizzes: see schedule below. The lowest quiz will be dropped. 30%
• Exam 1 (IN PERSON): Monday February 2. Covers readings, lectures, and other assigned material from January 7 to January 28: 30%
• Exam 2 (IN PERSON): Monday March 9. Covers readings, lectures, and other assigned material from February 4 to March 4: 30%
• Final assignment: Monday March 16 by 4:20pm (upload to Canvas; cover readings, lectures, and other assigned material from the whole course). 10%

Quizzes will be multiple choice or true/false and will assess vocabulary/terminology and geography (see learning objectives 1 and 2, above). Exams will focus on analyzing ancient art and architecture in its historical, cultural, and social contexts (see learning objective 3 above). The final assignment asks you to respond (in any way you like, from drawings to audio recordings to short written answers) to four things that you learned in class (at least one of these must be from week 10 material; see learning objective 4 above). More information about each assignment will be posted in advance on Canvas.

Your final course grade is calculated from these assignments in the proportions given; for the conversion scale for this class, see end of syllabus. Please prepare carefully for these assignments and please contact me in advance if you have any questions about how to best prepare. There is no extra credit.

Further Expectations:

• Illness
  • Keep yourself and the rest of our community healthy! If you are feeling unwell, please stay home until you are better (no need to email me unless you are missing an exam; no make-up quizzes will be given).
  • UW’s respiratory illness guidelines can be found here: https://www.ehs.washington.edu/communicable-diseases/respiratory-illness-resources
  • Free masks are available at the information and circulation desks at Suzzallo Library
• No recording, photographing, posting, or distributing of course materials of any kind is permitted without my written authorization.
• Getting in touch with each other
  • Please check Canvas and your UW email daily; this is how I will communicate with you about pertinent information. You are responsible for all information disseminated over email and through the course website, in addition to information discussed in class.
  • I’m available in office hours for you! If you are anxious about assignments, please set up a time well in advance of the assignment or exam so we can discuss strategies. I’m also happy to chat about any other class-related concerns you have, or study abroad opportunities, how to follow your interest in archaeology or ancient history, etc. I am happy to answer questions over email, but please check the syllabus first to see whether the answer is there.
  • I will respond to emails by the end of the next working day (which means that if you email me on Friday afternoon, I may not respond until Monday afternoon).
• Grading
  • Students are expected to adhere to ethical behavior in their work, including following guidelines posted for each assignment concerning group work and plagiarism/cheating. AI/Chat GPT is not allowed for any assignment, including studying for or taking quizzes/exams/assignments. Use of AI/Chat GPT will be considered an academic integrity violation and be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. Failure to adhere to these policies will be considered an academic integrity violation and can be reported to the Office of Community Standards and Student Conduct and you might receive a zero on the assignment. If you have any questions about what is or is not allowable for an assignment, I’d be more than happy to clarify!
  • I’d be happy to discuss any of your graded work with you, but I ask that you wait twenty-four hours after receiving your assignment back in order to begin to process my feedback. After the twenty-four-hour period, please feel free to email me to set up a time for a meeting. Due to University policy, I cannot discuss grades over email.

Schedule of Topics and Required Readings:

Week 1: Introduction

Jan 5: Introduction to ARTH 201

Jan 7: Introduction to Antiquity

• Watch PBS’s Africa’s Great Civilizations, hosted by Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Episode 1: “Origins” [note: captions are available]: https://video-alexanderstreet-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/watch/origins-2

Jan 9: NO CLASS [Prof. L-R at Archaeological Institute of America meeting]

Part I: Select Civilizations in the Bronze-Age Mediterranean

Week 2: Southwest Asia in the Bronze Age; Northeast Africa in the Bronze Age

Jan 12: Mesopotamia: Sumer and Akkad

• Kleiner chapter 2: beginning through section on Akkad

Jan 14: Mesopotamia: Third Dynasty or Ur, Babylon, Elam; Anatolia: Hattusha / The Hittites

• Kleiner chapter 2: sections on Mesopotamia: Third Dynasty of Ur, Babylon, Elam
• Jürgen Seeher. Hattusha Guide: a Day in the Hittite Capital. Revised Edition. Istanbul: Ege Yayinlari, 2002. Read pages 155-170 [available on Canvas]

Jan 16: COMPLETE 1^ST QUIZ [ON VOCAB AND LOCATIONS OF CLASSES 1.2-2.2] BY MIDNIGHT. Pre-dynastic and Old Kingdom Egypt

• Kleiner chapter 3: beginning through section on Old Kingdom: Architecture

Week 3: Northeast Africa in the Bronze Age

Jan 19: NO CLASS [MLK day]

Jan 21: Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt

• Kleiner chapter 3: sections on Old Kingdom: Sculpture and on Middle Kingdom

Jan 23: COMPLETE 2^ND QUIZ [ON VOCAB AND LOCATIONS OF CLASSES 2.3-3.2] BY MIDNIGHT. New Kingdom Egypt

• Kleiner chapter 3: section on New Kingdom

Week 4: Southeast Europe in the Bronze Age

Jan 26: Aegean: Cycladic Cultures and Minoans

• Kleiner chapter 4: beginning through sections on Minoan Art

Jan 28: Aegean: Mycenaeans; Conflict and Gender in the Bronze Age Mediterranean

• Kleiner chapter 4: sections on Mycenaeans

Jan 30:  COMPLETE 3^RD QUIZ [ON VOCAB AND LOCATIONS OF CLASSES 3.3-4.2] BY MIDNIGHT. In-class review

Part II: Select Civilizations in the Iron-Age Mediterranean

Week 5: Southeast Europe in the Iron Age

Feb 2: EXAM 1 (IN PERSON)

Feb 4:  Greek Geometric, Orientalizing and Archaic Period (Statuary)

• Kleiner chapter 5: beginning through section on Archaic Period: Statuary

Feb 6: Greek Archaic Period (Architecture and Architectural Sculpture; Vase Painting; Aegina and the

Transition to the Classical Period)

• Kleiner chapter 5: remaining sections on Archaic period

Week 6: Southeast Europe in the Iron Age

Feb 9: Greek Classical Period (The Athenian Acropolis)

• Kleiner chapter 5: section on Early and High Classics Periods: The Athenian Acropolis [note section!]

Feb 11: Greek Classical Period (Statuary and Painting) and Greek Late Classical Period (Sculpture and

Architecture)

• Kleiner chapter 5: sections on Early and High Classical Periods: Statuary; Early and High Classics Periods: Painting; Late Classical Period: Sculpture; Late Classical Period: Architecture [note which sections we’re reading—we’re not reading all of the ones in the book!]

Feb 13: COMPLETE 4^th QUIZ BY MIDNIGHT. Greek Hellenistic Period

• Kleiner chapter 5: Hellenistic Period
• Yousuf Chughtai. “Revisiting the ‘Hellenistic’ Period.” Eidolon. May 21 2018. https://eidolon.pub/revisiting-the-hellenistic-period-5ff7e96b9fad

Week 7: Southern Europe in the Iron Age

Feb 16: NO CLASS [Presidents Day]

Feb 18: Roman Republic

• Kleiner chapter 7: beginning through section on Republic

Feb 20: COMPLETE 5^TH QUIZ BY MIDNIGHT. Roman Republic and Early Roman Empire (Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius)

• Kleiner chapter 7: section on Pompeii and the Cities of Vesuvius

Week 8: Southern Europe in the Iron Age

Feb 23: Early Roman Empire

• Kleiner chapter 7: section on Early Empire

Feb 25: High Roman Empire  

• Kleiner chapter 7: section on High Empire [skip section on Ostia]

Feb 27: COMPLETE 6^TH QUIZ BY MIDNIGHT. NO IN-PERSON CLASS; WATCH LECTURE ON PANOPTO. Late Roman Empire

• Kleiner chapter 7: section on Late Empire

Week 9: Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa in the Iron Age

March 2: Mesopotamia: Assyria and Neo-Babylonia; Persia: Achaemenid and Sasanian Empires

• Kleiner chapter 2: sections on Mesopotamia: Assyria, Neo-Babylonia; and on Persia

March 4: Nubia

• Kleiner chapter 3: section on First Millenium BCE

• Solange Ashby. 2021. “Priestess, queen, goddess: The divine feminine in the kingdom of Kush” The Routledge Companion to Black Women’s Cultural Histories. 23-34 [read pp. 23-32, skipping the section on “God’s Wives of Amun” on pp. 27-28]

March 6: In-class review

Week 10: Legacies and Afterlives

March 9: EXAM 2 (IN PERSON)

March 11: Legacies and Afterlives

• Margaret Talbot. “The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture.” New Yorker. October 29 2018.
• Sarah Derbew. “An Investigation of Black Figures in Classical Greek Art.” The Iris. April 25 2018. http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/an-investigation-of-black-figures-in-classical-greek-art/

March 13: The West

• Kwame Anthony Appiah. “There is no such thing as western civilisation.” The Guardian November 9 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/09/western-civilisation-appiah-reith-lecture
• Michael Press. “Who Really Owns Hagia Sophia?” Hyperallergic July 28 2020. https://hyperallergic.com/578925/who-really-owns-hagia- sophia/?fbclid=IwAR3x7mUiwHFy_apGUM2Pr3tyOnn3D9DxaHp5PvJL8BfPK8vjMsndI8T-2SQ

Final assignment due Monday March 16 by 4:20pm by uploading to Canvas

The grading scale used in this class is as follows: