What is art history? Explain the discipline of art history: what does it study and what does it seek to learn? What does an art historian do? How does this differ from studio art/artists and from history/historians? Target length: one to two paragraphs. 10 points. Why memorize information about artworks or stylistic traits of the art of a given culture? I have asked you to engage in memorization work this term, learning the Artist, Title, Date and Culture of some 31 works of art and architecture and building a visual memory of various formal features that permit you to connect unstudied artworks to the culture that produced them. Reflect on why I might have asked you to engage in this work, in general and in the context of the study of art history specifically. Target length: one to two paragraphs. 10 points. What is your history of the human body in Western art, ca. 30,000 BCE to ca. 1400 CE? You spent two weeks studying different manners of representing the human form in art, through examples from numerous cultures in the Western world from ca. 30,000 BCE to ca. 1400 CE, and an additional two weeks studying artworks that may also have touched on the question of the representation of the human form. This study included reading or viewing Khan Academy materials; finding, observing, describing, and comparing works of art presenting the human form on Padlets and in written assignments; and possibly engaging with additional materials (e.g., Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History entries, museum collection records). Now it is time to write your own history of the representation of the human body in Western art. Choose 5 artworks that you think represent a range of approaches to the human form in Western art. One example must come from the Paleolithic or the Neolithic era, and one example must come from the Gothic era; the other three items must come from three other cultures studied during this course. Write a seven-paragraph essay in which you lay out your history. The first paragraph should state your approach to the question (this is up to you), why you have chosen this specific approach, and any limitations to your selection of artworks with which to answer the question (are you considering only women or men? only works of sculpture or painting? only nude figures? only items made in what is now Italy?). The next five paragraphs will each consider one artwork. You will describe each object, indicate what is distinctive about its presentation of the human body, and explain how this presentation is indicative of that culture’s artistic style and historical/social context. The last paragraph will be the conclusion of your essay. What is your history of writing in Western art, ca. 4000 BCE to ca. 1400 CE? You spent two weeks studying works of art that either contain examples of writing or that can connect to writing through their form, narrative quality (i.e., telling a story in sequential order), or iconography (referencing a known written story, like the life of Christ).  This study included reading or viewing Khan Academy materials; finding, observing, describing, and comparing works of art connected to writing on Padlets and in written assignments; and possibly engaging with additional materials (e.g., Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History entries, museum collection records, Schmandt-Besserat’s writings). Now it is time to write your own history of writing’s role in and effects on Western art. Choose 5 artworks that you think represent a range of approaches to writing in Western art. One example must come from a Mesopotamian culture (Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian), and one example must come either from a Jewish or Islamic culture; the other three items must come from three other cultures studied during this course. Write a seven-paragraph essay in which you lay out your history. The first paragraph should state your approach to the question (this is up to you) and why you have chosen this specific approach. The next five paragraphs will each consider one artwork. You will describe each object, indicate what is distinctive about its connection to writing, and explain how this presentation is indicative of that culture’s artistic style and historical/social context. The last paragraph will be the conclusion of your essay.