Courses Offered This Year

Fall 2025 Courses

  • Ludovisi Gaul, marble, c. 1st鈥2nd century CE (Roman copy after a 3rd-century BCE bronze original), Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Altemps, Rome.

    ARHS 1300: From Mummies to Gladiators: Art of the Ancient Mediterranean and Ancient Middle East

    Day/time/location: Monday/Wednesday, 11:00-11:50 am, Friday sections
    O鈥橠onnell Lecture Hall (Owen Fine Arts Center 2130)

    Course Description: Introduces the arts and societies of the major cultures of the ancient Mediterranean and ancient Middle East: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Bronze Age Aegean, Greece, Etruscan, and Roman. The timespan of this survey primarily covers 4,000 BCE to 350 CE, from the pyramids of the pharaohs to the official Roman adoption of Christianity. Special attention is placed on art and architecture as a part of human life, from everyday activities to fabulous spectacles and the afterlife. Considering that these works of art were used and viewed in spaces and contexts that are drastically different than the museum and gallery culture of today, the course aims to resituate the art of the past within its original socialhistorical context and to probe the cultural value of these works on their own terms. At the same time, we examine the ways in which these works have been given the status of 鈥渕asterpieces鈥 within the canon of art history and question how and why these works were selected as special carriers of cultural value in our contemporary society.聽

    CC Credits: Creativity & Aesthetics

    Professor: Dr. Blair Betik

    Image information: Ludovisi Gaul, marble, c. 1st鈥2nd century CE (Roman copy after a 3rd-century BCE bronze original), Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Altemps, Rome.