Art History Course - Assignment Example

The study started with the in-depth analysis of the religions Islam, Christianity and Jewish relating them with the perceptions of East and West, referring to the texts by Jonathan Berkey, Maria Rosa Menocal, Nasser Rabbat, Jerilynn Dodds, Oleg Grabar, Rachel Milstein, William Tronzo, Annabel Jane Wharton and the likes. The referential books related to us the vibrant architectural and artifacts history of Islam, Christianity and other faiths; highlighting various central monuments and respective religious to political institutions and philosophical traditions based on economic networks, commodities and geographical stipulations.

The chosen study areas based on geographical settings were the Levant where the age of the Crusades witness the Ayyubid metalwork and glassware elaborated by evident Christian iconography, in Asia Minor Armenian-Byzantine masons and artists working for Seljuk and Ottoman courts were observed, Egypt's religious and political learning delineate the Courtly Arts, representation of conduct and utilization and trade of Fatimid's. As the course progressed we were directed to Spain studying the Mudejar style synagogues and churches created by the Muslim masons and architects for Jewish and Christian patrons and the Iberian Peninsulas acknowledging the culture of Tolerance, the Golden Age of Judaism, the relation and conflicts among Christianity and Islam.

The research work on regions such as Southern Italy, Norman Sicily where we interpreted a universal "language of luxury" that was intentionally created by ruling heads as well as the illustration on the tri-lingual artistic customs of the Norman, Islamic, and Byzantine civilizations. Greece cultivated in our minds the more elaborate architecture constitutions, the convoluted philosophical and religious interaction. Their individual sermons and preaching outlining the concept of their faith and believes were discussed in detail helping us to understand the encounters among such entities.

These comprehensive readings enlighten the art history students on the subject of medieval Mediterranean era as the communal stage of artisans made richer by the interaction of the East and West, bearing in mind the socio-religious divergence among them all. Communication whether resultant of warfare or peaceful affability created that shared world of art and culture; the individualistic beliefs and skills can be manifested from each study. Thus regarding this, both the regions can be deemed as individually accomplished of structural design and rich customs.

Class Critique:Keeping in view the purpose and high level design of the course, it comprised of a small group with classes held twice a week. This ensured that each theme based lecture and presentation helps the students to actually breathe in the medieval times of contrasting religions and beliefs. The lectures were conducted through related images and highly structured lectures on them. However I feel that printed handouts of the lectures or its important points would help students to understand the reading in a more efficient way.

Each student was encouraged to conduct presentations and discussions