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Department: ARTH

Course No.: 285W

Credits: 3

Title: African Art

Contact: Jean Givens

WQ: W

Catalog Copy: ARTH 285W African Art. Either semester. Three credits. A survey of African art from antiquity to present. Prerequisite: ENGL 105 or 110 or 111 or 250; open to art history and art majors, others with consent of instructor.

*** PLEASE NOTE: the content description noted above in italics is currently listed ONLY in the copy for the non-W section of this same course --a standard practice here and elsewhere in the UCONN general catalog to avoid repetition.

W Criteria: Writing assignments are integrated into the course content by having students engage in a critical and focused way issues that are raised in lecture and in assigned reading. This may take one of several forms including individual research projects or extended commentary on assigned readings. Per the University guidelines, the course requires a minimum of 15 typed, double-spaced, finished pages (approximately 3750 words exclusive of notes, bibliography or illustrations.) Written work will be worth 50% of the final course grade; students may not pass the class without passing the writing assignments. These requirements will be clearly cited in the syllabus.

The primary mode of writing instruction is written commentary on student papers. In addition, in-class discussion will highlight proper documentation; it will also outline the basis of evaluation of the essays on content (originality and clarity of ideas) as well as form (technical skill such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling.) Sample student essays will be available in one of several guides to writing art history papers, including Sylvan Barnet, A Short Guide to Writing about Art. Students also will be encouraged to consult a reference to grammar and documentation such as Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual .

The writing will be supervised while it is progress in the following manner. Students will re-write and re-submit written work in response to the instructor's written critique. Evaluation of written work will be based both on content and on form. Credit will be earned on the basis of individual writing; there are no group projects included in this course.