Art History: An AP Course with a thematic emphasis
The following syllabi serve as a mini-database for teaching art history with an emphasis on Advanced Placement and thematic units.
AP Central Syllabus 1
Students connect western and non-western artwork thematically through individual essays and a group presentation, though class content primarily progresses chronologically.
AP Central Syllabus 2
This course follows a traditional chronological structure of the western canon of art with random breaks to insert non-western chapters—no apparent emphasis on thematic learning.
AP Central Syllabus 3
Syllabus only notes a separate unit of non-western work at the end of a chronological western development, but states that it is taught in comparison with European work throughout the course and as a separate unit of study. Long essays are used to for individual thematic comparison of western and non-western, though it is unclear if these are during test or separate assignments.
AP Central Syllabus 4
Non-western cultures are inserted as units into a western canon as they relate thematically, for instance, Islam as religion and sacred space after the study of Byzantium. As a review at the end of the year, the class looks at thematic essay prompts comparing western and non-western art from previous AP exams.
Bexley High School
This course inserts many non-western units between ancient Egypt and ancient Greek in the traditional western canon. Each unit, western or non-western, includes an art organizer based on a theme that relates well to that culture (e.g. animals in art, propaganda and power in art, the figure in art)
Somerset Academy
Non-western art is compared as it relates chronologically to the western canon. In addition, specific days of study are included at the end of the year, as well as thematic graphic organizers.
George Mason University
Traditional college art history classes that take one semester to cover ancient up to the Renaissance and one semester for Renaissance to contemporary. No noted use of thematic concerns and very limited exposure to non-western art (Islamic art).
Pine Crest School
This course inserts units of non-western art between art before 1870 and art after 1870. There is no mention of thematic units and the coverage of non-western seems to only relate to the influence of art beyond the European tradition on the artists of the 1900’s, such as Japonisme, the World’s Fairs, and multiculturalism.
El Paso Independent School District
A normal chronological approach, this course inserts art of the Americas and Africa in the middle of medieval art. Art of Asia and Oceania is covered at the end of the sequence.
Walton High School
Though the course description calls this a survey of western and non-western work, the outline only references western units and makes no mention of thematic discovery.
The Art Institute of Dallas
This course inserts non-western units into the chronological western canon as they impact the development of western art, such as colonialism and the art of exploration.
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There seems to be a lack of syllabi available that truly embrace a thematic approach when structuring an art history course. Instead, the most integrated western and non-western studies make thematic comparisons while progressing through a western canon. The course I created, an AP Art History course that does justice to non-western art (at least 20% of the study, per Collegeboard requirements), would take on the same approach. This seems to be an authentic way to relate the works to their deeper role in society and tell the story of humanity, with its common themes that connect across time and throughout cultures.
In structure, I prefer to connect individual works of art to the western canon as they relate in thematically rather than insert full units of study mid-stream in the canon. Only teaching the history Asian art to show how European art changed in the late 1800’s does a disservice to Asian art; it is only valued for how it helped advance the “real” story of art. Similar to many outlines that devote the last portion of the course to non-western art, I would devote time to non-western specifically at the end of the year. Rather than tell chronological histories of those cultures in one or two class periods, I would still approach the work as part of the thematic story of humanity. This approach would serve as a review of all art for the AP exam. Specific works of non-western art would be revisited, along with new works that explore chosen themes, and previously learned western art that tells the same story.
A key teacher resource might be Exploring Art: A Global, Thematic Approach by Margaret Lazzari and Dona Scholesier, as it examines art “in the context of human needs within world cultures.” The textbook does not neglect chronology, but presents artwork thematically, chronologically, and geographically. This may be key as Collegeboard is rumored to be restructuring the content of AP Art History and embracing the same three-pronged approach that already exists in this text. Perhaps this may even serve as a student-text in the future.
Assignment: Construct a mini-database of syllabi or lessons related to a discipline, subject, or topic of interest within art education, visual culture, or museums/museum education and a synopsis of the course created from this database.
