This program explores European architecture using several different approaches, each emphasizing firsthand encounters with the built environment. One course surveys European architectural history, ranging from the prehistoric trilithons at Stonehenge to contemporary green skyscrapers aspiring to minimal energy consumption. A pair of 3-credit courses examine the historic roots and contemporary practice of urban planning in Europe and also the management, presentation and conservation of architectural landmarks and urban historic districts. A third course, offered as a mandatory S/CR/NC, teaches observational drawing skills using architecture as its thematic focus.
Numerous architectural landmarks—such as the Alhambra, the Colosseum, the Duomo of Florence, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, Hampton Court Palace, the Pantheon, the Sagrada Família, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Tower of London, and over a dozen other UNESCO world heritage sites—along with scores of additional venues, offer multicultural case studies pertinent to all of the courses in the program. Students will stay in Barcelona, Granada, London, and Rome, but will also make shorter trips or overnight visits to other locations, such as Cordoba, Florence, and Ravenna.
All students are welcome to apply. There are no prerequisite courses and no prior experience or skills are expected. The program fulfills the curricular exploration requirements for both Arts Practice and Literary/Artistic Analysis. It also fulfills the International Studies (IS) graduation requirement. In addition to Art History and Studio Art, this program can provide 6 or 12 credits towards a variety of pertinent majors and minors.
Students must have sophomore, junior, or senior status in the 2021-22 academic year.
18 Credits
ARTH 263: European Architectural History on Site: Prehistory to Postmodernism (6 credits, Art History, Literary/Artistic Analysis)
This course surveys the history of European architecture while emphasizing firsthand encounters with actual structures. Students visit outstanding examples of major transnational styles–including Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Moorish, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and Modernist buildings–along with regionally specific styles, such as Spanish Plateresque, English Tudor and Catalan Modernisme. Cultural and technological changes affecting architectural practices are emphasized along with architectural theory, ranging from Renaissance treatises to Modernist manifestoes. Students also visit buildings that resist easy classification and that raise topics such as spatial appropriation, stylistic hybridity, and political symbolism.
Instructor: Baird Jarman
ARTH 264: Managing Monuments: Issues in Cultural Heritage Practice (3 credits, Art History, Literary/Artistic Analysis)
This course explores the theory and practice of cultural resource management by investigating how various architectural sites and urban historic districts operate. Students will consider cultural, financial, ethical, and pedagogical aspects of contemporary tourism practices within a historical framework that roots the travel industry alongside religious pilgrimage customs and the aristocratic tradition of the Grand Tour. Interacting with professionals who help oversee architectural landmarks and archaeological sites, students will analyze and assess initiatives at various locations, ranging from educational programs and preservation plans to sustainability efforts and repatriation debates.
Instructor: Baird Jarman & Local Faculty
ARTH 265: European Urban Planning (3 credits, Art History, Literary/Artistic Analysis)
This course uses metropolitan areas visited during the program as case studies in the history and contemporary practice of urban planning. Students will explore cities with the program director and with local architects, historians and planners—as well as in groups on their own. Specific topics include the use of major international events, such as Olympic Games and World’s Fairs, as large-scale planning opportunities, the development of social housing programs, adaptive reuse of former industrial neighborhoods, public-private collaborations, the creations of arts districts, mass transit initiatives, and others.
Instructor: Baird Jarman & Local Faculty
ARTS 114: Introduction to Drawing Architecture (6 credits, Studio Art, mandatory S/CR/NC, Arts Practice)
Suitable for students of any skill level, this course teaches different drawing techniques both in a classroom setting and on location at various architectural sites. The course aims to hone observational and sketching skills and to develop greater awareness of formal characteristics in the built environment. Consideration of line, tone, shape, scale, surface, volume, and other foundational concepts and technical skills will be emphasized. Sketching assignments throughout the trip at different locations and types of structures will reinforce drawing practice.
Instructor: Dan Bruggeman
Baird Jarman, Associate Professor of Art History
Baird Jarman teaches courses on American and European visual culture and architecture, with a particular focus on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His doctoral dissertation examined the mural scheme depicting the Quest of the Holy Grail in the Boston Public Library. He currently serves on the Minnesota State Review Board that hears nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.
Students will stay in a variety of apartments, hotels and hostels.
The program will include frequent visits to buildings, historic districts, contemporary developments, archaeological parks, and other cultural heritage sites.
Program dates roughly correspond to the Carleton academic term. Specific dates will be communicated to program participants.
All Carleton-sponsored 10-week off-campus study programs charge the Carleton comprehensive fee, which includes instruction, room and board, group excursions, public transportation, medical and evacuation insurance, travel assistance, and most cultural events.
Students are responsible for books and supplies, passports and visas (when required), transportation to and from the program sites, and personal expenses and travel during the seminar. Students will receive a program-specific Additional Cost Estimate at the time of acceptance.
Student financial aid is applicable as on campus. See the Off-Campus Studies website for further information on billing, financial aid, and scholarships.
