Students will kick off class talking about what factors have historically led women to be excluded from art practice and study. Based on the name of a famous article by late art historian Linda Nochlin, students will discuss what social, economic, religious, and political factors have led to the marginalization of female artists, even up to today. Then we will start our discussion of how womenwere producing art in the ancient world. 

 In Week 2, we focus on famous female artists of the medieval world, with an emphasis on painting and tapestries--both of which were produced in workshops full of women! Students will learn about the famous artist Hildegard von Bingen and the process of creating Medieval tapestries, as well as early female artists of China and Japan. In this class, we will address religious and social factors that led to the marginalization of women at the time. 

 In Week 3, we focus on art from 1300-1700, discussing the role of women in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Students will learn about how court versus church patronage opened and closed doors for female artists to become very popular. We will discuss the rise of genre painting, or scenes of everyday life, and how many female artists become famous for this style of painting. Students will learn about famous artists and discuss the role of education in hindering and helping these artists. 

 In Week 4, students will learn about the two paths that female artists take starting in roughly 1700--either painters for royal courts or experimenting with new art styles, such as Impressionism. Students will learn about the breakaway from traditional arts practices with the inception of Impressionism in the late 1800s. Students will discuss the artists Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt and how their works differed from their male counterparts in Impressionism, like Monet and Degas.