Course Syllabus

Fall 2025 | ARH-1040-VO01 - History and Meaning of Public Art

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Cindy Swanson
View Faculty Credentials

Hiring Coordinator for this course: Dana Lee

General Education Requirements

VSCS Arts & Aesthetics

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

Students will explore the evolution, meaning, and impact of global public art. Students will examine various forms of public art, including murals, sculptures, architectural structures, installations, and performances, and consider how public art has the ability to both reflect and critique the values of a culture, including how it relates to cultural identity, community engagement, and social commentary. The course will cover historical and contemporary public artworks, including sanctioned and unsanctioned work.

Essential Objectives

1. Identify examples of public art throughout history, including murals, sculptures, architectural structures, installations, and performances and examine their roles in different cultural and historical settings.
2. Identify themes in public art that reflect how art is viewed in the larger culture, for example, war, peace, community, and social issues.
3. Examine how different funding processes of public art influence the art’s intent.
4. Evaluate a range of public art within its cultural context and consider how it integrates into, influences, or challenges the dominant cultural narrative.
5. Consider how unsanctioned public art gives individuals and groups the opportunity to express their cultural identities and challenge the narrative projected by the dominant culture.
6. Examine the relationship between cultural values and public art considering differing perspectives across time and across stakeholder groups.
7. Examine and discuss how people use and view sanctioned and/or unsanctioned public art to see themselves and understand their place or role in various cultures.
8. Evaluate the success and effectiveness of specific public art projects in achieving their intended social and cultural objectives including how public art has been used to disrupt personal and public perceptions to achieve social change.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV computer recommendations Support page.

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

*** This is a no cost textbook or resource class.
This class may require purchase of supplies or materials that are not available through the CCV bookstore. ***

ARH-1040-VO01 Link to Textbooks/Resources Information for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

• Reading articles, lectures, and watching related videos
• Online discussion Forums
• Quizzes
• Journals
• Short analysis essays for mid-term and final project

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity

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