PERIOD STYLES

An historical survey course introducing students to the major periods and iconic styles and trends in western architecture, dress and interior decor of the past 2000 years; and to the social, cultural and technological influences on those trends, particularly as they relate to theatrical and production design.

PROFESSOR

Jenn Sheshko Wood

PROGRAM

University of Nebraska at Omaha Theatre

Fall 2024

SEMESTER PROJECTS

Mini investigations/ class activities/ Discussion Boards. Examples include:

  • Personal Aesthetic- A Discussion Board post highlighting a design style

  • Creating mini research presentations

  • Proving/disproving an existing theory

  • Shape identification/ object-based research

  • Vocabulary- maintaining and defining important historical and design language. Depending on how much the class does the homework readings/viewings, these vocabulary lists may come in quiz form, discussion, or as assignments.

  • Class Visual Timeline

    • Part 1- Students add vocabulary and lecture-based imagery

    • Part II- Students add research of specific tangential ideas/ areas of interest.

  • Final Design assignments based on a chosen historical text. This project will use research, collection/curation skills, verbal skills (and if chosen) rendering skills, to create a design presentation on a historical script placed in a new period or aesthetic.

PERIODS COVERED

Early civilizations: Mesopotamia & Egypt                    6000 BCE to 100 CE

The Americas - Mayan, Aztec, Incan, Pueblo              20,000 BCE to 1800s CE

Ancient China and Japan                                               starting approx. 5,000 BCE

Ancient Greece and Rome                                             1000 BCE to 500 CE

Early Europe, Byzantine, Moorish                                 500 CE to 1500 CE

Romanesque and Gothic                                                1000 CE to 1600 CE

Italian and French Renaissance                                      1400 CE to 1600 CE

English Renaissance, Tudor, Elizabethan                       1400 CE to 1700 CE

Baroque and Rococo, Palladian                                      1600 CE to 1800 CE

Neoclassicism, Federalist, Victorian, Edwardian, Georgian, Adam Style, Empire            1700 CE to 1900 CE

Art Nouveau and Beaux Arts                                          1880s to 1920s

Mission Revival and Arts & Crafts / Craftsman              1905-1940s

Art Deco, Futurism                                                            1910 to 1960s

Modernism, Prairie, Brutalism, Shed Style                      1940s to 1970s

FINAL DESIGN PROJECT

SCRIPT: Dracula by Bram Stoker

CHOSEN PERIOD & LOCATION: 1920’s Impressionism. Harlem, NYC.

RENDERING MEDIUM: Gouache painting

This project reimagines Dracula within the cultural and artistic context of the Harlem Renaissance, representing parallels between the silenced voices of LGBT and Black communities of the era and the concealed experiences and hidden motives central to the original text.

FINAL DESIGN PROJECT

Maid & Dracula

Maid & Dracula

Van Helsing

Van Helsing

Renfield

Renfield