A GLOSSARY THAT HELPS

     The glossary for Windows on Humanity is unlike those of other art history survey texts. Windows on Humanity provides a unique treatment of aesthetics terms and includes fewer technical terms. Internet search engines are presumed to be available to the reader to provide encyclopedic technical information. Additionally, the established survey art histories — Gardner, Janson, Stokstad et al — have excellent glossaries for technical terms. While accurate technical art terms are readily available online, online explanations of aesthetics principles and concepts are often confusing or incomplete. Survey glossaries often do not include terms that are essential to our understanding of art and its history — terms like “art,” “dramatize,” and “concretize.” The Windows on Humanity glossary explains art-related principles and concepts, as well as technical terms, in familiar, non-academic language and without terminology from other fields such as Gender Studies, Economics, or Theology.

     In the post-authoring phase of the book, glossary entries are being organized to help make the reader’s experience seamless. New terms will appear in the text either italicized or in bold type. Terms are either followed in the text by a brief description in parentheses or they are footnoted. Footnotes at the bottom of the page are more easily referenced than when they appear at the end of chapters. That said, final formatting of the book is not yet settled. Terms will also be listed alphabetically at the back of the book in a glossary with fuller descriptions and examples when needed, giving readers the opportunity to learn more about a term if they want.