AP Art History, a course that has not been offered at LACES for 11 years but is now making a comeback! LACES English teacher Mr. Adam Tan advocated for reinstatement of AP Art History, and will be teaching the class starting next school year.

“It’s just something I’m passionate about, and wanted to learn more about, and the best way to learn it is to teach it,” said Tan.

There are two things he really likes about this course:

“One, it helps students academically, for college. And two, I really believe it’s one of those courses where you gain some cultural knowledge that doesn’t disappear after you’ve taken the class,” said Tan.

Although this is the first time Tan will be teaching art history, he has lots of art knowledge and great interest in learning more.

“I took art history back in high school, I love museums, and I took a lot of fine art classes too, where I was actually creating art,” he said.

The AP course covers the history of art from prehistory to contemporary. According to the College Board’s website, students will analyze works of art to form a deeper understanding of culture and cultural interactions. They will explore different theories and interpretations of art, and the importance of materials, processes and techniques used in art making in order to understand the purpose and intended audience of art pieces in a historical context. The course will be available for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

“This might be a good choice for the more liberal arts-minded students, you know, taking AP World [History], and then AP Art History,” said Tan. “We’re only gonna do one section, which obviously means a lot of people who want to take the class won’t get in. But hopefully we get it right.”

Starting the course back up again wasn’t too hard for Tan, as the course has been offered before.

“We had it here [at LACES] a long time ago, an English teacher Draper used to teach it. That’s what made me think it could go in the English department,” he said.

Tan then went and talked to administration about it.

“I said it was something I really wanted to do, and they gave me the ‘thumbs up’.” said Tan.

Tan is thrilled that AP Art History will be offered starting next year.

“It’s a really good learning opportunity for our students,” said Tan. λ