This fall-term course is required for entering MA students, and for PhD students who have not taken a course deemed comparable. Drawing on the expertise …

This introduction to the material environment of China’s political and intellectual elite during the last four imperial dynasties (Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing) surveys …

This course explores habits of collecting in Europe from about 1500 to 1650, tracing the development of the Kunstkammer and the cabinet of curiosities in the great …

This seminar introduces students to issues and debates within design history and material culture studies. It aims to provide an understanding of their development as …

This seminar explores the intercultural dimensions of China's material culture. Starting from the premise that cultural change is driven in part by intercultural exchange, the …

Beginning in the seventeenth century, increasing numbers of affluent travelers from northern Europe, along with their tutors, artists, and chaperones, embarked on an extended Bildungsreise …

This seminar explores the history, theory, and practice of collecting in the United States from the turn of the nineteenth century to the present. Both …

Faith is common to all human societies. Examining votive objects—often created to fulfill a vow or as a pledge and placed at a sacred …

This seminar surveys the Indigenous arts of North America’s Northwest Coast from historical and contemporary perspectives, and examines their role in the career of …

In the late 1890s, French architect Hector Guimard—now best known for his sprouting, organic designs for the Paris Metro—coined the phrase “Reject the …

The temporary exhibition, where objects are grouped together for a limited time to elucidate a particular thesis or argument, has been a key curatorial practice …

This course will explore the fundamental structures and properties of the materials used to construct the decorative environment. The objects that make up this environment …

The cultural history of what has been called the “Columbian Exchange,” after Christopher Columbus’ 1492 voyage, is still very much a topic of inquiry. Imagining what …

This co-taught seminar examines how archaeologists study things as evidence of the past, and how insights from this discipline might be applied to enhance broader …

This seminar focuses on the abundance of new scholarly research that examines craft within discourses of contemporary art and theory. A cross section of readings …

This course will be a preparation for the Focus exhibition Jan Tschichold and the New Typography to be shown in spring, 2019. Drawn from the collection …