ARTH 599: Special Topics in Art History
ARTH 599-002: Social Lives of Art
(Fall 2026)
04:30 PM to 07:10 PM W
Research Hall 201
Section Information for Fall 2026
Art historians study art in its historical context. By that, we usually mean considering how artists communicate with intended viewers through iconography and formal characteristics. This seminar approaches the context question from an additional angle and investigates how users imbue art objects with meanings by interacting with them in specific conditions. Those interactions can take many forms, including veneration, aesthetic appreciation, vandalism, destruction, and censorship. We will examine cultural understandings of the power of art to elicit diverse responses from viewers and, sometimes, even to actively influence human affairs. We will also trace the phases in the life of an artwork, from its creation and original use to its circulation and repurposing over time. Topics will include sacred and miraculous images; iconoclasm and the image debate in religion; making and destroying art as political actions; art and norms regarding gender, class and race. While many of the readings will center on late medieval and early modern Europe, students are encouraged to consider how the ideas can apply to their area of interest. For the final project, each student will select a human-designed and made object that has cultural significance or strong personal associations—anything ranging from a work in the National Gallery to a family heirloom—and investigate its social life.
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Course Information from the University Catalog
Credits: 1-6
Enrollment limited to students with a class of Advanced to Candidacy, Graduate, Junior Plus, Non-Degree or Senior Plus.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate, Non-Degree or Undergraduate level students.
Students in a Non-Degree Undergraduate degree may not enroll.
This course is graded on the Graduate Regular scale.
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