In 2016, the Department appointed an advisor for diversity and inclusion from among the faculty. This advisor is a point person who role is to streamline communications between the different constituencies in the department. The advisor makes regular reports to the entire faculty, who then discuss and make decisions collaboratively. The position, which is voluntary, will rotate regularly to ensure that no single faculty member is disproportionately burdened.

We believe that this organizational structure has enabled us to make equity, diversity, and inclusion a normative part of our teaching, curricular planning, and hiring. Prof. Osayimwese served as the first Diversity Advisor from 2016-2018, and Prof. Moser assumed that role in the fall of 2018.

Our department participates in the University’s Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows program which identifies promising recent Ph.D. graduates from underrepresented groups at Brown.

For the 2024-2025 academic year, the department will be offering courses with the Race, Power, and Privilege (RPP) designation. These courses aim to explore the ways in which power structures founded in racial constructs manifest in the scope of the History of Art and Architecture. We strongly encourage all concentrators to explore these course offerings and consider integrating them into your studies within the HIAA department. You can learn more about the RPP designation here. 

Art History Detectives: The Case of the Black Gospel Window - HIAA 1014: In 2022, a stained-glass window was uncovered in a church in Warren, RI. The window appears to be the earliest known representation of Christ and Gospel Women as people of color in American public space. Who made this window? Why did it depict people of color in a biblical scene? This course introduces students to art and architectural history research in action through participation in a collaborative research project bringing together Brown University faculty, faculty experts from across the United States, museum curators at the Memphis Art Museum which will conserve and display the window, and heritage professionals from Rhode Island.

From Treasuries to Cabinets of Curiosity: A History of Collecting Art and Artifacts - HIAA 1104: From the Treasury of Saint-Denis in medieval Paris to Athanasius Kirchner’s museum of curiosities in early modern Rome, collectors have long been fascinated by the finest objects formed by nature and human hands. This seminar will focus on the intersection of art and science and the principles of early modern collecting and display. Each week students will consider how collectors classified objects as wonders of art or science, and how the princely and scientific collections of the early modern world shaped modern museum practices. Attention will also be given to the global trade networks that made the collection of such objects possible.

Designed in European Style: Colonial Architecture of the Global South - HIAA 1121: In many (post) colonial cities across the Global South, colonial architecture often continues to define contemporary cityscapes. These buildings—including but not limited to monuments, commercial spaces, hotels, and houses—function as sites of negotiation for decolonial rhetoric. This course traces colonial architecture across time, linking social, political, and cultural change with specific case studies of colonial architecture across South and Southeast Asia, West Africa, and South America. We will engage both broad theoretical overviews and closely read archival documents, photographs, plans, novels, memoirs, and films to understand colonial architecture in its historical and contemporary contexts. This course provides a foundation to understand the continuous reckoning with colonial remnants in the Global South. This is a WRIT and RPP course and is open to all undergraduate students.

Real and Unreal Landscapes - HIAA 1721: This seminar is about how artists imagine the land, and the relationship between people and the places that they inhabit. We will think broadly about how people have conceptualized “nature,” the “landscape,” and “colonization” from the eighteenth century to today as well as hone in on specific artistic traditions, including those in Africa, Europe, and South Asia and across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. This class will investigate materials that come from the land, such as oil, clay, and pigments; other aspects of the environment, like waterways and clouds; and other art forms, including music, fiction, and dance. 

Architecture and Urbanism of Africa - HIAA 0770: This course introduces African built environments from the earliest known examples to the contemporary moment. Through recent debates about heritage and preservation, we will interrogate “Africa” as both an imagined construct and a concrete geographic entity characterized by diverse cultures, contexts, and histories. We will also explore competing interpretations of Africa’s architectural and urban history and their contemporary relevance.

Art from The Four Corners of the Early Modern World - HIAA 1015: Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, encounters between Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa challenged traditional worldviews as people, objects, and ideas traveled between the “four corners of the world.” These encounters resulted in distinct works of art such as Dutch cabinets made from African ebony and classical architectural facades featuring carvings of Chinese peonies in Macau. In this course, we will consider how artistic styles spread across the globe and how historical forces shaped constructions of race and ethnicity. Students will also be introduced to various methodological approaches to the discipline of art history.