Every other year, the History of Art and Architecture department offers an introductory course, “A Global History of Art and Architecture,” taught by Professor Sheila Bonde, a faculty member whose work focuses on medieval art, archaeology and architecture, and Lindsay Caplan, whose teaching and research involves contemporary and modern art, especially focused on digital media and technology. 

The course spans the global history of art, architecture and material culture from cave paintings to 21st century installation art, exploring the varied ways in which art shapes and reflects cultural, social, religious, and political concerns across time periods and throughout the world.

You can see the wide variety of students’ interests by looking at the project website created by graduate Head teaching assistant, Erica Kinias. The projects range from George Nickol’s recreation of the Serpent Mound, built by the ancient American Indian cultures of Ohio to Ilayda Kabatepe’s Ottoman dish, and Emily Zhang’s pastel recreation of Edgar Degas’ Dancers. 

Students exploring more contemporary history include Luke Colburn’s project "Art and Survival in With Those We Love Alive." Colburn considers how With Those We Love Alive, a hypertext work by game designer and writer Porpentine Charity Heartscape, engages with its community of players, and what the piece says about a community in the context of survival. Hasiba Zandi challenged herself to recreate installation artist James Turrell’s  "Raemar Blue (1969.) She writes,  "I was able to recreate the same piece with different materials, the only similarity being light.”