Impressionism ignited in the rolling green countryside of Normandy, France, where Claude Monet and other local artists developed this new way of painting, shocking many traditionalists. In a spring lecture series, travel writer Barbara Noe Kennedy takes you to visit the sites where Impressionism was born and evolved—including the exact places where well-known paintings were created. Maps, photos, videos, and other visuals accompany the journey through the countryside and the Paris area. This session focuses on the origins of Impressionism. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Looking at the shared pasts of literature and computer science, former Microsoft engineer and professor of comparative literature Dennis Yi Tenen provides a context for recent developments in artificial intelligence. Rather than a magical genie capable of self-directed thought or action, Yi Tenen draws on labor history, technology, and philosophy to examine why he views AI as a reflection of the long-standing cooperation between authors and engineers.
Stravinsky’s spectacular early ballet scores such as Le Sacre du Printemps can distract us from where this prolific artist went next. Classical music and opera expert Saul Lilienstein examines a selection of classically inspired masterworks spanning 1918 through 1951—from L’Histoire du Soldat to The Rake’s Progress. Film excerpts of Stravinsky in conversation with other artists enhance the portrait of the man and the conductor.
Spend a day hiking to the summit of Washington, D.C.’s local mountain, a natural treasure less than an hour’s drive from the city. The picturesque and rocky Sugarloaf offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside of Montgomery and Frederick counties in Maryland. Guided by study leader Melanie Choukas-Bradley, learn about the mountain’s plants and wildlife, seasonal changes, geology, and history.
Inspired by the letters in her new book, Joyce Carol Oates: Letters to a Biographer (Akashic), Joyce Carol Oates, in a conversation with author and educator Rebecca Boggs Roberts, discusses her writing process and style over the past four decades. The letters in the book were part of a correspondence with a graduate student who eventually became her biographer.
“Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900–1939” at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery illuminates the accomplishments of 60 women who crossed the Atlantic to pursue personal and professional aspirations in the vibrant cultural milieu of Paris. Robyn Asleson, the gallery’s curator of prints and drawings, provides an overview of the first exhibition to focus on the impact of American women on Paris—and of Paris on American women—as she discusses portraits of Josephine Baker, Isadora Duncan, Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Anna May Wong, among others. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Stretch your creative muscles and deepen your observational skills at the National Gallery of Art. Create a drawn-treasure map as you visually explore time, space, and place in the museum's West Wing sculpture galleries.