Over the past 2,000 years, Samarkand—located in what is now Uzbekistan—has absorbed the wealth and labors of Sogdian merchants, Manichean priests, Islamic astronomers, Mongol khans, Timurid emperors, Russian czars, and Soviet officials, all of whom attempted to use the city as a base from which to conquer Central Asia. Historian Justin M. Jacobs analyzes the cultural achievements of each of these historical groups.

As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved as decisive as the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Journalist and author Andrew Lawler offers a new perspective on the roots of the American Revolution as he describes the impact of the actions of Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia.

Over the past five years, the world has struggled to grapple with the realities of living with a global pandemic and its aftermath. COVID-19 has an historical precedent in the Black Death, the hemispheric pandemic that ravaged the 14th-century world. Medievalist Paul B. Sturtevant explores the people and societies who faced it, drawing parallels between the individual and collective experiences of people seven centuries apart.

During India’s colonial period (1757–1947), the British imperial system sought out Indian resources for exploitation and had a dramatic impact on the traditional arts and crafts of the subcontinent. Art historian Robert DeCaroli traces the rising influence of European powers in South Asia. Topics include the late art of the Mughal Empire, Company painting, Orientalism, photography, traditional crafts for domestic and foreign markets, Indo-Saracenic architecture, and colonial museums. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)

The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, or Cathedral Museum, in Siena, Italy, houses works of art and architectural fragments that were formerly in, or a part of, the Duomo of Siena (Siena Cathedral). These include a number of Italian Gothic sculptures by Giovanni Pisano and his school from the façade of the cathedral; the Maestà of Duccio di Buoninsegna, which was the altarpiece for about 200 years; and works by Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti. Italian Renaissance art expert Rocky Ruggiero highlights this lesser-known museum and its treasures. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Forgotten after the 17th century, Johannes Vermeer’s work was slowly rediscovered in France in the 1860s. Within years, some of his distinctive characteristics, including his taste for intimate, psychologically charged interiors and a sensitivity to light and color, found reflections in works by artists such as Whistler, Degas, and Vuillard—and later, Edward Hopper. Art historian Aneta Georgievska Shine examines the facets of the "Vermeer effect" among French painters, those in other parts of Europe, and in the United States. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Over more than 500 years, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh’s royal palace, has witnessed many extraordinary events, including state occasions, balls and banquets, intimate dinners, secret meetings, and even a dramatic murder. In conversation, Emma Stead, the palace’s curator, and Deborah Clarke, its former senior curator and author of a book about Holyroodhouse, delve into the stories of its past occupants and look at its present use by the British royal family.

For approximately five centuries during the second millennium B.C.E., the Egyptian city of Thebes served as the backdrop for the construction of a bewildering array of religious temples, memorial complexes, and royal tombs. Historian Justin M. Jacobs introduces the chief cultural, religious, and political themes of the monuments of ancient Thebes: the Karnak and Luxor temples of the East Bank, the memorial temples of the West Bank, and the necropolis in the Valley of the Kings.