Poet William Butler Yeats was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival, the cultural movement that preceded the country’s political independence from Britain. Lucy Collins, editor of the Irish University Review and an associate professor at University College Dublin, explores the cultural politics of early 20th-century Ireland as the crucible within which Yeats’ work was formed and examines how the political and the personal combine in some of his greatest poems.
Unlike other great painters of 16th-century Venice such as Titian and Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Tintoretto was born and bred in the lagoon city. A considerable number of his works remain there to this day in the churches, confraternity buildings, and palaces for which they were commissioned. Art historian Sophia D’Addio of Columbia University explores a selection of Tintoretto’s dramatic and expressive sacred works located in such beautiful settings as the Church of the Madonna dell'Orto, the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, and San Giorgio Maggiore. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
French gastronomy has long been the benchmark for the world’s finest cuisine. The creativity bubbling up in French food today is rooted in thousands of years of culinary history, the collective heritage of a country that has always focused (sometimes obsessively) on everything that is put on the table. Susan Herrmann Loomis, author, cooking teacher, and French cuisine expert, leads a lively tour through the centuries that showcases the rich history of a unique and beloved cuisine and the influences that shaped it.
Men of Irish heritage played crucial roles in fighting the American Revolution. Their numbers included generals, thousands of enlisted men, and even spies—notably Hercules Mulligan, a major character in the musical Hamilton. Historian Richard Bell explores the Revolution from the perspective of the Irish and their descendants in America as he reconstructs the history of English and Irish antagonism; examines the role of Roman Catholic faith in decisions about loyalty and affiliation; and surveys the political and economic impact of the American Revolution on Ireland itself.
New York City in the early decades of the 20th century was a shaping force of America’s national culture. Cultural historian George Scheper explores the impact of the Progressive Era and the subsequent Jazz Age as reflected in the art, literature, and architecture created in the metropolis. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)
Painting was often perceived as a sister art of music, though typically occupying a somewhat lower place in the hierarchy. Nonetheless, throughout the Early Modern era, painters used musical motifs in their works to give their paintings a "voice" and convey a sense of beauty and harmony comparable to those qualities in musical compositions. Art historian Aneta Georgievska-Shine explores this relationship as it evolved between the 15th and the 17th centuries in Italy and Northern Europe. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
Ever since its publication in 1961, Joseph Heller’s satirical novel Catch-22 has been a beloved classic for generations of readers, especially during the turbulent 1960s, when its depictions of the atrocities of war captured the attention of Vietnam War protesters. Joseph Luzzi, a professor of literature at Bard College, guides you through the literary techniques and key themes that give Heller’s work its enduring appeal.
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are three influential philosophers whose ideas have significantly shaped political theory and the understanding of the social contract. In a fall series, join Georgetown professor Joseph Hartman as he explores these thinkers who offered distinct perspectives on the nature of human beings, the origins of political authority, and the formation of societies. This session focuses on Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
