Smithsonian Associates - Educating and Entertaining Audiences for More Than 50 Years

Although the Barnes Foundation is widely known for its post-impressionist and early modern art, its extensive African collection has long been central to the museum’s educational mission. Using high-definition Deep Zoom technology, Barnes educator Penny Hansen guides a live virtual tour that surveys highlights of these distinctive holdings. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Art historian Robert DeCaroli examines the sites and structures that made up the urban landscape of the Khmer Empire and traces the historical shifts, royal decisions, religious beliefs, and cultural processes that led to its development. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

As a young man, Leonardo da Vinci wrote about finding the skeleton of a great “fish” while roaming in the hills of Tuscany. What followed was decades of interest in fossils and informed speculation about the planet’s history. Biologist Kay Etheridge examines how this fascination with fossils is reflected in his artworks.

From the speakeasy era to the mid-1960s, “black-and-tan clubs” were a unique entertainment phenomenon: nightclubs that brought together artists and audiences of all races to celebrate the joys of jazz. Loren Schoenberg, Senior Scholar/Founding Director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, joins artistic director and conductor Charlie Young to provide historical context as Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra’s Small Band captures the vibrant spirit and style of the early black-and-tan clubs in song.

Taliesin, the Wisconsin home and studio of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, was witness to some of the greatest tragedies of his life, as well as some of his greatest triumphs. Join Taliesin historian Keiran Murphy as she tells the story of the iconic house and how it reflects decades of shifts in Wright's personal and professional life. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

It's easy to think of fairy tales as something distinctly European or antiquated. But folklorists Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman discuss the fairy-tale traditions and stories that can be found around the United States, including the Jack Tales of Appalachia, Black folk and fairy tales from the South, and the rise of the Disney fairy-tale empire.

The state of Oaxaca in Mexico, and its eponymous Spanish colonial capital city, have been important cultural crossroads from pre-Columbian times to the present day. Learn about its rich cultural history, from the domestication of maize corn more than 10,000 years ago to Oaxaca’s emergence as a contemporary international cultural center.