Whether you want to work in digital or film, this course offers a solid foundation for new photographers ready to learn the basics. Topics include camera functions, exposure, metering, working with natural and artificial light, and composition.

Step behind the silver screen with author and design historian Cathy Whitlock as she explores the artistry that brings movies to life. Based on her book Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction, Whitlock leads a journey through the sets, locations, and design stories behind films such as Gone with the Wind, The Great Gatsby, and La La Land.

Work with unglazed porcelain to create a modern interpretation of a classical mosaic inspired by motifs and subjects from the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Islamic art and architecture are both distinctive and varied. Art historian Sean Roberts provides an overview of the historical and societal contexts in which this tradition developed. The narrative covers 14 centuries and spans from the central Islamic lands across the globe. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

René Lalique, the daring jeweler of Belle Époque Paris, revolutionized adornment by rejecting gemstone traditions and blending metals with enamel, horn, glass, and semi-precious stones. His nature-inspired creations—dragonflies, orchids, and nymphs—elevated jewelry to fine art, embodying Art Nouveau’s union of art and life. Collaborating with Sarah Bernhardt and elite patrons, Lalique gained acclaim at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Art historian Tosca Ruggieri’s illustrated lecture explores his evolution, techniques, patrons, and rarely seen masterpieces. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

William T. Sherman, famed Civil War general, and his brother John Sherman, long-serving U.S. senator, experienced the war as a defining event in their lives. The conflict became a true "brothers’ war" as each relied on the other during some of its darkest moments. Historian Bennett Parten discusses how the two Shermans navigated the Civil War together, with both rising to personal and professional heights.

This spring, 55 colorful carved horses—plus one dragon—will again canter in circles on the National Mall when the Smithsonian Institution’s historic carousel returns after two years of restoration work. Built in 1947, the carousel was moved to the National Mall in 1981. After the Smithsonian purchased it in December 2022, restoration and fabrication experts Carousels and Carvings disassembled the carousel to begin repairing and restoring it. Company owner and president Todd Goings illuminates the intricate process of refurbishing the carousel.

Montgomery C. Meigs was one of the most influential yet underrated figures of 19th-century America, observes Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours. Renowned for energy, precision, and prickly determination, his legacy is stamped across the nation’s capital. As Quartermaster General of the Union Army, he supplied and equipped more than two million troops. He proposed transforming the Lee family estate at Arlington into a burial ground. Meigs oversaw the Capitol’s cast-iron dome, Washington’s aqueduct, and the Pension Office, later choosing his epitaph: “Soldier, Engineer, Architect, Scientist, Patriot.”