All upcoming Courses

With a dynamic and far-reaching history that spans the Neolithic period to the modern age, Chinese civilization has given rise to some of the world’s most remarkable artistic creations. Art historian Robert DeCaroli explores that complex legacy by examining how shifts in China’s social, religious, and political life have influenced transformations in its material culture. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

From the elaborate banquets of ancient civilizations to the lavish soirées of the Renaissance, feasts have revealed both the culinary delights of their time and the social hierarchies, power dynamics, and cultural exchanges that have shaped our past. In an evening series, food historian Francine Segan uncovers the meaning behind the food, drink, and rituals that have defined such gatherings and spotlights the unique foods of royal tables in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. This session focuses on ancient Egypt in the time of Cleopatra.

Throughout the centuries composers have been drawn to the perfect simplicity of shorter musical forms—from preludes, bagatelles, and overtures to art songs, impromptus, and nocturnes. But creating these exquisite musical jewels is a demanding art. Pianist and scholar Rachel Franklin shows how it’s done using miniature marvels by Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Bartok, Brahms, Faure, Webern, Debussy, and others.

From the elaborate banquets of ancient civilizations to the lavish soirées of the Renaissance, feasts have revealed both the culinary delights of their time and the social hierarchies, power dynamics, and cultural exchanges that have shaped our past. In an evening series, food historian Francine Segan uncovers the meaning behind the food, drink, and rituals that have defined such gatherings and spotlights the unique foods of royal tables in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. This session focuses on ancient Greece in the time of Alexander the Great.

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. Join Georgetown professor Joseph Hartman as he explores these thinkers in a fall series who offered distinct perspectives on the nature of human beings, the origins of political authority, and the formation of societies. This session focuses on Thomas Hobbes. Additional series options available.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for five online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts. This writing session is inspired by 20th-century Hungarian-American artist Lily Furedi’s Subway.

Over the centuries, major themes in art continue to appear and reappear. Portraiture, landscapes, and scenes of everyday life are a few notable examples of areas that artists have interpreted in styles ranging from the naturalistic to the surreal. Art historian Joseph Cassar examines significant masterworks within selected genres and offers a new way to understand and appreciate their similarities, as well as the uniqueness of the artists and the cultural norms that influenced them. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

Over the past half century, dwarves, hobbits, magic, dragons, runes, and other staples of fantastic realms have become entrenched in popular culture, from The Lord of the Rings to the Harry Potter series. There are substantive historical inspirations behind these phenomena. Historian Justin M. Jacobs discusses the evolving conceptions of fantastic elements in Eurasian history and lays bare the truth behind what he sees as four distorted myths of fantasy in our culture in this fall series. This session focuses on the history of magic.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for five online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts. This writing session is inspired by two works by 20th-century French artist Henri Matisse, including Open Window, Collioure.

In the 1840s, Italian composers Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini commanded full attention on the opera stages of Europe. The young Giuseppe Verdi inherited their traditions—and then began to transform them. In a 5-session series, classical music and opera expert Saul Lilienstein uses audio and video recordings to illustrate how the myriad musical and theatrical elements of Italian opera evolved under Verdi’s restless imagination.