Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for a series that explores the essential elements of close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative writing through the lens of four paintings that span centuries and styles. This session explores story.
Explore the art and architecture of the Middle Ages through four transformational moments in history. Art historian Judy Scott Feldman examines the art of the thousand-year period between classical antiquity and the Renaissance and its relationship to a diverse society infused with faith and spirituality. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
Opera and classical music expert Saul Lilienstein surveys Stravinsky’s major accomplishments, from his early ground-breaking music for the Ballets Russes, through the neoclassical masterworks that culminated with The Rake’s Progress, to the far-reaching modernism of his later years.
A stone’s throw from tourist-magnet landmarks are the places that offer travelers a true taste of life in Europe’s most appealing neighborhoods. Fred Plotkin offers a guide to the lesser-known churches, theaters, specialty shops, cafes, and unusual museums that make three major cities well worth a visit. This session focuses on Rome.
Popular speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin combines presentations and piano demonstrations to examine the lives and work of Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Frederic Chopin, Franz Liszt, and Richard Wagner.
Dedicate three midday breaks to learning with Linda Lang, a certified yoga therapist, as she weaves together yogic practices and shares the keys for using them to face change with wisdom, grace, strength, and resilience. In addition, meet local members of the medical community who endorse and use yoga as a tool for prevention and healing.
Historian Justin M. Jacobs offers an overview of some of the most intriguing UNESCO World Heritage sites, providing glimpses into the evolution of complex civilizations, empires, and religions. In this session, his examination of prehistoric cave art painted on the walls and ceilings of the Altamira in Spain and Lascaux and Chauvet in France reveals tantalizing clues about the origins of humankind and the development of abstract thought.
From its origins in the ancient civilization to the present, the complex culture of South Asia has given rise to some of the world’s most remarkable art. Art historian Robert DeCaroli highlights the artistic traditions and historical changes within the Indian subcontinent from the earliest archaeological evidence to the onset of colonialism. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)
Historian Justin M. Jacobs offers an overview of some of the most intriguing UNESCO World Heritage sites, providing glimpses into the evolution of complex civilizations, empires, and religions. In this session, he offers the fascinating history of the accidental discovery of what was once thought to be “dragon bones,” revealing a new picture of Chinese civilization at the dawn of history—one filled with human sacrifice, communion with the supernatural world, and powerful women on the battlefield.
A stone’s throw from tourist-magnet landmarks are the places that offer travelers a true taste of life in Europe’s most appealing neighborhoods. Fred Plotkin offers a guide to the lesser-known churches, theaters, specialty shops, cafes, and unusual museums that make three major cities well worth a visit. This session focuses on Vienna.
The pianist, vocalist, and humorist extraordinaire pays tribute to the composers whose work defines the Great American Songbook including Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, and George Gershwin.
Historian Justin M. Jacobs offers an overview of some of the most intriguing UNESCO World Heritage sites, providing glimpses into the evolution of complex civilizations, empires, and religions. In this session, he examines the iconic moai statues of Easter Island and draws on the latest scholarship and theories to explain how these giant statues came to dominate the most remotely inhabited islands in the world.
A stone’s throw from tourist-magnet landmarks are the places that offer travelers a true taste of life in Europe’s most appealing neighborhoods. Fred Plotkin offers a guide to the lesser-known churches, theaters, specialty shops, cafes, and unusual museums that make three major cities well worth a visit. This session focuses on Madrid.
Historian Justin M. Jacobs offers an overview of some of the most intriguing UNESCO World Heritage sites, providing glimpses into the evolution of complex civilizations, empires, and religions. In this session, he explores the world of the Inca empire and analyzes Machu Picchu’s original function as a royal estate, its abandonment, rediscovery, and popularization in the 20th century.
