Courses

Popular speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin guides a unique series that explores the creative minds—and hands—of a quartet of piano pioneers celebrated for their prowess as composers and performers. Each lecture includes a live performance of a work by the spotlighted composer. This program focuses on Johannes Brahms.

Artists such as Picasso, David, and Goya came to grips with the political upheavals of their day with heroic and searing images that elicit our admiration or moral outrage. Art historian Judy Scott Feldman examines the complex interplay between artistic expression and social and political content through the centuries. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Mary Hall Surface, founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, leads three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of artworks chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels. This session focuses on memory, identity, and setting.

If you’ve not experienced Paul Glenshaw’s dynamic series Art + History, in which he examines great works of art in their historical context, now’s your chance. In this summer series, he reprises six of his earlier daytime sessions in livestreamed evening programs. In this session, Glenshaw discusses Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Throughout the history of Western music, men have claimed most of the spotlight, with scores of brilliant creative women relegated to the less brightly lit corners of the musical word. In programs featuring live piano performances, Rachel Franklin places them center stage as she examines their talent, grit, intellect, and drive, without which many of the most celebrated musical figures might have been significantly less successful.

In this summer series, discover a “novel” way to explore the arts. Independent art historian Heidi Applegate explores the artists—Leonardo da Vinci, Judith Leyster, and Camille Pissarro—and paintings that inspired three works of art-focused historical fiction. This session discusses Laura Morelli's The Night Portrait. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

The lives of the disparate Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Louise Nevelson, and Cindy Sherman share one thing: the desire to ignore society’s dictates and live and work according to their own. Art historian Nancy G. Heller examines how these controversial American creators helped ignite some of the most important and radical developments in modern and contemporary art. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Mary Hall Surface, founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, leads three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of artworks chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels. This session focuses on sunlight, shadow, and story.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Mary Hall Surface, founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, leads three online workshops that spotlight a diverse range of artworks chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels. This session focuses on surprise, connect, and experiment.

If you’ve not experienced Paul Glenshaw’s dynamic series Art + History, in which he examines great works of art in their historical context, now’s your chance. In this summer series, he reprises six of his earlier daytime sessions in livestreamed evening programs. In this session, Glenshaw discusses The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

If you’ve not experienced Paul Glenshaw’s dynamic series Art + History, in which he examines great works of art in their historical context, now’s your chance. In this summer series, he reprises six of his earlier daytime sessions in livestreamed evening programs. In this session, Glenshaw discusses The 3rd of May by Francisco Goya. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Art historian Kevin Tervala explores the vibrant artistic expressions of African art through an examination of the continent’s historical trajectory. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

In this summer series, discover a “novel” way to explore the arts. Independent art historian Heidi Applegate explores the artists—Leonardo da Vinci, Judith Leyster, and Camille Pissarro—and paintings that inspired three works of art-focused historical fiction. This session discusses Carrie Callaghan's A Light of Her Own. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

If you’ve not experienced Paul Glenshaw’s dynamic series Art + History, in which he examines great works of art in their historical context, now’s your chance. In this summer series, he reprises six of his earlier daytime sessions in livestreamed evening programs. In this session, Glenshaw discusses Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

If you’ve not experienced Paul Glenshaw’s dynamic series Art + History, in which he examines great works of art in their historical context, now’s your chance. In this summer series, he reprises six of his earlier daytime sessions in livestreamed evening programs. In this session, Glenshaw discusses The Gross Clinic by Thomas Eakins. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

If you’ve not experienced Paul Glenshaw’s dynamic series Art + History, in which he examines great works of art in their historical context, now’s your chance. In this summer series, he reprises six of his earlier daytime sessions in livestreamed evening programs. In this session, Glenshaw discusses Gassed by John Singer Sargent. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Art historian Robert DeCaroli examines the cultural and artistic traditions of ancient Southeast Asia from the earliest archaeological evidence to the onset of colonialism, with a particular focus on the royal arts of the great civilizations that arose within the borders of modern Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Burma (Myanmar), Vietnam, Laos, and Malaysia. (World Art History Certificate core course, 1 credit)

In this summer series, discover a “novel” way to explore the arts. Independent art historian Heidi Applegate explores the artists—Leonardo da Vinci, Judith Leyster, and Camille Pissarro—and paintings that inspired three works of art-focused historical fiction. This session discusses Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)