All upcoming Art & Architecture programs

Art historian Roland Betancourt illuminates the central role of images in Byzantine culture, focusing on how basic questions about images and their power in the medieval world can inform the ways in which images are thought about today. Covering the crucial years of the Byzantine Empire (roughly 330–1453), Betancourt looks at the art, architecture, and theories of visual culture in the medieval lands of the eastern Mediterranean and in modern-day Türkiye, Greece, Syria, and Russia. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1 credit)

Hindus have long wished to see their deities in visible form, and artists have met this desire through sculptures and paintings. In modern India, this desire has also been met by colorful mass-produced “God-prints,” often called calendar prints or bazaar art. Richard Davis, professor emeritus of religion, outlines the history of this genre of commercial religious art, from its origins in colonial Kolkata and Maharashtra through its proliferation in independent India. (World Art History Certificate elective, ½ credit)

When the American Revolution transformed global ideas about governance, it also sparked an upheaval in style. As the new nation distanced itself from European royals, its leaders rejected the ornate fashions of the aristocracy in favor of sober suits. These styles would become the foundation of menswear for the next 250 years, explains historian Chloe Chapin. Tracing the evolution of the modern suit, Chapin explores what it has meant to the men who created it, the women who later adopted it, and those who rebelled against it.

Between 1945 and 1970, American artists transformed modern art. Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, and Lee Krasner introduced large, gestural paintings that redefined artistic expression. Their breakthroughs paved the way for Pop artists—Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, and James Rosenquist—who turned consumer culture and mass media into bold imagery. Art historian Jennie Hirsh traces how these movements reshaped postwar American art and its lasting cultural impact. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan houses one of Italy’s most historically significant art collections. The museum preserves masterpieces from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, including works by da Vinci, Caravaggio, Botticelli, Titian, and Raphael. Italian Renaissance art expert Rocky Ruggiero explores the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana’s history and the masterpieces that make it a cornerstone of Milan’s artistic heritage. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

As he examines Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, Paul Glenshaw is joined by Revolutionary War scholar Iris de Rode, whose groundbreaking discoveries of the eyewitness accounts of one of the top French generals depicted from life in the painting bring a fresh perspective to the French­–American alliance and the French contribution to the American side of the war. Glenshaw and de Rode unfold the story of Yorktown and Trumbull, from the painting’s unveiling in the U.S. Capitol’s Rotunda in 1826 to how the creator’s unusual career as soldier, diplomat, and artist shaped this iconic work. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

The Nazis didn’t steal just art, says author and prosecutor Adena J. Bernstein: They also stole identity, history, and memory. Decades later, thousands of those artworks hang in museums and private collections not because their histories are unknown but because laws permit institutions and third parties to retain them. Drawing on research covering 13 nations, Bernstein describes how coerced sales were later treated as legitimate transactions and how survivors and their families have been asked to meet heavy evidentiary burdens.

Nearly intact, and as vibrant today as it was when new, the Bayeux Tapestry was produced in the immediate aftermath of the Norman Conquest of 1066, when the fates of the kingdoms of England and France were altered ever after. Historian Samuel Collins explores the agenda and arguments laid out on the tapestry and what the latest scholarship reveals about the strategies its makers employed for rendering a pointed account of the months leading up to the Battle of Hastings. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)

Step beyond the monuments and virtually explore one of D.C.’s most dynamic neighborhoods with Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours. Journey east of the Anacostia River through a rich visual narrative of historic homes, cultural landmarks, and powerful stories that reveal a neighborhood defined by resilience and reinvention. Trace Anacostia’s evolution from its early roots through its transformation into a center of Black culture, activism, and civic life. Along the way, encounter preserved 19th-century rowhouses, ambitious preservation efforts, and a thriving arts scene that continues to shape the neighborhood today.

Art historian Nancy G. Heller presents a richly illustrated lecture on groundbreaking women artists who have earned major awards, MacArthur “genius” grants, and international recognition. She highlights Simone Leigh’s monumental sculptures of Black women, Julie Mehretu’s layered political abstractions, Wendy Red Star’s witty explorations of Indigenous identity, Cristina Iglesias’s immersive underwater installations, and Amy Sherald’s revitalized portraiture—all showcasing the global breadth and innovation of contemporary women artists. (World Art History Certificate elective, ½ credit)