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The College of Arts & Sciences
The Department of the History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University prepares students to undertake journeys into visual culture through traditional areas of study such as ancient, Medieval and Renaissance art, as well as through the integration of recent fields of theory and research. Students explore the history of cultural interactions as manifested in visual culture both inside and outside the West, from antiquity to present.
Note on teaching during COVID in the Department of History of Art:
History of Art is a discipline that depends on the viewing and discussion of images. Due to technical constraints in many of our classrooms, faculty and instructors are often unable to project their lectures via Zoom in accompaniment to physical teaching. For the same reason, recording lectures for viewing later is also not always possible.
Students missing classes due to COVID precautions are advised to keep up with the syllabus, readings, and other Canvas and library resources available to them, so as not to fall behind during their physical absence from class.
From 1991 to 2018, the History of Art Majors’ Society (HAMS) provided a way for Cornell history of art majors to enhance their knowledge about the discipline of art history beyond the classroom. These students met at the Johnson Museum one evening each week throughout the academic year to develop an annual exhibition drawn from the permanent collection and to research, write, and publish an accompanying exhibition brochure.
Browse recent exhibits via the links below:
Visual Culture Colloquium, Hayden Haynes. Bone and antler are significant to Haudenosaunee stories and peoples; however, these media remain marginalized in discussions of Haudenosaunee art.
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Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 5:15pm, Johnson Museum of Art, Wing lecture room. Navina Najat Haidar is the Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah Curator in Charge of the Department of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is currently marking ten years of its permanent galleries. This talk...
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"The Cyborgs Have Always Been Zombies: South Korean Body Politics and Lee Bul’s Body Art," A Pulse of Art History Lecture by Soyi Kim
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The Colby College Museum of Art announced today that Sarah Humphreville, BA and BFA ’09, has been appointed Lunder Curator of American Art.
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The Pulse of Art History Lecture, "Reshaping Circumpolar Art and Histories Through Indigenous Narrative and Visual Sovereignty," Heather Igloliorte
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History of Art Professor Kelly Presutti has written an exhibition review for Apollo titled "The artists who have managed to see the forest for the trees."
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Jung Joon Lee, "Sensing Borderlands: The DMZ, Camptowns, and the Theater of Repetition," Wednesday September 14, 4:45pm, GSH G22, Findley History of Art Lecture Series
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"The Society for the Humanities thought there is no better way to kick off the year of Repair, than to begin at home."
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