This course explores the relationship between architecture and sexuality in the context of European modernism. It looks at the diverse ways Western sexuality and modern architecture have produced the conditions that define our age. The history of space-making has been saturated with sexual metaphors—the shaft, the high-rise, the closet—and sexual and gender identities have been shaped by architectural forms—the bathhouse, the kitchen, the hotel, the office, the secret garden, etc. Yet, the space of sexuality has been excluded from the history of architecture.
Art History is the study of the visual arts in civilization. It examines changing values in all fields of visual culture, including painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, architecture, film, the mass media, and forms of popular expression. Its interdisciplinary reach encompasses literature, history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, gender studies, critical theory, and cultural studies. Art History emphasizes visual as well as verbal and written literacy, providing more than the standard advantages to a liberal arts education.
Students majoring in Art History will engage with the wide-ranging opportunities its curriculum presents for learning and research. Studying Art History develops visual literacy, communication skills, critical/creative thinking and an understanding of diversity.
Heghnar Watenpaugh will be speaking in Berlin on July 24 at the “Causality or Contingency: What Keeps Culture Going” Joint Workshop at Frei Universität. In a panel chaired by Tufan Acil, Heghnar will discuss “Survivor Objects: Cultural Heritage after Genocide.”
This series, made possible by the generous support of Alan Templeton (B.A. 1982), is free and open to the public. Title and speakers are TBD but will be announced soon.
