undergraduate, graduate

Thomas Cummins This is a general introduction to and survey of the arts of Ancient America. We will look at both Mesoamerica and the Andean art and architecture beginning with some of the earliest cultures and ending with Aztec, Maya, Muisca and Inca...

Suzanne Blier This course explores key art historical and architectural traditions in Africa from earliest man to the eighteenth century.

Eugene Wang What is it that makes both the cosmos and us? Qi, loosely glossed as “vital energy,” is the Chinese answer. Commonly evoked in medicine, therapeutic care of mind and body, as well as martial arts, it actually underpins a wider spectrum of...

Alan Corbiere The collections housed at the Peabody Museum of Ethnology and Archaeology, Harvard University, offer a stellar opportunity to investigate Indigenous diplomacy carried on throughout the Great Lakes and Northeast region during the colonial...

Jonathan Grinham, Joanna Aizenberg Leonard Palmer (TF) In recent years, a wealth of cross-disciplinary research has produced unprecedented growth in the study of "architectured-materials." At the heart of this growth is a desire to design extraordinary...

Patricio del Real Can architecture bring about a utopian space, a different space from the one we normally inhabit? This proseminar explores architectural utopias in the 20th Century by examining ideas, forms, and case studies across the world that sought...

Suzanne Blier Harvard Square has a rich history; under its earlier name of Newtowne (founded in 1630), it was once the site of the Massachusetts capital. Much has changed. This class looks back on the many changes Harvard Square has undergone, recent...

Felipe Pereda, Joseph Koerner Witchcraft as a magical practice is documented across many cultures since ancient times, while the “witch” of popular imaginings is a more recent local phenomenon. Young or old, alluring or monstrous—but usually female—the...

Ioli Kalavrezou The seminar will investigate an architectural masterpiece, the famous 6th c. Church of Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, now Istanbul.The monument stands at the forefront of the supreme architectural achievements not only of the emperor...