ART 522 - Early Modern Things

Things expose relations in and between societies that inform the past. As Arjun Appadurai argues, “even though from a theoretical point of view human actors encode things with significance, from a methodological point of view it is the things-in-motion that illuminate their human and social context.” In this course, we will mobilize early modern things to explore what inanimate objects reveal about the animate world. We will study the social significance and cultural value of such things to look at and beyond their materiality. In particular, we will examine objects such as clothing from England, earthenware from the Italian peninsula, featherwork from the New World, and carpets from the Ottoman Empire to rethink how such things construct biography, impact memory, produce ambiguity, and dictate taste.

Unit(s): 0.5
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Notes: Graduate course. Offered fall 2026.
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Identify interactions and influences among various disciplines, fields, theories, analytical strategies, and source materials.
Deploy skills, methods, and knowledge developed in coursework.
Demonstrate close, analytical interpretations of source materials in one’s writing.
Conduct complex research, synthesize it, and argue persuasively in support of a claim based on evidence.
Analyze the value and significance of one’s own academic and creative work, and situate it within the context of similar works.
Express oneself articulately in oral discussion and in presentational modes when appropriate, and express oneself articulately in writing.