MDVL 501ACultures of Knowledge

Catalog

This seminar will investigate the new institutions and networks formed for the purpose of creating and exchanging knowledge in the early modern period. Starting with traditional places of learning such as universities and guilds, the course will move through the new types of institutions created in this period and their different functions in regulating, distributing, and creating knowledge. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this seminar will consider immerging institutions across all disciplines, from art academies to scientific societies. For each we will ask questions about who could participate in these institutions; who financed such endeavors; what they did; and what (if anything) they produced. Taken together, the course materials, readings, and discussion will provide insight into how European and global networks constructed an early modern knowledge economy. This seminar is tied to the CEMERS lecture series, and several guest lectures will be given by visiting scholars throughout the semester. Fulfills pre-1800 requirement for art history major or minor.