Art and the Environment in the Early Modern Period

Catalog description

Examines the intersection of artistic practices and environmental thinking during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. An introduction to eco-art history, the class is organized around a series of key themes, which will allow us to explore, among other things, the role of empire building and colonialism in the transformation of landscapes worldwide; the formation of a host of ideas about resources and environmental management; the emergence of certain forms of ecological sensibility during the period, including notions of (and actions towards) environmental justice; as well as the ways in which artworks and built environments mediated people’s understanding of and ties to their natural surroundings.