First-Year Seminar: Art and Astronomy: 3000 BCE to Present.

Catalog description

For millennia, people have gazed into the universe and wondered about their place in it. How did the universe begin, what is its nature, and how do its cycles shape human lives? This seminar considers how artwork reflects human efforts to address these questions, from the earliest recorded observations by Sumerians to present; how ancient peoples around the world observed and understood the cosmos; how maps, clocks, and methods of measurement have changed over time and made long-distance travel possible; how clashes between competing worldviews altered traditional conceptions of space and time; and how we explore our own nature.