Josiah Wedgwood’s Legacy

Catalog description

This course will examine the evolution of 18th-century European ceramics under the influence of Josiah Wedgwood’s innovative spirit. Considered widely to be the father of modern marketing and manufacturing, potter, social activist, and politician Josiah Wedgwood built an empire from utilitarian objects underpinned by complex relationships between ceramics, technology, and culture. Through a combination of research-based exploration and hands-on, immersive learning, students will develop an understanding of the impact ceramics manufacturing had on such phenomena as social dynamics, social class, business practices, technologies that spurred advanced manufacturing, division of labor, and Neoclassical style. At the conclusion of this course, students will understand the significance of clay within history, the impact of pottery on culture in the age of imperialism, and how Wedgwood’s innovations endure today in the contemporary practices of studio pottery, ceramic manufacturing, and art. **This course requires a lab fee.**