Studies in Medieval Art (420-0-1)

Topic

The Once and Future Medieval Wing

Instructors

Christina E Normore

Meeting Info

Kresge 4354 Art Hist. Sem. Rm.: Mon 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

This course considers the past and future of medieval art collections in light of recent critical museology and curatorial practice and the current political moment. Through thematic discussions and selected case studies, we will consider the history of the ‘medieval wing' in encyclopedic museums as well as dedicated museums of medieval art. We will interrogate some of the modern uses of the medieval as a category and European medieval art as materials in the formation of national, religious, imperial and White racial identities in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as well as some ways that the medieval has been used to counter hegemonic claims. We will also consider the future of medieval collections and their display, particularly in light of the current calls for a ‘global medieval'. Our goal will be to find a path forward that resists the supposed universalism and neutrality of the presentation of the European past. To this end, for their final project students may write a traditional research paper or offer a proposal for the reinstallation of a section of a current medieval collection.