Learning Art History at Mount Holyoke, 1872/2022
Jessica Maier, Associate Professor of Art History; Chair of Art History

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the first art history course taught at Mount Holyoke, in 1872. In this lecture, we will reconstruct that first lecture, comparing it to one students would experience today. When Mary Ellis, class of 1855, taught Greek and Roman architecture using photographs she had personally collected in Europe, she inaugurated a long and evolving tradition that Mount Holyoke’s current faculty both uphold and critique. We will explore what has changed in classes offered by the department today — who is teaching, what they are teaching, how, and, of course, why.

Location: Cleveland Hall-L3