A course as gateway
One of the great joys of studying art history at Harvard is the emphasis that the History of Art and Architecture Department places on studying works of art in person. The Harvard Art Museums are, of course, a phenomenal resource, and many of my classes have met in the galleries or have devoted particular consideration to prints or photographs that have been pulled from storage for the students’ benefit. Other classes I have taken, such as my freshman seminar with Professor Joseph Koerner on genre painting in Boston-area museums and my sophomore tutorial on medieval art in American collections, have ventured beyond Harvard’s walls to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and even the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cloisters in New York City. But the most remarkable opportunity by far comes in the form of the sophomore excursion course. HAA100r was begun in 2008...