TOPICS: INTRO TO GLOBAL ARTS THROUGH PARIS MUSEUMS in Fall 2026 (AH1091A)

Introduction to Global Art through Paris Museums offers undergraduate students an entry point into the history of global art by engaging directly with the diverse collections of major museums in Paris. This course moves beyond traditional, Eurocentric narratives to consider how art reflects—and is shaped by—cross-cultural encounters, colonial histories, and global systems of trade and exchange. Through close visual analysis and on-site museum visits, we will examine artworks not only in terms of their geographic origins but also their materiality—investigating how materials and techniques used in art-making are often deeply connected to histories of conquest, commerce, and colonization. We will also engage critically with issues of appropriation and re-appropriation, the complex histories of provenance, and current debates surrounding restitution and institutional critique. Students will gain tools to analyze art within its cultural and historical contexts, understand key concepts in global art history, and reflect on how museums shape our understanding of the past. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify major artworks in Parisian collections, articulate their global significance, and apply art historical vocabulary to interpret the meaning and legacy of visual objects.