Writing the Object, Writing the World

Graduate / Professional

What does it look like to place an object at the center of inquiry, to develop modes of narration that revolve around and evolve with that object, to write history from a visual and material nexus? This course explores the paradigm and possibilities of crafting a text focused on a single object. We spend the first part of the course reading such texts (books, essays, articles) to think about method, voice, and structure. We consider ekphrasis and description, archives and ghosts, fabulation and biography, history and ethics. The second part of the course is devoted to developing student projects, research practices, and object-centered writing, with workshops of paper proposals and drafts, as well as final presentations, enabling ample feedback and emphasizing constructive, collaborative discussion and critique. This course is open to all humanities Ph.D. students whose work foregrounds objects, whether in history of art or in allied fields. Those who are already undertaking dissertation work (and are still in residence) are also considered. Instructor permission required. W 1:30pm-3:25pm