Humanity has resorted to deliberate image destruction many times in its recorded history. This class focuses on the theorization of this widespread phenomenon and on its specifics through a series of case studies from the Ancient Near East, ancient Athens, the Roman Empire, Byzantium, Protestant Europe, pre-colonial and colonial Africa, New Spain, Portuguese-era India, post-Soviet Europe, and the US. The objectives of this undergraduate seminar are as follows: to gain a better understanding about the nature and role of images and image-making from a broad perspective; to conduct independent research on a topic related to the class; to present and write a research paper on the same topic. The skills that you can expect to strengthen in this class include: public speaking, scholarly research in the humanities, formulating a research question, reading critically scholarly work, analysis of primary sources (visual and textual), writing a well-rounded paper, team-work. 

This course fulfills the following requirements for the History of Art major: Geographical area (E) and Chronological period (I), (II), or (II), based on the topic of the final research paper or project.