Conference Program

Please be advised that seating at panels is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Details about additional program offered throughout the event are provided towards the end of this program.

The panels invite each speaker to provide a 15 minute presentation around the theme being discussed, followed by a Q&A with the audience. The interludes are gallery talks lead by their respective speaker and will be viewable via live stream on the fourth floor of 485 Broadway. The round table will provide a concluding conversation to the day’s events between the Department Chair and invited guests.

Friday, November 7

9:00–9:30 AM: Opening Presentation

Location: Sever Hall, Room 113

Speakers:

  • Joseph Koerner (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)
  • Sarah Ganz Blythe (Harvard Art Museums)
  • Felipe Pereda (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)

9:30–11:15 AM: Panel #1. Educating the Eyes. The Place of Art History in the University

Location: Sever Hall, Room 113

Chair: Robin Kelsey (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)
Moderator: Peter Galison (Harvard Dept. of History of Science)

Speakers:

  • Steven Nelson (University of California, Los Angeles Emeritus): Seeing Black?
  • Pamela Lee (Yale University): Contemporary Art is Hard to See
  • Yve-Alain Bois (Princeton Institute of Advanced Study Emeritus): The Open Space of the Graduate Seminar
  • David Joselit (Harvard Dept. of Art, Film, and Visual Studies): Time-Objects

11:15–11:30 AM: Coffee Break

Please enjoy some refreshments outside of Sever Hall, Room 113

11:30–12:30 PM: Interludes

Please note that the two interludes below take place simultaneously.

Interlude #1: Narcissus Draws

  • This interlude will be viewable via live stream in Room 422, 485 Broadway.
  • Speaker: Rosalind Krauss (Columbia University)
  • Introduced by: Harmon Siegel

Interlude #2: Curiouser and Curiouser: Four Capitals from St-Pons-de-Thomières

  • This interlude will be viewable via live stream in Room 427, 485 Broadway.
  • Speaker: Aden Kumler (University of Basel)
  • Introduced by: Jeffrey Hamburger (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)

12:30–1:30 PM: Intermission for Lunch

A list of suggested dining establishments can be found below.

1:45–2:45 PM: Interludes  

Please note that the two interludes below take place simultaneously.

Interlude #3: The Museum Without Walls

  • This interlude will be viewable via live stream in Room 422, 485 Broadway.
  • Speaker: Glenn Lowry (Museum of Modern Art)
  • Introduced by: Luci Williams, Jess Chen, Khushi Nansi (HAA Graduate Students)

Interlude #4: Sight and Insight: Persian Paintings from the Harvard Art Museums’ Collections

  • This interlude will be viewable via live stream in Room 427, 485 Broadway.
  • Speaker: Massumeh Farhad
  • Introduced by: David Roxburgh (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)

3:00–4:45 PM: Panel #2. Inclusions & Exclusions: Testing the Discipline

Location: Sever Hall, Room 113

Chair: Margaret Carroll (Wellesley College Emerita)
Moderator: Nancy S. Steinhardt (University of Pennsylvania)

Speakers:

  • Lothar von Falkenhausen (University of California, Los Angeles): Miscellaneous Reflections on East Asian History at Harvard
  • Ana Pulido Rull (University of Arkansas): Thoughts on the Art of the Tlacuiloque, Their Inclusions and Exclusions in the History of Art
  • Ruth Phillips (Carleton University): Points of Departure and Return: Historicism and Presentism in Native American Art History
  • Meredith Martin (New York University): A Counter-History of 18th-C. French Art

4:45-5:00 PM: Coffee Break

Please enjoy some refreshments outside of Sever Hall, Room 113

5:00-6:45 PM: Round Table. The Artist and the Critic.

Location: Sever Hall, Room 113

Chair: Joseph Koerner (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture) + Lauren Ehrmann (HAA Graduate Student)

Participants:

  • Margaret Livingstone (Harvard Medical School)
  • Michael Kimmelman (The New York Times)
  • Jordan Kantor (California College of the Arts)
  • Johanna Drucker (University of California, Los Angeles)

7:00–9:00 PM: Celebratory Reception

Join us for a celebratory reception at the Harvard Faculty Club’s Loeb House (17 Quincy Street)

Saturday, November 8

9:00–10:45 AM: Panel #3. “A Thing is Not an Image.” On Engaging with the Object.

Location: Sever Hall, Room 113

Chair: Jennifer Roberts (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)
Moderators: Ethan Lasser (Museum of Fine Arts Boston), Angela Chang (Harvard Art Museums, Straus Center)

Speakers:

  •  Cammy Brothers (Northeastern University): Early Modern Cut and Paste
  •  Andrew James Hamilton (Art Institute of Chicago): The Education of the Hands
  •  Christopher Wood (New York University): The Obscure Object
  •  Akili Tommasino (Metropolitan Museum of Art): Unboxing Lessons

10:45–11:00 AM: Coffee Break

Please enjoy some refreshments outside of Sever Hall, Room 113 

11:00–12:00 PM: Interludes

Please note that the two interludes below take place simultaneously.

Interlude #5: Revisiting Cosimo Tura’s “Adoration of the Magi” After 69 Years

  • This interlude will be viewable via live stream in Room 422, 485 Broadway.
  • Speaker: Svetlana Alpers (New York University)
  • Presented by: Joachim Homann (Harvard Art Museums)
  • Moderated by: Jiwon Lee, Byron Otis (HAA graduate students)

Interlude #6: Prince Shōtoku at Age Two

  • This interlude will be viewable via live stream in Room 427, 485 Broadway.
  • Speaker: Rachel Saunders (Princeton University)
  • Introduced by: Melissa McCormick (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations)

12:00–1:00 PM: Intermission for Lunch

A list of suggested dining establishments can be found below.

1:15–3:00 PM: Panel #4. The Museum & the University

Location: Sever Hall, Room 113

Chair: Caroline Jones (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Moderator: Cécile Fromont (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)

Speakers:

  •  Jonathan Bober: The Fogg as Model?
  •  Michelle Kuo (Museum of Modern Art): Black Box, Ivory Tower
  •  Jessica Levin Martinez (Cornell University Art Museum): On Academic Art Museums
  •  David Pullins (Metropolitan Museum of Art): Cards on the Table

3:00–3:30 PM: Concluding Conversation

Location: Sever Hall, Room 113

Moderator: Alina Payne (Harvard I Tatti, Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)

Participants:

  • Seth Estrin (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)
  • Vishal Khandelwal (Harvard Dept. of History of Art and Architecture)
  • Katie Smith (Harvard Art Museums, Straus Center)

Additional Programming

Fine Arts Library

An exhibition and presentation, The History of the Fine Arts Library, will take place on Friday at both 11:30 AM and 2:00 PM.

Harvard Art Museums

The Harvard Art Museums will be hosting exhibition tours on Friday, as well as Student Guided Tours on Saturday.

Harvard

There are always events and exhibitions throughout Harvard’s many museums and colleges, here is a selection of them.

Dining & Refreshments