Latin America has been buffeted by economic crisis, soaring crime rates, major corruption scandals, and a devastating pandemic. These crises have threatened democracies across much of the region. DRCLAS has assembled four prominent scholars of Latin American politics to evaluate the state of democracy in the region. How serious are contemporary threats to Latin American democracies? What are the prospects for their survival?

...

People tend to think of ancient sculpture as colorless, as it appears today. But the carved surfaces were often vibrantly painted. Scientific analysis can help us envision the Persian capital city Persepolis in its original splendor.

Led by:
Katherine Eremin, Patricia Cornwell Senior Conservation Scientist, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies
Susanne Ebbinghaus, George M.A. Hanfmann Curator of Ancient Art and Head, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art

Explore the beauty and variety of plant forms with pencil and paper. Taught by a scientific illustrator, the emphasis in this online workshop will be on close observation and realistic representation. We will explore a range of techniques for achieving more accurate drawings and will delve into contour, gesture, foreshortening, and shading to create volume and depth. Groups will be limited to twelve, allowing ample time for individual feedback. All skill levels are welcome.

Cost: $30 for members, $35 for nonmembers.

...

Western scholarship has focused on the monumental sculptures in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley as Buddhas created in the late sixth and early seventh centuries. This lecture tells an alternative story based on Islamic sources from the tenth to the twentieth century, which saw these sculptures not as Buddhas but as legendary heroes representing the mythic conversion of the Bamiyan Valley to Islam.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Taliban destroyed the sculptures—as Buddhas. After the fall of the Taliban, the sculptures’ entangled histories and the viewpoints of...