History

2023 Oct 26

Exhibition Tour—Objects of Addiction: Opium, Empire, and the Chinese Art Trade

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

Join curator Sarah Laursen for a tour of the exhibition Objects of Addiction: Opium, Empire, and the Chinese Art Trade (September 15, 2023–January 14, 2024). The exhibition explores the entwined histories of the opium trade and the Chinese art market between the late 18th and early 20th centuries. Laursen will share how these two commodities—acquired through both legal and illicit means—have had a lasting impact on the global economy, public health, immigration law, education, and the arts.

...

Read more about Exhibition Tour—Objects of Addiction: Opium, Empire, and the Chinese Art Trade
2023 Oct 08

Spotlight Tour: Seeing in Art and Medicine, with Genesis Nam '24

11:00am to 11:50am

Location: 

Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

On this tour, Genesis Nam ’24 will put visitors in the shoes of the radiologists who have participated in the Seeing in Art and Medical Imaging program, which is offered by the Harvard Art Museums in partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The program promotes empathy, mindfulness, and tolerance for ambiguity in the medical community through conversations about works of art, focused on themes such as care, objectivity, and power. The stops on the tour are Shutter (2006), a glazed stoneware sculpture by Rosemarie Trockel, and an Attic grave stele, Woman dying in...

Read more about Spotlight Tour: Seeing in Art and Medicine, with Genesis Nam '24
2023 Oct 07

Spotlight Tour: Deconstructing Disorientation, with Emily Feng '25

2:00pm to 2:50pm

Location: 

Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

On this tour, Emily Feng ’25 will explore how certain works of art provoke a sense of disorientation. A student of philosophy and economics, Feng will look closely at three works: Saxon Motif (1964), an oil painting made in West Germany by Georg Baselitz; Zhan Wang’s Sculpture in the Form of a Nine-Hole Scholar’s Rock, made in China in 2001; and The End of the World (1936), a painting by David Alfaro Siqueiros, which he produced in New York City.

No registration required.

...

Read more about Spotlight Tour: Deconstructing Disorientation, with Emily Feng '25
2023 Oct 07

Spotlight Tour: Sensing the Divine, with Hanna Carney '25

11:00am to 11:50am

Location: 

Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

On this tour, Hanna Carney ’25 will look at multisensory religious experiences as portrayed in art and the significant role they play in people’s lives. Featured works include a bronze ritual wine vessel (late 11th–early 10th century BCE), cast in China during the Zhou dynasty, and The Miracle of the Sacred Fire, Church of the Holy Sepulchre (1892–99), an ambitious painting by Englishman William Holman Hunt, based on his multiple trips to the Holy Land. Emerging from Carney’s studies of comparative religion and the history of art and architecture, the tour encourages visitors to embrace...

Read more about Spotlight Tour: Sensing the Divine, with Hanna Carney '25
2023 Oct 29

Hip-Hop Experience Workshop: Music of the Movement

1:00pm to 3:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge

To celebrate National Hip-Hop History Month in November and the 50th anniversary of this world-changing cultural and artistic movement, we are offering the Hip-Hop Experience Workshop, facilitated by artist and singer Jazzmyn RED.

This session, Music of the Movement, will provide an interactive deep dive into the history of Black music and its connection to social justice movements and significant moments throughout its history. We will examine music from the Civil Rights movement, the ’80s, ’90s, and today.

...

Read more about Hip-Hop Experience Workshop: Music of the Movement
2023 Oct 28

Objects of Addiction: A Conversation about Opium and Anti-Chinese Immigration Laws in the U.S.

10:00am to 11:00am

Location: 

Harvard Art Museums—Online

Award-winning author and Harvard history professor Erika Lee will be in conversation with students Jolin Chan ’25 and Madison Stein ’24 about the role of opium in the restrictions on Chinese immigration in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries.

...

Read more about Objects of Addiction: A Conversation about Opium and Anti-Chinese Immigration Laws in the U.S.
2023 Oct 26

Day of the Dead Celebration

5:00pm to 9:00pm

Location: 

Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., Cambridge

Learn more about this joyful holiday, a national symbol of Mexico. Enjoy craft activities for the young and young at heart. Personalize a sugar skull (extra fee), learn about the natural history of Mexico, watch live folk dance and mariachi performances, purchase traditional pan de muerto, hot chocolate or specialty cocktails. Contribute your message of love to honor and celebrate the lives of the departed at the museum’s altars.

Activities are free except where noted. RSVP by October 25 at 12:00pm and check in on arrival.

...

Read more about Day of the Dead Celebration
2023 Oct 21

Augmented Reality Maya Chocolate Plate

11:00am to 1:00pm

Location: 

Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., Cambridge

"Shrink" yourself down to "walk" into an ancient Maya vessel using augmented reality! Maya women were often essential for uniting kingdoms. When a marriage was arranged between Maya royal families, kings would exchange gifts like this ceramic three-legged plate for serving chocolate. Use the museum's iPad as a "magic window" to discover fine details on one such plate that cannot be seen on the actual artifact. A gallery facilitator will guide you through the experience and will share more about the Maya.

This is a drop-in activity for International Archaeology Day — no...

Read more about Augmented Reality Maya Chocolate Plate
2023 Oct 11

The Living Dead in Ancient Egypt

6:00pm to 7:00pm

Location: 

Online or at Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge

“Oh Unas, you have not gone away dead, but alive.” The Pyramid Text quoted here tells us that the ancient Egyptians believed in the continued influence of the dead in the lives of the living. The dead in ancient Egypt were supernatural intermediaries, folk heroes, and some were even deified, worshiped as gods in the Egyptian pantheon.

This talk will build on the research found in Dr. Troche’s first book, Death, Power, and Apotheosis in Ancient Egypt (Cornell University Press, 2021) and invite audiences to learn about the spectrum of deceased actors in ancient Egypt....

Read more about The Living Dead in Ancient Egypt
2024 Mar 31

Touch Tour: Ancient Mesopotamia

Repeats every week every Sunday until Wed Apr 24 2024 except Sun Dec 10 2023, Sun Dec 17 2023, Sun Dec 24 2023, Sun Dec 31 2023, Sun Jan 07 2024, Sun Jan 14 2024, Sun Jan 21 2024, Sun Jan 28 2024, Sun Mar 10 2024, Sun Mar 17 2024.
1:00pm to 2:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Ave., Cambridge

Available for blind and visually impaired visitors, this tour explores the From Stone to Silicone exhibition featuring ancient Mesopotamia. Touchable replicas are coupled with description to spark discussion about the sculpted art in the Assyrian palace of King Ashurnasirpal II.

Registration required at least one week in advance. Service animals are welcome.
Also available by appointment select Monday–Fridays from 2:00pm–3:00pm or 3:00pm–4:00pm.

...

Read more about Touch Tour: Ancient Mesopotamia
2024 Mar 30

Peabody Museum Tours by Harvard Students

Repeats every week on Sunday, Friday, Saturday until Sun Apr 21 2024 except Fri Nov 24 2023, Sat Nov 25 2023, Sun Nov 26 2023.
(All day)

Location: 

Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave., Cambridge

Tours by Harvard students connect visitors with the research, teaching, and Indigenous engagement surrounding the cultural heritage in the museum’s care. How do items come to the museum? Who accesses them and how do items return home?

Visitors may drop in at the scheduled times. No reservation is required. Tours meet in the lobby and last approximately 45 minutes. Tours for groups of ten or more may be scheduled at these and other times.

Offered on: Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 2:00pm and Sundays at 11:00am
Regular museum admission...

Read more about Peabody Museum Tours by Harvard Students
2023 Oct 10

Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture: Anita Berrizbeitia, "The Blue Hills: Charles Eliot’s Design Experiment (1893-1897)"

6:30pm to 8:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium (48 Quincy St., Cambridge)

This lecture explores how developments in the earth sciences—specifically geology, evolutionism, and biogeography—ushered in advances in design methodologies for large public–realm landscapes in late nineteenth-century Boston.

Speaker: Anita Berrizbeitia
Berrizbeitia is a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She served as Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture between 2015-2022 and as Program Director of the Master in Landscape Architecture Degree Programs between 2012-2015. Her research explores...

Read more about Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture: Anita Berrizbeitia, "The Blue Hills: Charles Eliot’s Design Experiment (1893-1897)"
2023 Nov 03

Responsibility and Repair: Legacies of Indigenous Enslavement, Indenture, and Colonization at Harvard and Beyond

9:00am to 5:00pm

Location: 

Online or at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Knafel Center, 10 Garden St., Cambridge

This conference, “Responsibility and Repair”—led by Harvard University’s Native American Program in collaboration with Harvard Radcliffe Institute—will bring together Native and university leaders to advance a national dialogue, expand research, and establish and deepen partnerships with Indigenous communities. Using the landmark Report of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (2022) as a starting point, the conference and its participants—activists, scholars, Native leaders, tribal historians, and others—will explore the responsibility of...

Read more about Responsibility and Repair: Legacies of Indigenous Enslavement, Indenture, and Colonization at Harvard and Beyond
2023 Nov 02

Responsibility and Repair: Legacies of Indigenous Enslavement, Indenture, and Colonization at Harvard and Beyond Evening Event

7:30pm

Location: 

Online or at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Knafel Center, 10 Garden St., Cambridge

This conference, “Responsibility and Repair”—led by Harvard University’s Native American Program in collaboration with Harvard Radcliffe Institute—will bring together Native and university leaders to advance a national dialogue, expand research, and establish and deepen partnerships with Indigenous communities. Using the landmark Report of the Presidential Committee on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery (2022) as a starting point, the conference and its participants—activists, scholars, Native leaders, tribal historians, and others—will explore the responsibility of...

Read more about Responsibility and Repair: Legacies of Indigenous Enslavement, Indenture, and Colonization at Harvard and Beyond Evening Event
2023 Oct 11

Solidarity! Exhibition Gallery Tour

10:00am

Location: 

Lia and William Poorvu Gallery, Schlesinger Library, 3 James St., Cambridge

Join a tour of the Solidarity! Transnational Feminisms Then and Now exhibition led by student guides and staff from the Schlesinger Library.

Solidarity! Transnational Feminisms Then and Now features 50 years of transnational feminist collections held at the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. Through a rich array of materials—including posters, newspapers, photographs, and memorabilia—the exhibition explores the promises and limits of global feminist solidarity, while highlighting the key role of iconography in transnational feminist and...

Read more about Solidarity! Exhibition Gallery Tour

Pages