Art History 289 - Art and Medicine, Late 18th Century to the Present
ART & MEDICINE
Fall
2020
01
4.00
Kathleen Pierce
TTh 01:40-02:55
Smith College
10790-F20
REMOTE
kpierce@smith.edu
This course examines intersections of art and medicine from the late 18th century to the present.
Considering a variety of texts and objects, from wax medical models and public health posters to Mona
Hatoum’s cell-like sculptures and photographic coverage of the 2014 Ebola epidemic, we will disentangle how medical understandings of the body filter into artistic production and popular thought
and vice versa. While course material is primarily from Europe and the United States, we will attend to
the ways medical imaginings of the body engage with imperialism and geopolitical boundaries, as well
as race, gender, ability, class, and sexuality. (E)
Considering a variety of texts and objects, from wax medical models and public health posters to Mona
Hatoum’s cell-like sculptures and photographic coverage of the 2014 Ebola epidemic, we will disentangle how medical understandings of the body filter into artistic production and popular thought
and vice versa. While course material is primarily from Europe and the United States, we will attend to
the ways medical imaginings of the body engage with imperialism and geopolitical boundaries, as well
as race, gender, ability, class, and sexuality. (E)