The Cultural Life of Objects: On the Boundaries of What We Know

Organized by Anne Porter (Religion, Art History, and Classics) and Ann Marie Yasin (Classics and Art History)

People use objects to define themselves and their social, mental and political worlds; scholars, be they anthropologists, architects or archaeologists, try to discern those definitions backwards through the objects that survive. How do objects help teach us of our place in the world? How do we articulate our relationship to other peoples, places, and times through material things? This series will examine these fascinating questions.

Thursday, November 19, 2009
Clay Tablets to Cameras: Recording Objects as Classification, Communication and Control

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sensing the Gods: Materiality, Perception and the Divine