Welcome to EMSI!
The USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute (EMSI) explores the history, literature, art, and science of the Early Modern period (c. 1450-1850). The institute’s range is global – instead of focusing on a particular region, EMSI aims to advance knowledge of the diverse societies in and around the Atlantic and Pacific basins. Researchers nourish diverse perspectives, advance interdisciplinary perspectives, and share discoveries about the Early Modern period with the goal of informing the ways we approach problems today as well as keeping us in touch with the sources of our common humanity.
Check out the 2025- 2026 EMSI Seminar Series.
See the full calendar of EMSI events.
LA2026 begins now!
LA2026 brings together members of the public and humanities scholars for eighteen conversations about museum and cultural exhibitions at six partnering institutions in the Los Angeles region, including the Autry Museum of the American West, The Huntington, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes / El El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and USC Libraries. Each exhibition frames conversations about the anniversary of 1776 from the perspective of California and the West. Each discussion will focus on specific items from one of the partner exhibitions, encouraging public discussions about national identities, relationships between regional and national narratives, participating in democracy, and human relationships to the land.
Join EMSI Events and Opportunities!
Barbara Carrasco
“Painting LA History”
Thursday, March 12, 2026
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Kate Norberg, UCLA
“Why did Early Modern Men Patronize Brothels? Answers from an Eighteenth-Century Bordello”
Friday, March 13, 2026
The Huntington
Martine van Elk, CSU Long Beach
“Forged on the Anvil of the Mind: Publishing Women Playwrights in London, Amsterdam, and Paris”
Saturday, March 14, 2026
The Huntington
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Image: Detail from “Vallard Atlas,” (1547) HM 29 f.1, chart 9, North America, east coast. Portolan atlas. Courtesy of the Huntington Library.
