INSTITUTE FOR DOCTORAL STUDIES
IN THE VISUAL ARTS
Our newly implemented 4th-year Madrid and Barcelona residency was a huge success! In Madrid, students visited the Reina Sofia and the Prado Museum, giving particular attention to Velazquez and Goya. While in Barcelona, the residency focused on the history of Catalan architecture, culture, and political history. The group visited the Picasso Museum and MACBA, along with Angel Project Space (pictured). Students also had a special lecture from Santiago Zabala on Gianni Vattimo and hermeneutics, and from Arianna Letizia on publishing.
The 1st year residency started in Rome on May 29th. IDSVA newcomers hit the ground running with the help of art historian and curator Shara Wasserman. The group visited the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Vatican Museums, and the Pantheon, in addition to a special visit with Deborah Willis at the American Academy in Rome (pictured).
IDSVA 1st year students spent two weeks on the 1100 acre organic farm of Spannocchia outside of Siena. Students participated in seminar workshops (pictured) led by Professor Simonetta Moro and IDSVA Writing Fellow Jason Hoelscher, presented papers, and engaged in lectures by Professor George Smith, artist-philosopher David Driskell, and artist Franca Marini. Fieldwork included trips to Florence, with visits to the Uffizi and Galleria dell'Accademia, and to Siena, where the group visited the Palazzo Pubblico, Santa Maria della Scala and the Duomo.
The 2nd year students started their residency with a very busy week in Berlin. The cohort presented their Independent Study papers, visited the Boros Foundation, Holocaust Memorial, Pergamon Museum, Hoffman Collection, Hamburger Banhof, Berlinische Galerie, took a walking street art tour (pictured), and had a special lecture and trip to Peacock Island with visiting faculty Howard Caygill. Throughout the week Professor George Smith gave a lecture series on Kant & Hegel.
The 1st and 2nd year students met up in Venice in mid-June. The group visited the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Punta della Dogana, Palazzo Grassi, Museo Fortuny and toured the Venice Biennale sites. The highlight of the week was a special lecture from philosopher Giovanni Tusa during the Biennale Sessions (pictured).
The 2nd year students capped off the residency with four days in Athens. They toured the ancient sites of the Acropolis and Delphi, took a walking tour of Filapappou Hill with Nina Papazoglou, and visited the studio of artist Vaggelis Choursoglu (pictured). The group was joined by visiting lecturer Elina Staikou, and Professor George Smith gave a lecture series on the pre-Socratics and Nietzsche.
Alaina in Museum 3 - SM.JPG In July, our third year students met for a Pre-Dissertation Residency at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. The majority of the week was spent in the classroom where students presented on their Independent Studies and engaged in seminar series on methodologies in philosophy and art with Professors Simonetta Moro and Dejan Lukic. The residency began with a special lecture from Paul Armstrong and ended with students discussing a piece of art in the museum using each of the three methodological approaches: formalism, phenomenology, and hermeneutics.