Student Projects

In July 2020, the Department of Art History at Kenyon College received a bequest from an alum, David P. Harris ('46), who collected, among many things, Late Antique and Byzantine objects. These items were incorporated into the department's existing study collection, which already included numerous prints, medals, ephemera, and coins that were used for teaching purposes. With these new acquisitions in hand, students in ARHS 110 Introduction to Western Art: Ancient to Medieval (Spring 2021) researched specific pieces as part of their semester-long projects. Through a series of writing assignments, students conducted original research and considered the ways in which materials, forms, images, and functions "worked" for the owners by shaping identity, offering protection, and invoking prosperity. Click on the banner above to access the exhibit.

The 20 students enrolled in Early Medieval Art (Spring 2018) worked in pairs to conduct original research on artifacts from our study collection. They began their investigations by finding comparanda in museum collections and exhibition catalogues. These identifications opened doors to discovering the historical contexts of their pieces, reading primary sources, and studying ancient and medieval images that depict how their artifacts may have been used. At the end of the semester, students synthesized their research and created websites to present this material for a general audience. Click on the images below to learn more about each project.

The Survey of Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was an Omeka exhibition that featured 55 objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art selected by students in two sections of ARHS 110 Survey of Art, Part 1 in the fall semester of 2017. Students were asked to consider how they might incorporate their chosen objects into a traditional art history survey course.