HUM 250 Art, Alchemy and Artillery in Alsace
This study abroad course will focus on historical issues of France and Germany from the Franco-Prussian War to World War II, investigated through the lenses of art history and science/technology. One theme of the course will be the development of painting from the 1860’s to the 1940’s, from Realism to Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Geometric Abstraction, de Stijl, and Abstract Expressionism. Another theme will be the scientific and technological advances by German scientists to synthesize fertilizer and explosives for the German war machine. Spending time in and around Alsace, Paris, and Germany, we will study in art museums, painting sites, the Strasbourg classroom, battlefields, and other important historical sites.