The University of Michigan, founded in 1817, is one of the world's premier research universities and a leader in undergraduate and graduate education. In small seminars and larger lecture classes, faculty members in the arts and humanities, life and physical sciences, social sciences, engineering, law, business and medicine share their passion for scholarly research. Some 53,000 students are enrolled on U-M's three campuses located in Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint. Michigan's size, complexity and academic strength, along with the breadth of its scholarly resources and the quality of its faculty and students, make it one of America's great public universities.
This seminar explores the ways powerful women were depicted in the visual arts of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. During the years 1500 to 1650, complex political circumstances resulted in unprecedented numbers of women ruling European states, a phenomenon that added fuel to the long-simmering controversy about the proper role of women in society. As artists responded to the heightened profile of women in public life, many of the paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and decorative art objects created at this time took powerful women as their theme. This seminar also documents the degree to which artists and public figures of the Renaissance and Baroque periods understood that visual culture not only reflects social attitudes and values but can be a potent force in shaping them as well.
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Senator George J. Mitchell responds to the question of whether world peace is possible in light of the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, and the ongoing Middle East crisis.
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