This spring we are pleased to launch our first survey course for the general public. Bard Graduate Center’s History of Design and Decorative Arts is a five-week program for adults of all ages, backgrounds, and experience. Taught by a different faculty member each week participants will learn about Chinese decorative arts from 1300 to 1800, European Renaissance and Early Modern decorative arts, 19th and 20th century modern design in Europe and the United States, and Islamic decorative arts of the classical period and beyond.

Bard Graduate Center is a graduate research institute and intellectual community devoted to studying the cultural histories of the material world. Our programs for the scholarly and general public, along with our critically acclaimed exhibitions, make BGC a major venue for advanced discussion of design, decorative arts and material culture.

Classes begin April 19
Wednesdays 7–9 pm
Bard Graduate Center, 18 West 86th Street

$450 adults
$375 students and educators
Individual classes not for sale.
To register, please visit bgc.bard.edu or email [email protected]

Week 1 (April 19)
China 1300–1800
With Associate Professor Francois Louis

Week 2 (April 26)
Renaissance and the Early Modern Period
With Professor Andrew Morrall

Week 3 (May 3)
Europe 1800–1930
With Assistant Professor Freyja Hartzell

Week 4 (May 10)
United States 1900–2000
With Associate Professor Catherine Whalen

Week 5 (May 17)
The Arts of the Lands of Islam
With Assistant Professor Abigail Krasner Balbale