Resource Menu: World History

The VMFA website offers many resources to support learners and teachers of all ages and many disciplines. Many are accessible through VMFA’s LEARN website. 

There are also valuable offerings on other sections of the website. This annotated list will help you locate the best matches for World History and Geography curricula. 

Please Note: Recent technical enhancements to the LEARN site have made it possible for VMFA educators to make newer resources interactive. Interactive offerings are noted in the descriptions.

 

Suggested resources are organized into the following sections: 

• Thematic Resources: Connecting Cultures
• Egyptian History & Culture
• East Asian History & Culture (China, Japan, and Korea)
• South Asian History & Culture (Greater India, Nepal, Tibet)
• Green and Roman History & Culture
• African History & Culture
• Ancient American History & Culture
• European History & Culture
• Distance Learning Resources: Distance Learning resources are also included in the other sections as appropriate, but are listed together under the “Distance Learning Resources” heading. Learn more about this free program here.
• Adult-level Talks & Lectures: These talks and lectures offer excellent background information for teachers or older students.

 

THEMATIC RESOURCES: CONNECTING CULTURES

ANCIENT WRITING: Although this resource was developed for grades 3-5, it includes information and examples about the early writing systems of four ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica. There is also a section about the Rosetta Stone, the 19th-century discovery that unlocked the language of ancient Egypt. (Grades 3-5)

TRANS-REGIONAL EXCHANGE: Resource sets bring together selected works from VMFA’s collections that relate to popular themes and topics. Use this resource set to explore how art can illustrate various ways in which technologies, forms, images, symbols, beliefs and concepts are adopted, adapted, and/or reinterpreted by communities across the globe until 1500. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

GLOBAL EXCHANGE: Resource sets bring together selected works from VMFA’s collections that relate to popular themes and topics Groups of people around the world have exchanged goods, knowledge, and ideas for centuries. Conflict and cooperation, economic pressures and political alliances, as well as conquest, migration, and trade have all resulted in rich cultural interchange. This resource set explores how art can illustrate various ways in which technologies, forms, images, symbols, and concepts are adopted, adapted, and/or reinterpreted by communities across the globe. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

GALLERY HUNT: EMERGENCE OF A GLOBAL AGE: 1500-1800: Transoceanic voyages during the European Age of Discovery connected the Eastern and Western hemispheres as never before. Changing patterns in long distance trade created the beginnings of an interdependent global economic system. The growth of new trade networks facilitated the movement of goods, people, technologies, and ideas. This cultural exchange will change economic, political, and social systems around the world. Travel through the VMFA galleries to see examples of an increasingly interconnected world! (Grades 9-12)

UNLIKELY PAIRINGS: CONVERSATIONS THROUGH ART: Use this resource to help students explore the human experience across time and place, give voice to diverse perspectives found in art, and collaboratively reimagine a museum that presents a new story centered around our shared human interactions. Note that this resource unit includes several worksheets to help build the art matching experience. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

CONVERSATIONS THROUGH ART: EXPLORE AND CREATE WORKSHEET (Teacher Version; downloadable pdf)

CONVERSATIONS THROUGH ART: WHO AM I? WORKSHEET (Downloadable pdf)

CONVERSATIONS THROUGH ART: REIMAGINE A MUSEUM WORKSHEET(Downloadable pdf)

CONSIDER THE SOURCE: HUMANITY, HABITAT, AND CREATIVITY: Artists across all times and places take advantage of local materials and resources to craft their work. At the same time, the local habitat influences and inspires artistic decisions. Use this resource to explore the symbiotic relationship between artist and environment, both natural and cultural. (College, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

TRAVERSES: ART FROM THE ISLAMIC WORLD ACROSS TIME AND PLACE: This online exhibition was created to document the exhibition that was created to complement a symposium on Islamic Art Symposium in 2017. Many of the featured objects are South Asian.

Cutting across continents, cultures, and a millennium, this Installation Story brings together works from VMFA’s permanent collections that were created in regions where Islam is or has been the dominant religion, or by artists from these places. Some themes are recurrent—the written word, self-awareness, cultural tension—but perhaps most apparent is the great diversity of these works.

JAMESTOWN AND BEYOND: THE WORLD OF 1607: Explore twelve compelling works of art that illustrate and illuminate the world of 1607 and the legacy of Jamestown. Some were created by European, African, Asian, and South American cultures around the time that Jamestown was struggling to survive. Others were produced in the centuries that followed as artists drew from fact, legend—and sometimes their imaginations—to depict life in and around the Jamestown colony.

This resource was originally created as an educational panel show that you may still check out and hang in your school. Find out more here.

GALLERY PREVIEW: 21ST CENTURY: These galleries contain work made by artists who are living in our own time and exploring ideas about the world we share. Art works from around the nation and globe feature a wide variety of materials, techniques, and ideas. Together, they provide a broad view of our contemporary world.

 

EGYPTIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

EGYPTIAN ART GALLERY PREVIEW: VMFA’s collection of ancient Mediterranean art is one of the largest on the East Coast, spanning more than 5,000 years of human history, from Pre-Dynastic Egypt in the 4th millennium BC through the fall of the Byzantine Empire in AD 1453.

EGYPT: INTERACTIVE EXPLORATION: This interactive resource begins and ends with reflection questions that prompt students to use their critical and creative thinking skills as they explore maps and artifacts. Four slide sets (Boats and the Nile; Tomb relief; Become a Scribe; and Egyptomania), allow student s to record their thoughts as they examine artifacts—and to export their answers as Word document to share with you or their classmates. Students may also click on hotspots on a relief, a sculpture, a mummy’s coffin, and a map to learn more! (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

TJEBY’S CAT SCAN: This 18-second video provides a look inside Tjeby’s wrapped mummy. As part of its scientific investigation into its collection, in 2013 VMFA worked with the private medical imaging company HCA and Dr. Jonathan Elias of the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium to make a 3D CT-scan of Tjeby, the museum’s First Intermediate Period mummy. This led to new insights into the life and times of Tjeby, who lived some 4,000 years ago. 

IT’S EGYPT!: Ancient Egyptians believed that everything they knew and experienced was part of a cycle, from the annual flood of the Nile River that nourished their land to the daily rising and setting of the sun. Even their own lives were a cycle, which moved from birth to death to rebirth. Explore more about Egyptian life! 

This interactive resource includes maps, a game that matches gods and goddesses with their symbolic animals, and a concluding quiz. Although developed mainly with Grade 3 SOLs in mind, this resource offers a quick and entertaining introduction or review of Egyptian Culture for older students. (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8)

 

The next two resources were developed to support the exhibition Treasures from Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities.

SUNKEN CITIES: AN INTERACTIVE DIVE INTO THE TREASURES OF ANCIENT EGYPT: This interactive resource explores objects and themes from the exhibition, Treasures from Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities. Teachers and students can use this resource to spark curiosity and to think critically and creatively about Egyptian art and culture.

SUNKEN CITIES: LARGE PRINT GUIDE (downloadable pdf): Although this 91-page guide was developed as a hand-out for people with visual impairments, it offers the text panels and many of the labels and images from the exhibition—and it can be viewed at different magnifications).

(Check the section titled ADULT-LEVEL TALKS & LECTURES for links to the lecture series related to the Sunken Cities exhibition.)

 

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CULTURE: Learn all about Egyptian land, religion, writing, trade, and of course mummies! Topics include Natural Resources, Hieroglyphs/Ancient Egyptian Writing, Nubia: Egypt’s Southern Neighbor, Gods and Goddesses, The Afterlife and Mummification, Meet Tjeby! (the mummy from the First Intermediate Period), Egyptian Art, Trade, Kingship, and examples of Egyptomania, artistic influences in later times. (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8) 

GALLERY GUIDE: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CULTURE (downloadable pdf): This is an online version of a handout similar to the resource above designed to offer information and activities to gallery visitors. 

TEACHER-DIRECTED GALLERY TOURS: WORLD HISTORY 1: EGYPT (Downloadable pdf): Ready, Set, EXPLORE! This teacher-directed gallery tour was developed to help teachers and/or chaperones to lead students on a fun-filled, interactive trip through VMFA’s ancient Egyptian galleries. (An answer key is provided.)

GALLERY HUNT: EGYPTOMANIA: The craze for all things Egyptian started well before the discovery of King Tut in 1922. Explore VMFA galleries and answer the following questions as you discover unexpected links to the culture of ancient Egypt.

BÚSQUEDA EN LA GALERÍA: EGIPTOMANIA (Spanish version of the resource above)

 

EAST ASIAN HISTORY & CULTURE (China, Japan, and Korea)

EAST ASIAN ART GALLERY PREVIEW: Representing more than 4,500 years of visual history, VMFA’s East Asian collection features paintings, prints, sculptures, textiles, ceramics, metalwork, objects in lacquer and jade, and other art forms from China, Japan, and Korea. Collection themes include the Bronze Age, the spread of Buddhism, cross-cultural influences, ceramic development and trade, poetry and calligraphy, scholars’ implements, tea-ceremony vessels, and incense art.

CHINA: INTERACTIVE EXPLORATION: This interactive resource consists of two different types of looking, thinking, and learning activities. Three slide sets (Pendant in Shape of Silkworm with Dragon Head, Fang Yi (Wine Vessel, Bactrian Camel), invite students to answer guiding questions about the artifacts. Their answers can be exported as Word document to share with you or their classmates. This activity also offers maps, images, objects with hotspots,–and a video of a Chinese artist doing calligraphy. (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12) 

 

The next three resources were developed to support the exhibition Forbidden City: Imperial Treasures from the Palace Museum, Beijing, which visited VMFA in 2015.

CHINESE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: This resource offers background information on the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING OF CHINESE DYNASTIES

EXPLORE ANCIENT CHINESE ART & CULTURE: This interactive resource includes four videos, objects with hotspots, and five slide sets (Inkstone, Dragon, Chinese Seal, Handscrolls, Chinese Bronze Bells.). 

 

The next three resources were developed to support the exhibition Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China, which visited VMFA in 2018.

TERRACOTTA ARMY: DIDACTIC PANELS

TERRACOTTA ARMY: QIN DYNASTY ARMOR (Video, 1:25): Learn more about the armor excavated from the First Emperor’s burial complex!

TERRACOTTA ARMY: EDUCATOR RESOURCE GUIDE (downloadable pdf)

 

CHINA: QING DYNASTY PORCELAIN AND GLOBAL EXCHANGE PRE-VISIT (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): While today we appreciate porcelain dinnerware for the refinement it can add to an occasion, this conception is founded on centuries of exchange between Asian and Western markets.  Chinese porcelain production has a long history of experimentation, innovation, and inspiration resulting in remarkably beautiful examples of form and imagery. (Grades 9-12)

 

SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY & CULTURE (Greater India, Nepal, Tibet)

SOUTH ASIAN GALLERIES PREVIEW: VMFA is home to one of America’s premier collections of Greater Indian and Himalayan art. Here you can get an idea of the kinds of objects on display in the museum. 

INTERACTIVE EXERCISE: THOUGHT LADDER (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): This thought-ladder activity prompts students to activate creative thinking by interpreting an intricate and colorful painting commissioned by Mughal emperor Akbar. (Adult, College, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

INDIA: BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): Use these prompts and suggested images related to Buddhism and Hinduism after your Evans Distance Learning session or museum visit to activate creative, critical, and reflective thinking. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

INDIA: MUGHAL ART AND ARCHITECTURE: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): This resource uses the 19th century Garden Pavilion from Rajasthan, vicinity of Bharatpur, India as its primary example, and lists several other objects from India for extending the activity. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

TRAVERSES: ART FROM THE ISLAMIC WORLD ACROSS TIME AND PLACE: This online exhibition listed below was created to document the exhibition created to complement the Islamic Art Symposium in 2017.

Many of the featured objects are South Asian. Cutting across continents, cultures, and a millennium, this Installation Story brings together works from VMFA’s permanent collections that were created in regions where Islam is or has been the dominant religion, or by artists from these places. Some themes are recurrent—the written word, self-awareness, cultural tension—but perhaps most apparent is the great diversity of these works.

 

GREEK & ROMAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

GREECE: INTERACTIVE EXPLORATION: Who were the Ancient Greeks? This interactive resource includes a map and offers two types of looking, thinking and learning activities. Two Look at This! slide sets (Explore the Birth of Athena/Greek Vase, Greek Pithos), invite students to answer guiding questions about two artifacts. Their answers can be exported as Word document to share with you or their classmates. Surprise Me! hotspots on other objects explore Mythology and Religion, Sports, and Trade. (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

ROME: INTERACTIVE EXPLORATION: Who were the ancient Romans? This interactive resource includes a map and offers two types of looking, thinking and learning activities. Three Look at This! slide sets (Relief of Potter and His Wife, Caligula, Coin with Emperor Tiberius) invite students to answer guiding questions about three artifacts. Their answers can be exported as Word document to share with you or their classmates. Surprise Me! hotspots on two other objects explore the Statue of Serapis and the Four Seasons Mosaic. (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12) 

THE CLASSICAL PAST: GREECE: Why do we remember the glory that was Greece? This resource illustrates and investigates the countless ways that the art, literature, language, and traditions of ancient Greece have inspired and guided the development of Western culture. (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

This resources were originally created as an educational panel show that you may still check out and hang in your school. Find out more here. 

THE CLASSICAL PAST: ROME: Why do we remember the grandeur that was Rome? This resource illustrates and investigates the countless ways that the art, literature, language, and traditions of ancient Rome have inspired and guided the development of Western culture. (Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

This resources were originally created as an educational panel show that you may still check out and hang in your school. Find out more here.

 

AFRICAN HISTORY & CULTURE

AFRICAN ART GALLERY PREVIEW: VMFA’s collection of African art is one of the most comprehensive in the United States and features figures, masks, textiles, regalia, and ritual objects from more than 100 cultures throughout the continent.

CONSERVATION INITIATIVE IN AFRICAN ART (Made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation): This part of the VMFA website documents conservation research on a number of objects in the African Art collection. Beneath the Surface of African Art includes the sections listed below. Each entry contains both cultural information and process descriptions. 

• • Zulu Beaded Ensembles: Materials Analysis
  • Leather, Bone, and Blood- Proteomics in Art Conservation
  • Zulu Beaded Ensembles: An Orientation
  • The Importance of Wood Identification
  • On the Historical Context of Ancient Terracottas
  • Thermoluminescence Sampling of Terracotta Sculptures from Africa
  • Feather Identification with Dr. Carla Dove
  • Studying an 18th Century Ethiopian Cross

MALI: INTERACTIVE EXPLORATION: This interactive resource explores Mali—one of the richest civilizations in world history! This resource helps students consider how wealthy empires like Mali rose to prosperity due to geography, natural resources, and trade. The resource include 2 maps; a video of a Ci Wara Dance Ceremony, objects with hotspots, and a slide set (Oral Traditions/Orator’s staff), that allows student s to record their thoughts as they examine artifacts—and to export their answers as Word document to share with you or their classmates. Although developed with Grade 3 SOLs in mind, this resource offers a quick and entertaining introduction or review of Malian Culture for older students.

INTERACTIVE EXERCISE: THOUGHT LADDER SAMMY BALOJI (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): This interactive exercise features an artwork by Congolese artist Sammy Baloji, which introduces students to strategies for gaining insight into how they process information and formulate ideas.

GALLERY GUIDE: ART FROM THE CONGO IN VMFA’S COLLECTION (Downloadable pdf): Explore VMFA’s extensive collection of art from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Adult, College, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

LEADERSHIP: Explore VMFA’s African Art collection to see how different cultures define and visualize the qualities of a leader. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

I AM: IDENTITY IN AFRICAN ART: What can the visual arts tell us about an individual or a community? This resource explores the concept of identity in traditional African art and culture by focusing on twelve objects that speak to various roles within a society. These objects represent cultural groups from different parts of the continent, reminding us of the diversity that exists across Africa. (College, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

This resource was originally created as an educational panel show that you may still check out and hang in your school. Find out more here.

ARTIST PROFILE: WOSENE WORKE KOSROF: In this 5 minute and 27 seconds video, Ethiopian artist Wosene Worke Kosrof talks about his artistic process, techniques, and use of symbols and writings in his paintings, along with specifics about VMFA’s “My Liberty.” (5:27) 

TIME-LAPSE VIDEO OF ESTHER MAHLANGU @ VMFA: Ester Mahlangu, Artist in Residence at VMFA in the fall of 2014, works in the traditional Ndebele style of bold, geometric patterns executed on a very large scale. In the late 19th century, the Ndebele women painted the exteriors of their houses in this style as an expression of identity and pride. Over the years, with the development of commercial paints, the original earth tones created from natural pigments have changed to a brighter palette. As the artist climbed scaffolding and painted without a straight edge of any sort, these large works of art evolved before visitors’ eyes over the course of a month. (44 seconds)

ESTHER MAHLANGU @ VMFA: This 10 minute, 12 second video interview features South African Ndebele artist Esther Mahlangu. She discusses the early years of her painting practice, her designs and pigments, and the preservation of culture. The conversation includes Esther Mahlangu, Marriam Mahlangu, Grace Masango, and Richard Woodward (Curator of African Art). (10:12) 

ART UP TO CODE: MAASAI: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): Use these prompts for extended thinking after your Evans DLP session or museum visit to activate creative, critical, and reflective thinking. (Grades 6-8)

TEACHER-DIRECTED GALLERY TOURS: WEALTH & TRADE (Downloadable pdf, designed to support self-directed school tours): Africa is a continent rich in natural resources that gave rise to many wealthy empires. Metal, salt, and gold, as well as products such as beads and textiles, traveled many miles over vast trade routes. Use this guide to lead students on an exploration of the African Art Gallery and find out more about prosperous cultures in Africa! (Grades 3-5)

 

ANCIENT AMERICAN HISTORY & CULTURE

GALLERY PREVIEW: ANCIENT AMERICAN ART: Spanning approximately 3000 years, VMFA’s Ancient American Art collection includes over 200 ceramic vessels, textiles, sculptures and metalwork objects from Meso, Central, and South America.

LESSON CONCEPT: STIRRUP BOTTLE: Discover the Moche culture and be introduced to its ceramic traditions of stirrup bottles and fine-line painting! (Grades 3-5, Grades K-2)

EUROPEAN HISTORY RESOURCES: At the GOOGLE ARTS AND CULTURE section on VMFA, you can access the European galleries as they were installed in 2016-17. VMFA’s European art holdings include objects dating from the early medieval period to the mid-20th century.

BAROQUE GALLERIES PREVIEW: The part of the collection housed in these Baroque galleries includes art from the 17th century. In this era, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation caused artists from Northern Europe (primarily Protestant) to create very different types of art from those in Southern Europe (primarily Catholic). These differences also played out in the Americas. Look for the two types when you visit these galleries.

EUROPE: AFTER THE REFORMATION: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): A number of post-reformation works are suggested for use with this exercise. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

 

The next three resources were developed to support the exhibition Napoleon: Power and Splendor, which was on view at VMFA in 2018.

NAPOLEON’S RISE & FALL: ILLUSTRATED TIMELINE: Explore this illustrated timeline of Napoleon’s rise and fall, which is designed to suggest cause and effect during this timeframe.

NAPOLEON’S IMPACT ON TODAY’S WORLD (Downloadable pdf of gallery installation)

• • • Napoleon: the Conqueror
    • Power of Propaganda
    • Law Code and Human Rights
    • Napoleon and National Identity
    • Napoleon and the United States (The Louisiana Purchase)

NAPOLEON: POWER AND SPLENDOR: DIDACTIC PANELS

 

THE LUDWIG AND ROSY FISCHER COLLECTION: Ludwig and Rosy Fischer were forward-thinking collectors from Frankfurt, Germany, who embraced the challenging art of their time. Between 1905 and 1925, they built one of the most important collections of German Expressionist art in Germany, with a strong emphasis on Die Brücke—“the Bridge”—a pivotal group within the movement.

INTERACTIVE EXERCISE: CAPTION IT! (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): This interactive activity is designed to introduce critical and creative thinking. The example used for this exercise is the woodcut At the Mine (Translation) Auf der Zeche (Primary Title), 1920, by German artist Conrad Felixmüller. He created this piece in the wake of WWI when Germany was in shambles both politically and financially.
(Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

EUROPE: ROMANTICISM: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING (A VMFA Distance Learning Activity): A number of works from the Romantic Movement are suggested for use with this exercise. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

LILLIAN THOMAS PRATT (FABERGÉ COLLECTOR): Explore VMFA’s extensive Russian decorative arts collection, which is largely attributed to one donor, Mrs. Lillian Thomas Pratt, whose collection of more than 400 Russian decorative arts objects all began with buying a fork at the Lord & Taylor Department Store in 1933. Within this online presentation, you can view several videos, enjoy 3600 rotating views of the five Imperial Eggs, and investigate the extensive Pratt archive. 

GALLERY GUIDE: FABERGÉ (Downloadable pdf): This family gallery guide was developed for the exhibition Fabergé Revealed, on view at VMFA in 2011. It contains a map of the Russian Empire, ca. 1900, and some basic information about the Russian alphabet, the Russian Orthodox celebration of Easter, and the collecting of Russian fairy tales. 

FABERGÉ AND RUSSIAN DECORATIVE ARTS: This collection has its own section within the Collections site. Here you will find featured objects and 3600 videos of the Imperial Eggs.

 

DISTANCE LEARNING RESOURCES

In this free program, your class may video-conference with a museum educator for a facilitated experience in the galleries exploring on-view works of art. Now available to all 3-12 and college classrooms. Learn more about this popular program here.

There are many additional Distance Learning resources and prompts. The ones listed below make connections with World History and Geography. Find them all here. 

 

INTERACTIVE EXERCISE: CONTEMPLATION EXPLORATION: Art is often about making ideas and beliefs visible.  For centuries, religions across the globe have used images to represent complex and abstract ideas about humankind’s place in the cosmos. Students can use this interactive exercise to spend thoughtful time with a religious work of art and become curious about the way art can help communicate sacred and profound ideas. (Grades 9-12)

HISTORIC MESSAGES AND MODERN MIXES: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING: Use these prompts after your Evans Distance Learning session or museum visit to activate creative, critical, and reflective thinking. (College, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

BRINGING EMPATHY INTO THE CLASSROOM: VALUING THE DIFFERENCES LESSON CONCEPT: On its surface, art may seem to have one purpose or audience, but closer examination can help reaffirm a broader human connection. Art can speak to us no matter our background, race, gender, religion, orientation, ability, age, or socioeconomic status. Using art in the classroom allows us to celebrate diversity in a powerful and meaningful way. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

BRINGING EMPATHY INTO THE CLASSROOM: VALUING THE DIFFERENCES RESOURCE SET: This resource set is meant to pair with Bringing Empathy into the Classroom: Valuing the Differences Lesson Concept. The resource set is intended to be used by the teacher to provide background information on the works of art while the lesson concept should be used by the students as a way to engage with the works of art. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

CHINA: QING DYNASTY PORCELAIN AND GLOBAL EXCHANGE PRE-VISIT: While today we appreciate porcelain dinnerware for the refinement it can add to an occasion, this conception is founded on centuries of exchange between Asian and Western markets.  Chinese porcelain production has a long history of experimentation, innovation, and inspiration resulting in remarkably beautiful examples of form and imagery. (Grades 9-12)

INDIA: BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING: Use these prompts and suggested images related to Buddhism and Hinduism after your Evans Distance Learning session or museum visit to activate creative, critical, and reflective thinking. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

INDIA: MUGHAL ART AND ARCHITECTURE: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING: Use these prompts after your Evans Distance Learning session or museum visit to activate creative, critical, and reflective thinking. This resource uses the 19th century Garden Pavilion from Rajasthan, vicinity of Bharatpur, India as its primary example, and lists several other objects from India for extending the activity. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

INTERACTIVE EXERCISE: THOUGHT LADDER: This thought-ladder activity prompts students to activate creative thinking by interpreting an intricate and colorful painting commissioned by Mughal emperor Akbar. (Adult, College, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

ART UP TO CODE: MAASAI: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING: Choose a Maasai object from those pictured in the resource. Click on the image and study it by looking closely at the patterns and colors you see. Use this object as inspiration for a colorful coded animation or interactive game made with Scratch, Processing, or another coding platform of your choice. Remember to think like a Maasai artist as you create! (Grades 6-8)

INTERACTIVE EXERCISE: CAPTION IT!: The example used for this exercise is the woodcut At the Mine (Translation) Auf der Zeche (Primary Title), 1920, by German artist Conrad Felixmüller. He created this piece in the wake of WWI when Germany was in shambles both politically and financially. (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

EUROPE: ROMANTICISM: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

EUROPE: AFTER THE REFORMATION: PROMPTS FOR EXTENDED THINKING (Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12)

 

ADULT-LEVEL TALKS & LECTURES

SUNKEN CITIES LECTURE SERIES:

SUNKEN CITIES: OPENING LECTURE: Franck Goddio highlights the thrilling discoveries at the heart of the exhibition Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Sunken Cities. Since 1996, Goddio and his team of archaeologists, Egyptologists, historians, geologists, geophysicists, and computer engineers have been surveying Aboukir Bay. After four years, they located the submerged ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion and parts of the city of Canopus. (1:00:06)

EGYPT AND KUSH: SUPERPOWERS OF THE NILE VALLEY: Join Nubiologist/Egyptologist Caroline Rocheleau as she explores the complex relationship between the two superpowers of the ancient Nile Valley. Discover the similarities and differences between Egypt and its southern neighbor, the Kingdom of Kush in Nubia. (57:35)

RE-MEMBERING OSIRIS: OVERCOMING DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT: This lecture was delivered by Dr. Robert K. Ritner, Professor of Egyptology at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, on Sunday, October 25, 2020. It examines the underlying mythology, symbolism, and festival rituals for Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead, focusing on the rites of reanimation celebrated at the now sunken city of Canopus on the Mediterranean coast. (1:05:48)

TERRACOTTA ARMY: LEGACY OF THE FIRST EMPEROR OF CHINA: December 1, 2017, with Li Jian, E.Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Curator of East Asian Art & Dr. Hou-Mei Sung, Curator of Asian Art, Cincinnati Art Museum. (1:00:10)

This lecture reviews one of the most significant archaeological achievements of the 20th century – discovery of the terracotta warriors and horses in China. The lecture provides a glimpse into the historical and cultural contributions of Qin people and the first emperor of Qin (259-210 BC) as well as ancient China’s views of the afterlife.

GIUSEPPE CASTIGLIONE IN CHINA: IMPERIAL PAINTER, HUMBLE SERVANT: Jesuit missionary Giuseppe Castiglione of Milan, Italy set sail for China in 1714. After learning Chinese in Macau he adopted a Chinese name, Lang Shining, and he arrived in Beijing in 1715 during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. He was soon appointed as a Qing court painter. (3:00)

ARCHAEOLOGY FORUM (February 2, 2018): This program features leading scholars and archaeologists from China and the United States addressing recent excavations, new research, and innovative approaches in archaeology. Topics range from new discoveries at the First Emperor’s mausoleum and Qin’s capital of Yongcheng, to Qin law inscribed on bamboo strips, bronze casting in the ancient Mediterranean, and archaeology at historic Jamestown. (3:21:19)

CONVERSATION WITH XU BING: Contemporary artist Xu Bing talks about the history and iterations of The Tobacco Project in this short film, which includes footage of the artist’s site visits to tobacco farms and documents his studio’s artistic processes. (18:08)

WHAT’S THE STORY?: EPISODE 1: SERAPIS WITH PETER SCHERTZ: Join gallery educator Maggie McGurn as she visits with curator Peter Schertz to learn the story of one special object and examine its place in the museum collection. Along the way, gain some insight into how curators work, how galleries are designed, and how you can enjoy art in a museum setting. (8:53)