Robyn Barrow

Pre-Modern Architecture of the Circumpolar North
In this course we will explore the ways that circumpolar and Nordic architecture developed in an interconnected world, ca. 1000-1400. In the Arctic and subarctic, climate has required communities to adapt their built environment in creative ways, from snow houses to turf construction to stave churches. Dealing with themes of materiality, cultural translation, and hybridity, in this architectural survey we will think about spaces, their function in pre-modern communities, the ways they communicate ideas and interact with the landscape where they’re built, and their enmeshment within wider economic systems. We will learn together to read groundplans, practice in- depth visual analysis, consider a range of building materials and techniques, and interpret buildings as both sites and objects of material culture.

Animal Actors and Medieval Art
In this course we will reframe the role animals played in medieval material culture. Though commonly depicted as images, animals were also essential contributors to the artistic process, their bodies utilized in all stages of craft production. Each week we will foreground one animal species that operated in a global Middle Ages to help us think through the ways that animals shaped both art production and the landscape in which they lived, from Greenland to the Sahara. Along the way, students will develop essential skills, including a vibrant understanding of the numerous ways animals were enmeshed in global systems of medieval art production; the ability to discuss techniques and materials used by medieval artists; confidence mobilizing critical theory from diverse perspectives; and confidence applying these tools in writing and research assignments.

Icy Art History in Vermont and Beyond
In this course we will consider the intersection of art history and environmental humanities through the lens of snowscapes, polar landscapes, and ice/snow as both subject matter and materiality of art practice. This course will explore the developing field of “icy art history” as well as more widely consider environmental approaches to art history as a discipline. The content of the course will follow a survey of global art, exploring the ways communities and artists have depicted and adapted to icy environments over time. This theoretical grounding will be combined with weekly nature walks, where students will experiment with snow as a medium for ephemeral sculpture, as well as observe and record environmental changes over the month of class through photography, sketching, and descriptive writing exercises. Finally, students will collaborate on a final project that centers icy art history as an approach, while developing skills in exhibition design and museum-style interpretation. (Satisfies art post-1750)