IAP 2016 Activities by Sponsor - History

Anne McCants, Professor of History

Jan/14

Thu

01:00PM-02:30PM

Museum of Fine Arts, Must bring MIT ID for free admission

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/07
Limited to 15 participants

If you love the art of the 17th century Dutch 'golden age' come join MIT Historian Anne McCants for a guided tour of Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer.  This special exhibit (which closes on January 18th and can be previewed here: http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/class-distinctions) has been called 'a visual banquet' by the Boston Globe.  Professor McCants will add to the pictorial feast her expertise on the economy and society of the Dutch Republic, putting the paintings and other material artifacts -- which in this exhibit have been arranged by social class -- into their full historical context.  Meet at 1:00 inside MFA's Huntington Ave. Entrance.  Students with MIT ID get in museum for free. 

Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Anne McCants, E51-263, (617) 258-6669, amccants@MIT.EDU

Anne McCants, Professor of History

Jan/28

Thu

10:00AM-03:00PM

Burton-Connor

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/14
Limited to 10 participants

Come and learn how to make 3 different kinds of bread:

Soda bread
Yeast bread
Sour dough

We’ll talk about different kinds of grains and leavenings, eat lunch, and take home our baked products.

Limit 10 participants

Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Prof. Anne McCants, Burton-Connor, (617) 253-4965, amccants@MIT.EDU

Chris Leighton

Jan/27

Wed

05:00PM-07:00PM

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/25
Limited to 25 participants
Prereq: None

Under the leadership of the Communist Party (many of whose elite members have engineering backgrounds) countless ambitious infrastructure projects have remade the China physically. How should we measure the social impact of these changes?

Yung Chang considers this topic in the documentary Up the Yangtze, which focuses on the massive Three Gorges Dam, a 1.5 mile long 600 foot high marvel that displaced millions, (very slightly) changed the rotation of the earth, and drowned a landscape as iconic as the Grand Canyon, while at the same time potentially providing 100 terawatt-hours of electricity per year. As boats cruise for scenic farewell voyages up and down the river, the film follows the lives of two people who work those rising waters.

Participants will watch and discuss the film over a shared Chinese meal. No prerequisites; all welcome.

Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Christopher Leighton, E51-288, 617 324-0541, CLEIGHT@MIT.EDU

Hiromu Nagahara

Jan/28

Thu

01:00PM-02:30PM

Museum of Fine Arts, Bring your MIT ID Card

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/10
Limited to 15 participants

Did you know that Boston is home to the largest collection of Japanese art outside of Japan? Join MIT Japan historian, Hiromu Nagahara, on a tour of the fascinating collection at MFA, including famous woodblock prints, Buddhist sculptures, and samurai swords. The tour will include a discussion of the artworks' significance as well as how they got to Boston in the first place.  *Meet at 1pm inside MFA's Huntington Ave. entrance. 
Students with MIT ID get in museum for free. 

Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Hiromu Nagahara, E51-255G, (617) 324-4977, nagahara@mit.edu

Jan/06

Wed

04:45PM-05:45PM

Museum of Fine Arts, Bring your MIT ID

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/04
Limited to 10 participants
Prereq: None

Some of New England’s greatest artists have sought meaning and inspiration by observing the ocean. Join MIT historian Christopher Capozzola on a tour and discussion of some of the MFA’s most compelling images of Americans at sea. Rather than trying to see the entire museum, our visit will spend about an hour looking in depth at just three paintings: John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark (1778); Fitz Henry Lane, Boston Harbor (c. 1850); and Winslow Homer, The Fog Warning (1885). No background knowledge is needed, but come ready to look and talk.

*Meet at 4:45pm inside the MFA's Huntington Ave. entrance.  
Students with MIT ID get in museum for free. The MFA charges a pay-what-you-wish admission fee after 4:00pm on Wednesdays.

Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Prof. Christopher Capozzola, E51-284, (617) 452-4960, capozzol@mit.edu

Margo Collett, Anne McCants

Enrollment: Limited: Advance sign-up required
Sign-up by 01/13
Limited to 15 participants
Attendance: Participants must attend all sessions

This course explores a wide range of medieval textile and clothing production technologies, offering students hands on experience in their use. We will work with a raw fleece; card and spin the wool; use simple looms to weave a belt; dye a variety of fabrics; and design/construct a single garment - either a cloak or tunic. All materials provided.

This course will question typical characterization of medieval textile work as unskilled, as well as consider distinctions usually made between activities labeled as crafts versus those labeled as art.

Sponsor(s): History
Contact: Anne E. C. McCants, E51-291, 2586669, amccants@mit.edu

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Distaff Arts

Jan/21	Thu	09:00AM-04:00PM	E51-095
Jan/22	Fri	09:00AM-04:00PM	E51-095