Material Literacy & Object-Based Inquiry
A week in the Yale Summer Session Seminar in Art History offers a dynamic blend of art-historical insight, close looking, and hands-on creative practice. Guided by Yale Professor Edward S. Cooke, Jr., participants explore how materials, techniques, and making shape artistic meaning—while engaging directly with objects in Yale’s exceptional art collections.
Please note that this schedule is provided as a guide and may be updated as needed.
Monday — Connoisseurship, “Gentleman’s Knowledge,” and First Encounters with Objects
Morning:
• Welcome lecture: Why material literacy matters today, when so much of our world is mediated through screens and digital images.
• Introduction to connoisseurship and the legacy of “gentleman’s knowledge”—and how relying on the eye alone narrows our understanding.
• Seminar conversation on the limits of surface appearance and what we miss when we do not look into objects.
Afternoon:
• Behind-the-scenes visit to the Yale Collections Study Center at West Campus.
• Guided, hands-on session examining objects up close to connect visual, tactile, and structural insights.
• Discussion on how interiors, materials, and construction techniques reveal stories absent from labels and catalog entries.
Tuesday — Embodied Artisanal Knowledge
Morning:
• Lecture and seminar on artisanal intelligence—what makers learn through touch, repetition, and tacit knowledge.
• Exploration of material origins, behaviors, and the processes that shape form.
• Group discussion of how making deepens interpretation.
Afternoon:
• Field trip to the Brookfield Craft Center.
• Studio workshop time: students work directly with materials under the guidance of practicing artisans.
• Reflection session on how hands-on making reshapes the way we encounter historical objects.
Wednesday — Collecting, Display, and the Shaping of Value
Morning:
• Lecture on the history of collecting and display within decorative arts and material culture.
• Examination of how style, attribution, and value have been constructed—particularly within colonial and imperial contexts.
• Discussion on how these systems elevate certain narratives while sidelining makers outside the metropole.
Afternoon:
• Visit to the Yale University Art Gallery collections.
• Object study focused on structural logic, materials, and systems of classification.
• Group analysis of how curatorial choices influence interpretation and meaning.
Thursday — Object-Driven Inquiry in Practice
Morning:
• Practical workshop introducing methods for object-driven inquiry.
• Step-by-step strategies for approaching objects from the inside out—beginning with materials, construction, and physical logic before considering style or iconography.
Afternoon:
• Students venture across campus collections in pairs to investigate a chosen medium or object type.
• Independent and collaborative research using skills developed earlier in the week.
• Preparation for Friday’s presentations.
Evening:
• Celebratory dinner with faculty, visiting guests, and participants.
Friday — Sharing Insights & Closing Reflections
Morning:
• Team presentations: Each pair shares their object study, discoveries, and evolving understandings of material literacy.
• Group conversation drawing together themes from across the week.
Midday:
• Wrap-up lunch with reflections, questions, and next steps.
• Closing discussion on how to continue cultivating material awareness beyond the program.