This course investigates the myriad ways ancient Roman place-making, visual culture, and thought have been evoked, utilized, and translated in North American thought, design, and visual history. At the heart of our investigation is the concept of counter histories and concepts such as agency, ownership, and power, i.e. who shapes the land and who owns the classical forms?

Topics explored include:
• Examination of how artists, thinkers, and designers from a variety of backgrounds have interpreted and adapted classical visual traditions and concepts, with case studies including figures such as Edmonia Lewis.
• Analysis of Neoclassicism in public spaces, considering questions of the ownership and presentation of the classical past, including the representation of figures such as Robert E. Lee and Marcus Aurelius in civic monuments and parks.
• Comparative study of historical agricultural labor systems, with attention to similarities and differences between contexts such as Roman and early American practices.
• Exploration of the influence of Roman landscape design and horticulture on the development of American landscapes and gardens.
• Investigation of the legacy of Roman surveying methods and land division (centuriation) in the history of mapping and land organization in the United States.
• Consideration of imperial themes and the representation of cultural difference, as reflected in Neoclassical portrayals of historical figures and groups in civic art and public spaces.
• Study of the adaptation of ancient Mediterranean and Roman visual motifs in American cemeteries, including a site visit to Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Class visits: Mount Auburn Cemetery (reached via public transportation), the Harvard Art Museum, and the Harvard Map Collection.