Art of Natural History course (online)

I teach at several schools (online, including the Rhode Island School of Design, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and Morbid Anatomy) and offer private lessons. Please contact me for next available spot in this course. COURSE OVERVIEW This course combines slide presentations of the highlights of various fields of biology from Ancient Greece through the late Renaissance and early Enlightenment. Participants have the option to complete a written or visual response to the prompts (based on in-class demonstrations in assorted wet and dry media like colored inks, colored pencils, graphite, and more). Below is a brief description of the topics covered: Week One: Intro to Natural History: origins in botany; role of Ancient Greece and the Greco-Arabic translation movement; and the evolution of print-making techniques. Week Two: Collectors, Cabinets of Curiosity, and Museums: spirituality and science; colonialism; sorting fact from fiction; origins of the modern museum; intro to the scientific revolution of the Renaissance Week Three: Zoology: bestiaries; print revolution; public dissections and first hand observation; influence on painters of the Northern Renaissance Week Four: Human Anatomy and Medicine; balancing the humors; the doctrine of signatures; public dissections and first hand observation; marriage of art and science; symbolism in anatomical atlases Week Five: Ornithology: falconry, symbolism, and species identification Week Six: Entomology: from the margins of illuminated manuscripts to dedicated field guides; role in fine art Week Seven: Marine Life: maps and mythology; corals and aquariums; astonishing microscopic lifeforms Week Eight: Geometry in Nature; pattern and design in the natural world A few interesting articles: https://daily.jstor.org/public-dissection-gruesome-spectacle/ on the contributions of Emperor Rudolph to science: here On Petrus Plancius and his spice map: here And some resources for exploring the art of natural history: Public Domain Review Linda Hall Library, scientist of the day Wellcome Library collection Huntington Library Embassy of the Free Mind (especially good for alchemy)