[1] (Re)Envisioning Imperial Portraiture in the Americas

Contributor: Megan Baker, mebakerudel.edu
Deadline Extended: May 15, 2020

Chairs: Michael Hartman, University of Delaware & Megan Baker, University of Delaware

Eighteenth-century art is replete with portraits born out of transatlantic imperialist projects—depictions that scholars have traditionally considered through biographical approaches of artists and/or sitters. These rich objects do more than just document patronage relationships; they visually enforced colonial power structures, codified racial hierarchies, and established aesthetic preferences and ideals through artistic interchange and travel. Portraiture in the Americas reveals the material constraints faced by artists, colonizers, Indigenous peoples, and enslaved laborers.

We ask how new approaches to the medium might expand understanding of portraiture in the colonial Americas and seek topics that broadly question the materiality and meaning of portraiture as implicated in the vast colonial Atlantic world. Topics might include portraiture as resistance; iconoclasm, or reactionary uses and forms of portraiture; the relationship between slavery and portraiture; artistic interchange between Indigenous and Euro-American artists; maps as portraits, or their relationship to (or as) environment; how movement of sitters and artists factored into the creation and display of likenesses; and the role of sculptural representation. We welcome papers that consider not only the British, French, and Spanish colonial presence, but also those examining Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, and Swedish influences.

For more information about SECAC 2020, please visit the conference page at: https://secacart.org/page/Richmond

Please submit abstracts of no more than 200 words through the submissions portal at: https://secac.secure-platform.com/a

Direct any questions to: Megan Baker (mebakerudel.edu) or Michael Hartman (mwhudel.edu)

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[2] Going Global: New Approaches to Expanding the Survey

Contributor: Lindsay Alberts
Date: 20 Jan 20

As art history departments, general education requirements, and individual faculty members increasingly strive to recognize the significance of art, architecture, and visual culture produced in societies beyond traditional Western European narratives, one fundamental concern remains unavoidable: how to add additional teaching content into a semester of the same length? This panel seeks to present a variety of practicable approaches to “globalizing” the survey as a means to support faculty currently negotiating the challenge of broadening the geographic scope of their courses. Further, this panel attempts to provide more theoretical or “big picture” considerations to those considering making the change to a global survey in the future.

Proposals are invited for papers or non-traditional presentations ranging from 10-20 minutes, as panel format is flexible. The deadline for proposals is 1 April 2020. Topics could include but are not limited to:
- Textbook selection
- Course structure
- Individual assignments
- Theoretical frameworks
- Compare/contrast visual analysis
- Student responses to global content
- Instructor prep for new content areas
- Departmental/institutional challenges to global survey adoption
- Ideas for incorporating or addressing some global works in a traditional Western-focused survey, through assignments, discussion, films, etc.

In examining these new approaches, we hope to encourage cross-cultural dialogues and establish visual connections that transcend traditional Euro-centric visual narratives.

Please submit abstracts until 1 April 2020 through the submissions portal at:
https://secacart.org/page/Richmond