Research Institute, Summer 2007

Sensibility/Sensibilité in Eighteenth-Century England and France

Faculty:
Professor Ann Bermingham, Department of the History of Art and
Architecture, University of California Santa Barbara, CA
Professor Mary Sheriff, Department of Art, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

July 5-August 8, 2007

Getty Research Institute
Los Angeles, CA

application deadline: February 1, 2007

Seminar Description:

The seminar will investigate the cult of sensibility in England and
France, in particular its impact on the visual culture of the later part
of the eighteenth-century.

The seminar will be a comparative investigation, interdisciplinary in
scope, and it will rely on both verbal and visual texts from the period,
secondary literary and historical analyses, and art historical accounts.
Sensibility was an intensified awareness of one’s own and others’
feelings. The seminar will pose the question does sensibility have a
history and if so what might it be? How does sensibility construct a
history of private life and how does it transform eighteenth-century
subjectivity? What were the social and aesthetic uses of emotion? How
does the cult of sensibility allow us to reflect on the manners and
morals of eighteenth-century England and France, and how does it color
our understanding of this period?

Seminar Organization:

The seminar will be taught at the Getty Research Institute, and will be
limited to eight students. It will be six weeks long and will begin
Thursday, July 5. The seminar will meet twice a week on Tuesday and
Thursday for a three-hour session. Wednesday will be reserved for
special events: field-trips; guest speakers; meetings with Getty
curators; gallery discussions in the Getty museum. Seminar participants
will have use of the GRI library.

Seminar Participants:

The seminar is open to all MA and Ph.D. students who have completed at
least one year of course work. Participants will be expected to be
pursuing graduate work in either eighteenth- century British or French
art and culture. A reading knowledge of French is desirable.

Meals and Lodging:

Housing will be provided on the UCLA campus. Most rooms are double
occupancy, with breakfast included. A per diem will be issued to help
cover the cost of lunch and dinner.

Travel Stipends:

There is some money for travel stipends for students coming from a
distance or from abroad. If you wish to be considered for a travel
stipend please indicate this in your cover letter.

Application Process:

The application deadline is February 1. Applicants should include a
cover letter explaining their interest in the seminar topic and its
relevance to their research, a curriculum vita, a letter of
recommendation from their advisor, and a writing sample. All
applications should be sent as attachments to the two seminar leaders
(see below).

Applicants will be notified of their acceptance before April 1.

Applications emailed to Professor Ann Bermingham at
berminghamarthistory.ucsb.edu and to Professor Mary Sheriff at
msheriffearthlink.net. Please feel free to contact us if you have any
questions.