Academic and Public Programs

In addition to its fellowship program, the Clark organizes year-round scholarly programs, including Clark Lectures, Conversations, Colloquia, Symposia, and Conferences that enrich the intellectual life of the Institute and contribute to a broader understanding of the role of art in culture.

"Is Paris Still the Capital of the Nineteenth Century?", a two-day symposium on October 30 and 31, will delve into new scholarship on art in France in the later nineteenth century, and explore across scholarly generations the current state of research in this famously active and pace-setting field. Hear what has changed the view of Impressionism, Manet, and French modernity in the twenty-five years since the publication of T.J. Clark's "The Painting of Modern Life." The symposium is cross-generational and will include scholars who have shaped the field of art history.

In March 2009, the Clark brought together scholars of film, art, and culture to discuss the relationships between film and art, and between film studies and art history for the symposium "Image and Movement: Film Studies and Art History."

Last September, the Clark, in association with CESAR, brought together historians of art, literature, theater, and culture to explore the complex relationships between the visual and theatrical arts in ancien regime and revolutionary France for the symposium "Visions of the Stage: Theater, Art, and Performance in France, 1600–1800." Other recent highlights of other Clark programs include last April's conference, "Art History and Diaspora: Genealogies, Theories, Practices." Other recent conferences include "What Is Research in the Visual Arts?: Obsession, Archive, Encounter." It explored fundamental questions, both philosophical and practical, for those working with visual art. What is research, why and how do we do it, and what place does it have in art making and the understanding of art today? In March the symposium "Artistic Crossings of the Black Atlantic: The Migratory Aesthetic in Contemporary Art," convened in association with the Williams College Museum of Art, brought together world-renowned exhibiting artists to discuss the issues surrounding artistic engagement with black slavery, migration, and diaspora.

To learn more about academic programs at the Clark, please click on a link to the left, e-mail Research and Academic Program, or call 413 458 0469.

The Clark also offers a wide variety of public programs, including public lectures, gallery talks, and concerts, that make art accessible, exciting, and engaging for visitors of all ages.

For a complete list of upcoming events at the Clark, see the Calendar of Events.