Chat About
Founded in 2021, Chat About pairs students in the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH) and the Master of Fine Arts program in the Department of Visual Arts, providing them with resources for critique, programming, and exhibition. Throughout the year, student pairings present a talk and conversation with one another on shared themes and research in their practices, followed by comments, questions, advice, and cheers from their cohort and the campus community. The group momentum of these conversations and collaborations often leads to students self-organizing and proposing group exhibitions across campus venues.
Research in Art and Visual Evidence
The RAVE (Research, Art, and Visual Evidence) workshop features scholarship on art, architecture, media, and art criticism across geographies and historical periods. In mobilizing art historical methodologies and interpretive approaches, RAVE seeks not to foreclose other frameworks for considering visual evidence and visual culture, but rather to use the tools of art history as a generative framework for opening broader dialogues about what artworks mean and how they mean it.
Visual and Material Perspectives on East Asia
The VMPEA (Visual and Material Perspectives on East Asia) workshop centers on the study of material and visual objects from East Asia, exploring recent theories of art, history, and material and visual culture as they apply to the region. Presentations cover objects, sites, visual materials, and built environments across a variety of historical periods and geographic locations within East Asia. The workshop takes a flexible approach to methodology, drawing not only from art history but also from archaeology, anthropology, film studies, museum studies, and visual culture. UChicago students, faculty, and outside speakers are all invited to participate.