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Art History in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Belgium

Assorted High-rise Building in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Next offered: 

Few countries boast an art tradition as rich as the Netherlands, represented by such famous artists as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Vincent van Gogh. This 9-week study abroad opportunity will offer the study of Dutch art on-site within its cultural and historical context. While the program's primary focus is art history in the Netherlands—with special attention to Dutch Modernism and the seventeenth-century "Golden Age"—other topics will also be addressed. These include the contemporary art scene in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague, discussions with museum professionals, architecture, urban planning, design, and issues of Dutch identity, particularly in relation to recent debates on migration and the history of Dutch colonialism that are increasingly prevalent in contemporary art circles and museums of older art. The program will be based in Amsterdam, where participants will live as locals in student housing. We will frequently branch out to various cities in the country, such as The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem, Eindhoven. The program starts in Belgium to study early Netherlandish and modern Flemish art in Antwerp, Brussels, and Ghent. Similarly, we offer an extended excursion at the end of the 9 weeks to another neighboring country, specifically Berlin, Germany.

We are recruiting students from a variety of disciplines and levels who wish to see the art and culture of the Netherlands come to life by experiencing it firsthand. Lectures will be regularly held on the University of Amsterdam campus to provide training in both the content and methods of art history, but much of the learning and discovering will take place in the museums, along the canals, and in front of the monuments of Amsterdam and other cities of the Netherlands. Students will research and present topics based on their own interests. Guest lectures, bike tours, city walks, and research days will be scheduled during the week, leaving ample free time to explore. Using the rich traditions of Amsterdam and the Low Countries, this program will introduce participants to exciting modes of thinking about and looking at art, architecture, and Dutch culture within an international context.

The program fee covers a lot: all housing while abroad, all program-related travel, museum visits, and transportation, as well as many lunches while on excursions and some dinners. Given that no UW tuition is charged, getting a full quarter's worth of 15 credits is possibly equivalent, or even cheaper for out-of-state tuition-paying students, than the costs of the same amount of credits while at UW in Seattle paying tuition and rent.

Division: 
Art
Art History
Design
Program Type: 
Quarter-long Programs
Program Status: 
Active

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