Early Modern Conversions Workshop and Presentation

This event will have two components: a workshop and a lecture and will be facilitated by Dr. Bronwen Wilson. Brought to you by the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory.

Early Modern Conversions Workshop: 12pm – 2pm
The workshop will foster exploration of the idea of early modern conversions – a topical area of research and one connected to the ongoing, international project (titled Early Modern Conversions: Religions, Cultures and Cognitive Ecologies) that is currently developing an historical understanding of conversion that will enlighten modern debates about corporeal, sexual, psychological, political, and spiritual kinds of transformation. This workshop will bring together graduate students from the UBC community (as well as any other interested individuals) with established scholars (partners of the Early Modern Conversions Project from both UBC and other institutions) in order to discuss a number of pre-selected academic texts that take up this theme; this will allow all participants to explore recent developments in fields such as English literature, history, and art history and to consider the ways in which the idea of conversion can help shape new research.

Lecture by Dr. Dawn Odell: 5pm – 7pm
Dr. Dawn Odell, an Associate Professor of Art History at Lewis & Clark College, will provide a lecture for the UBC community and wider public. Odell specializes in Chinese and early modern European art and teaches a variety of courses engaging these regions, including classes on East Asian print culture, comparative approaches to European and East Asian art of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and contemporary Chinese art. Professor Odell’s research focuses on the exchange of material goods and artistic practices between Asia and Europe in the early modern period, with a particular emphasis on the Dutch engagement with China. Her lecture will grant participants a unique opportunity to gain insight into an important area of art historical research.