Pre-Modern Architecture of the Circumpolar North In this course we will explore the ways that circumpolar and Nordic architecture developed in an interconnected world, ca. 1000-1400. In the Arctic and subarctic, climate has required communities to adapt their built environment in creative ways, from snow houses to turf construction to stave churches. Dealing with themes of materiality, cultural translation, and hybridity, in this architectural survey we will think about spaces, their function in pre-modern communities, the ways they communicate ideas and interact with the landscape where they’re built, and their enmeshment within wider economic systems. We will learn together to read groundplans, practice in- depth visual analysis, consider a range of building materials and techniques, and interpret buildings as both sites and objects of material culture.

Animal Actors and Medieval Art In this course we will reframe the role animals played in medieval material culture. Though commonly depicted as images, animals were also essential contributors to the artistic process, their bodies utilized in all stages of craft production. Each week we will foreground one animal species that operated in a global Middle Ages to help us think through the ways that animals shaped both art production and the landscape in which they lived, from Greenland to the Sahara. Along the way, students will develop essential skills, including a vibrant understanding of the numerous ways animals were enmeshed in global systems of medieval art production; the ability to discuss techniques and materials used by medieval artists; confidence mobilizing critical theory from diverse perspectives; and confidence applying these tools in writing and research assignments.

Icy Art History in Vermont and Beyond In this course we will consider the intersection of art history and environmental humanities through the lens of snowscapes, polar landscapes, and ice/snow as both subject matter and materiality of art practice. This course will explore the developing field of “icy art history” as well as more widely consider environmental approaches to art history as a discipline. The content of the course will follow a survey of global art, exploring the ways communities and artists have depicted and adapted to icy environments over time. This theoretical grounding will be combined with weekly nature walks, where students will experiment with snow as a medium for ephemeral sculpture, as well as observe and record environmental changes over the month of class through photography, sketching, and descriptive writing exercises. Finally, students will collaborate on a final project that centers icy art history as an approach,  while developing skills in exhibition design and museum-style interpretation.

Greenland, Art and Sovereignty Homeland to vibrant communities who have forged lifeways there for thousands of years, Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat) is a site of centuries of colonial occupation and ongoing external political pressures. In this course, we will investigate the long history of the island’s material culture, considering ways Greenlandic makers have perfected technologies for life and self-expression in the Arctic, engaged both the landscape of their home and broader circumpolar cultural networks, and advocated for autonomy and political sovereignty. We will think alongside Indigenous scholars and stakeholders, learning together to tread carefully, respect communal privacy, and consider the ethics of display. A survey across time, we will examine work from the pre-modern to contemporary period. 3 hrs lect.

Plunder, Wonder, and War in Early Modern Sweden In this course we will examine how art was recruited in Sweden’s self-fashioning as a modern European state through the lens of museum studies and histories of collecting. Gustav Vasa, founder of the protestant Church of Sweden and the country’s first hereditary monarchy, is often called the father of the modern Swedish state, and Vasa’s descendants ruled during a key period of Swedish cultural history. By examining key objects and monuments commissioned for, gifted to, or looted by the House of Vasa (1523-1648) and those close to them, we will consider how power is buttressed and imaged by material culture. We will ask, how does a Nordic perspective complicate our understanding of the Early Modern Period? 3 hr seminar

Robyn Barrow

Reviews and ratings for Robyn Barrow at Middlebury College.Robyn Barrow teaches Early Circumpolar Architecture, Animal Actors and Medieval Art, Icy Art History in VT & Beyond and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Robyn Barrow good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

This class is one of the best I have ever taken. Professor Barrow is a captivating lecturer and is very considerate of student's out-of-class circumstances. She is one of the kindest professors at Middlebury and it is unfortunate that she is leaving the school. If she returns, I would highly recommend taking one of her classes.

This is such a niche course that I really loved. Professor Barrow is an incredible professor and it is sad that she will be leaving Middlebury. But I learned so much in this course and she made the learning so accessible. 

Professor Barrow is extremely enthusiastic about the material.  A good class to take if you have some art history background because some of the readings were a bit theory dense. Overall such an interesting class.