2026 Graduate Art History Symposium: Art/Art History in Times of Crisis

The 2026 Graduate Art History Symposium Art/Art History in Times of Crisis prompts us to ask, “What can we learn by studying responses to crisis?” The symposium begins on Thursday, October 29 with a keynote lecture by Dr. Antawan I. Byrd of Northwestern University titled “Being Seen Listening: Photography, Pan-Africanism, and the Public Square,” part of the Art + Design Visitor’s Lecture Series. The following day features contributions by graduate students from our university and across the globe that explore how artists and art historians contended with past and present turmoil, covering themes of biopolitics, colonialism, memory, ecologies, and performance, and an exhibition of works from studio art graduate students.

Check out the exhibition by the Studio Art Grad Group in Room 003 Gallery A+D, open October 29-30 only!

Sponsored By: Art + Design Visitor’s Committee, Department of Art History, Student Art History Association, Humanities Research Institute

See full schedule and abstracts on our website here: http://go.illinois.edu/ArtinCrisis 

If you would like to support the Symposium by purchasing a T-shirt, please fill out the order form here by Monday, October 19: https://forms.gle/Qpfh65RxRoQqcQqV7