IN PERSON: In this in-person course, we will explore how and why the design and function of English and American gardens have changed so much over time. We will study gardens from the Middle Ages to modern times, including formal early modern gardens, grand parks attached to country houses, 19th-century city parks, and current-day natural and organic gardens. Using lectures, slides, and videos, the course will look at: why people want gardens; how they perceive the costs and benefits of a garden; and how garden styles mirror the aesthetic, social, technological, and political attitudes of their time at least as accurately as any other art form. The gardens we will examine range from the purely ornamental to the functional, and include public parks. By studying the changing aspirations of garden owners, we will even try to answer the question, what are gardens for? | Lecture + Q&A.
Max enrollment: 35.
Location: Judea Reform Congregation, 1933 W. Cornwallis Rd, Durham NC 27705
