Teaching Philosophy
My goal as a teacher of Greek art, architecture, and archaeology is to work closely with students to develop their skills in formal analysis, the foundation for recognizing the significance of visual forms. In both my undergraduate and graduate teaching, I begin by focusing class discussion on an image, object, or site, so that students learn to prioritize evidence derived from the surviving material culture. As a result, they develop their own observations about the image. Such object-based teaching gives students the opportunity first to recognize their own observations and formal analyses, and then to consider their analyses together with relevant scholarship, in order to come to a more complete interpretation that takes
into account the object’s broader historical, social, and religious context.
Also crucial to my approach is the belief that objects must be situated in their original context. With this in mind, I also direct class discussion to how the vase or sculpture might have been perceived within different contexts of viewing; that is, what effect could the object have had on ancient viewers if they saw it in a cemetery, a domestic house, or a sanctuary. This attention to context allows students to move towards an awareness of techniques of looking, how viewers might be affected by their surroundings, and how the art objects continue to elicit responses in modern beholders.
Above all, in my teaching I aim to foster in my students an excitement and enthusiasm for ancient art and culture. It is the transformative effect that art may have upon those who engage closely with it that I strive to introduce to each class I teach, so that the students leave it with more awareness of the impact the visual can have on one’s perceptions and attitudes.
Student Testimonials
Evelyne Koubkova, PhD Student, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (Assyriology)
“Dr Laferriere has created a wonderful atmosphere in which all our voices felt heard and listened to. Each class focused on a different culture while staying within the established interdisciplinary frame. Sensory experience as a topic was a great unifier, relatable and engaging for all of us. For some of the classes specialists from the respective disciplines were invited to contribute to our class discussions and helped us stay grounded. Moreover, scholars working on related topics gave a number of inspiring lectures throughout the semester in the Ancient societies workshop which showed us even more concrete examples of application of the sensory approach. I felt encouraged by seeing such original, thought-provoking papers warmly received in a shared community of students and scholars of the ancient world.
As part of the class, we tasted some of the richness of sensory experience ourselves. An exhibit at the YUAG shared its theme with our seminar and was curated by Dr Laferriere herself. Giving presentations on objects in the exhibit oriented us towards materiality and space, while a complementary performance of reconstructed ancient music was an incredible experience on its own.
Going through that seminar revealed to me completely new ways of understanding and a space where I could intellectually meet with others. I finally met a range of students from different fields of ancient studies and saw how they interacted with the same materials. The final paper gave me an opportunity to rethink some of my research topics from this new perspective. I benefited largely from the instructor´s feedback and now feel confident developing my ideas into a dissertation topic. It is hard to overstate the importance this whole seminar has had for me.”
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Camille Angelo, PhD Student, Religious Studies
“During the spring 2019 semester, I had the pleasure of taking this year’s Archaia Ancient Societies Core Seminar, Sensory Experiences in Ancient Ritual, taught by the formidable Carolyn Laferrière. The seminar brought graduate students from an array of disciplines and departments, all working on ancient societies, into conversation with each other about questions of phenomenology, ancient experience, and the relationship between the material and the immaterial. This course provided me with the opportunity to be a conversation with colleagues with whom I would not have otherwise connected because of traditional disciplinary and departmental boundaries. As a graduate student focused on embodied experiences of ancient ritual in late antique Egypt, I often feel siloed from other scholars of the ancient world who might share my theoretical interests, but work on dissimilar periods or regions. The seminar exposed me to different approaches and theoretical frameworks, providing me with new paradigms through which to analyze the material that I study. For example, I was inspired me to engage with approaches rooted in sensory archaeology, which conceptualize the senses as multi-temporal. This in turn enabled me to engage with the archaeological record diachronically in new ways and with greater ease. I also found the structure of the class to be productive for my learning. Each week, our class considered a different cultural tradition, and scholars with expertise in a particular area often joined us as guest lecturers. Prof. Laferrière also incorporated material from the Yale University Art Gallery into the seminar. Learning about a diverse array of rituals from various geographic and temporal contexts from several incredible scholars exposed me to a variety of styles of teaching and talking about objects. Over the course of the semester, I became more adept at examining and presenting on material outside my immediate area of expertise. I believe I have grown immensely as a scholar because of this course.”
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Courses Taught
2020: Instructor, "Seeing and Making God(s) in the Ancient World," general education seminar, arts category. Classics
Department, University of Southern California.
2019: Instructor, "Sensory Experience in Ancient Ritual," graduate seminar.
Cross-listed among Classics, East Asian, History, History of Art, Judaic Studies, Near Eastern Studies, Religious
Studies, Anthropology, and Archaeology. Yale University.
2018: Instructor, “Apollo and Dionysos in Art and Cult,” graduate seminar. History of Art. Yale University.
2017: Instructor (co-taught), “Ancient Greek Festivals,” graduate seminar.
Cross-listed among History of Art, Classics, Religious Studies, Archaeology. Yale University.
Included an on-site trip to Greece.
2013: Teaching Fellow, “Greek Art and Architecture” (Milette Gaifman). Yale University.
2012: Teaching Fellow, “Survey of the History of Art: Prehistory to the Renaissance” (Milette Gaifman, Jacqueline Jung).
Yale University.
Teaching Fellow, “Roman Architecture” (Diana E. E. Kleiner). Yale University.
2011: Teaching Fellow, “Roman Art: Empire, Identity, Society” (Diana E. E. Kleiner). Yale University.
2008-9: Teaching Assistant in Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies, University of British Columbia, “Art of
Ancient Egypt,” “Egyptian Religion,” “Near Eastern Archaeology,” and “Prehistoric Egypt,” (Thomas Hikade).
2007: Teaching Assistant in the College of the Humanities, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, “World Religions,”
(Angela Sumegi).
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Syllabi
Undergraduate
Introduction to Art History I: Prehistory to the Renaissance
Greek Art and Archaeology
Animals, Monsters, and Gods in Greco-Roman Art
Death and Dying in Ancient Greece: Archaeology, Art, and Literature
Art and Myth in Greco-Roman Antiquity
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Graduate
Sensory Experience in Ancient Ritual
Apollo and Dionysos in Art and Cult
Ancient Greek Festivals
Art, Music, and Poetry in Archaic and Classical Greece
Art and Ritual in Greek Art
Intersections on the Silk Road: Religion, Art, and Cultural Exchange in Ancient Gandhara
Ancient Greece in Modern Italy: The Rediscovery of Greek Art on the Grand Tour
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**For PDFS of these syllabi, please contact me here.