Early Modern World

Woman seen from the back, Harvard Art Museums

Early Modern World at Harvard is a multi-disciplinary group composed of faculty, graduate students, and visiting researchers who study the historical traditions of early modernity across the globe. “Early Modern” refers to the dynamic period of cultural exchange within and between different regions of the world from the 14th to the 18th centuries. The complex legacy of the Early Modern era in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe—a period of political change, movement of peoples and colonization, scientific and technological discovery, and artistic innovation—continues to shape the present day. As research and teaching in these fields becomes increasingly diverse and global, this group fosters inclusivity, connection, and collaboration among Harvard’s community of early modernists. 

EMW is Harvard’s central hub for early modern activities of all kinds. It serves scholars, librarians, archivists, curators, and digital specialists working across departments and units, recognizing shared goals and fostering opportunities for collaboration in research, teaching, and public engagement. We maintain a coordinated list of lectures, workshops, seminars, and events hosted by affiliated groups and programs. We publish course offerings and promote awareness of the activities of our community members. We run two mailing lists—one newsletter for Harvard-based early modern events and one for events in the broader New England area. We welcome your input as we work to support ongoing and emerging projects in early modern fields across the university. If you would like to join one or both of our mailing lists, please write to our Program Coordinator, Anja Goeing, at agoeing@fas.harvard.edu. Welcome to Early Modern World at Harvard!

 

Past Spring 2025: Visiting Professor Joe Moshenska (Oxford)

 

Upcoming Events

Writing the Revolution: New Histories by Harvard Alumni
November 17, 2026
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3:00PM - 4:30PM EST
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Robinson Hall, Room 125, 35 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 02138. Open to the public, reception to follow.

Sponsor: Harvard in 1776 Initiative and the Department of History Seminar, Harvard University

Speakers: Chloe Chapin (Harvard University); Sarah M. S. Pearsall (Johns Hopkins University); Nathan Perl-Rosenthal (CNRS; Center for European Studies, Harvard...

Harvard 1776 Initiative 2026

Book Discussion: "Antiquity Made Whole: The Renaissance Continuation of Ancient Literature"
November 17, 2026
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5:00PM - 7:00PM EST
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Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy St, Cambridge MA. Please use the main entrance to enter the Barker Center

Author: Leah Whittington (English, Harvard). Respondents: Gordon Teskey (English, Harvard), Eric Weiskott (English, Boston College), Megan Heffernan (English, DePaul) and Stephen Hinds (Classics, University of Washington, Seattle). Co-sponsored by the...

Book Title Whittington 2026

Framed: Pictures from Asia in Eighteenth-Century Europe
November 17, 2026
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5:30PM EST
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Sackler Building, Room 422, 485 Broadway, Cambridge, MA

Sponsor: Mahindra Humanities Center Seminar on Visual Representation, Materiality, and Medium

Speaker: Kristel Smentek, MIT Department of Architecture

VISUAL REPRESENTATION, MATERIALITY, AND MEDIUM

The Buddhist Visual Culture of Tibetan Medicine
November 18, 2026
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5:30PM EST
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Barker Center, Room 133, Harvard University, 12 Quincy St, Cambridge MA

Sponsor: Mahindra Humanities Center Buddhist Studies Forum

Speaker: Briana Brightly, Harvard University

 

BUDDHIST STUDIES FORUM

Hamlet’s "Garbage" and the Tragedy of Waste
November 20, 2026
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5:00PM EST
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Barker Center, Room 133 (Plimpton Room), Harvard University, 12 Quincy St, Cambridge MA. Please use the main entrance to enter Barker Center.

This seminar has been postponed from Nov 6, 2026 to Nov 20, 2026.

Sponsors: Harvard Mahindra Humanities Center Seminar on Shakespearean Studies and Harvard English Department Renaissance Colloquium

Speaker: Matthew Ritger, Dartmouth College

Portrait of Shakespeare

Four Paintings, Four Stories, Four Uncharted Points in the History of European Painting
December 1, 2026
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6:00PM EST
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Harvard History of Art and Architecture, Lower Lecture Hall, 485 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02138

Speaker: Stephan Wolohojian, The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Curator in Charge of the Department of European Paintings

The Henri Zerner Lectures are sponsored by Harvard’s Department of History of Art and Architecture and the Harvard Art Museums, and...

Rosso Fiorentino, Madonna and Child with Saint John the Evangelist, MET

Electrical Narratives: Visual Art, Rape, Race, and Religion in Hester Pulter’s The Unfortunate Florinda and Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece
December 4, 2026
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5:00PM EST
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Barker Center, Room 133 (Plimpton Room), Harvard University, 12 Quincy St, Cambridge MA. Please use the main entrance to enter Barker Center.

Speaker: Erika Boeckeler, Northeastern University

Sponsors: Mahindra Humanities Center Seminar on Shakespearean Studies and Renaissance Colloquium, English Department, Harvard University

Portrait of Shakespeare
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