This Exploration Seminar will engage 13 students from the University of Washington who are majoring in a wide spectrum of academic disciplines. They come from the study of science and technology, pursuits in the field of arts, to those in CHID. The Department of Comparative History of Ideas is what makes this program possible. This Early-Fall Exploration seminar of 2019 is centered around “Arts and Innovation in Lyon”. Led by artist-activist Ellen Sollod and historian-curator Elizabeth Brown, we will be immersing ourselves into the city where art has stimulated innovation for centuries: Lyon, France. From the Roman era to the 20th century, through the Renaissance era and the French Revolution, Lyon has rich layers of history that have influenced what it is today. As we surround ourselves in a city that is celebrated for its integration of art, architecture, and urban design, we hope to build parallels between Lyon and the United states and take this innovative approach of thinking into our own studies.

Sitting at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers, Lyon’s culture is reflected in it’s artful blend of historic and contemporary spaces, which include UNESCO sites. The city is unique in how it has preserved historical times rather than rebuilding on itself; Lyon has progressively expanded towards the east. This allows us to experience many different eras alongside each other and alter our perceptions about space and time in the context of public spaces.

Throughout this program we will be directly observing the city in places such as the Lugdunum Musuem, Etats-Unis district & Les Subsistances. We will be collaborating with each other through seminar discussions and journalism along with projects that reflect on and capture the spirit of public spaces. All of us are multifaceted in our identity and will experience this program differently from one another; so, we can contribute our various perspectives to such a unique opportunity. By the end of this exploration, we hope that we are able to grasp how the fine and applied arts have shaped and are shaped by Lyon culturally and physically. Our journey does not end when are back in the states, we want to be able to apply our new insights and critical analysis of visual experience to our own disciplinary studies and develop new avenues in thinking.