What does it mean to see? How do historians rely on the visual to interpret the past? Is the visual record misleading? These questions serve as a launching off point for this workshop, which considers the relationship between sight and historical interpretation, between visual materials and historical research. In an ocularcentric world were visual practices are privileged over other sensory modes, historians regularly search for meaning through the visual —photographs, manuscripts, letters—in the archives. Drawing on ways of seeing and researching across global contexts, our panelists explore the possibilities and pitfalls of interpreting the past through visual representations.

Panelists include:
Saquib Usman (PhD student, Anthropology, University of Michigan)
Tara Weinberg (PhD student, History, University of Michigan)
Xiaoyue Li (PhD student, History, University of Michigan)
Osagie K. Obasogie (commentator, Haas Distinguished Chair and Professor of Bioethics, University of California, Berkeley)
Stephen A. Berrey (chair; Associate Professor of History, University of Michigan)

Free and open to the public. Lunch provided.

This event is part of the Friday Series of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.