“Building a textbook: what we can learn from the authors of The History of Art about teaching art history”

Hosted by Marlee Lisker, Deborah Hutton, and Jean Robertson on March 16, 2026

More than a decade ago, Jean Robertson and Deborah Hutton, along with the other members of their 11-person author team, were faced with a question: how to build a textbook that represents a truly global history of art. This challenge mirrors the experience of developing and teaching the art history course itself—how does one cover the vast span of art history within a semester or two? What artworks will be most compelling and representative? How does one ensure students are developing key course skills like visual analysis along the way?

Answering these questions led to the development and publication of The History of Art: A Global View, a two-volume text spanning art from prehistory to the present. Now in its Second Edition, The History of Art continues to provide a flexible look at art history, with brief, modular chapters that illustrate how art developed simultaneously around the world, with pedagogy and courseware designed to help students build key skills. With the publication of the Second Edition, the book was also adapted into The Concise History of Art, a single-volume text that is brief and flexible enough to work for a single-semester course.

Join us on Monday, March 16 at 1pm Eastern to hear from Jean and Deborah about developing The History of Art, adapting it into The Concise History of Art, and how the considerations and insights they gained can be applied to developing or refining an art history survey course–whether you're teaching globally, or looking to adapt the text to a Western or thematic survey.

We will be sharing a recording of the event with all registrants, so if you’re unable to join us live, please feel free to RSVP to receive the recording!

The date of this workshop has passed.
To request the recording, please fill out the form below.