Dumbarton Oaks
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection supports research and learning internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships and internships, meetings, and exhibitions. Located in residential Georgetown, Dumbarton Oaks welcomes researchers at all career stages who come to study its books, objects, images, and documents. It opens its doors to the public to visit its historic garden, designed by Beatrix Farrand; its museum, with world-class collections of art; and its Music Room, for lectures and concerts. The institute disseminates knowledge through its own publications and online resources. Innovative programming has introduced students of all ages to the museum, gardens, and collections. View more information on their Member Feature Page.
AHFES Distance Learning
Winter Programs
Asterisk (*) indicates synchronous engagement available.
Byzantine Fashion *
Excavations in the nineteenth century unearthed scores of the ornate dress textiles that wrapped the people of medieval Egypt in their graves. These textiles revealed a spectacular range of color, pattern, and ornamental motifs woven into the garments themselves.
Students will explore how material adds value and meaning to textile art through engagement with Byzantine and their own fashions. Students will learn about the value and meaning behind decorative motifs in Byzantine dress and learn to apply their knowledge through analyzing objects and designing fashion. Students will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of exploratory and critical thinking activities in which they assess the value and functions of textile objects and discuss with their classmates. Teachers can use the educator guide to facilitate this program for remote learning (approximately 140 minutes).
A synchronous virtual element (45 minutes) is offered by Dumbarton Oaks to engage students in object-based inquiry and enhance learning. Dumbarton Oaks facilitators will provide a close-looking discussion of Byzantine fashion. Please contact education@doaks.org for questions or assistance or to book the synchronous element conducted via Zoom.
Content Areas: Social Studies/ History/ Geography, Arts
Discipline: Writing/Reading/Journalism, Visual Arts, Hands-On/Lab/Tactile
Resource Type: Other Interactive Distance Learning Activity/ Online or Printable Resource
Learning Standards: This resource is aligned with the Creative Process unit of the DCPS Arts Framework.
Grades: 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
Length: 185 minutes
Accessibility Measures: Adjustable Volume, Closed Captioning
Drawn to Music *
"Art and music express ideas and emotions just as written words do. Students will explore the relationship between art, music, and language through a core self-directed activity in the student guide (approximately 25 mins). To start, students will learn about symphonic music and the instruments of an orchestra. Then, students will listen to Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto and use written word and art to respond to music. Alternatively, teachers can use the educator guide to facilitate the Listening-Ten Times Two thinking routine (developed as part of the Artful Thinking project at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education) for remote classroom learning.
A synchronous virtual element (45 mins) is offered by Dumbarton Oaks to engage students in object-based inquiry and enhance learning. Dumbarton Oaks facilitators will provide a close-looking discussion of music-themed artworks in the museum’s collections and an interactive activity creating a soundscape. Please contact education@doaks.org for questions or assistance or to book the synchronous element conducted via Zoom. "
Content Areas: Arts
Discipline: Writing/Reading/Journalism, Visual Arts, Music/ Music Production
Resource Type: Other Interactive Distance Learning Activity/ Online or Printable Resource
Learning Standards: This resource is aligned with The Orchestra: Strings Attached unit of the DCPS Arts Framework.
Grades: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
Length: 70 minutes
Khipus: Writing in Knots *
The Inkas offer one of the great enigmas of world civilizations. Unlike every other major civilization of the ancient world that invented a writing system, the Inkas relied on a three-dimensional, cord-based system of recording information—the khipu. Students will learn about khipus through core self-directed activities and tutorials in the student guide (approximately 75 minutes total). To start, students will read and watch several short videos about khipus, before learning to decode and encode khipus. Alternatively, educators can use the teacher guide to facilitate this program for remote classroom learning.
A synchronous virtual element (45 minutes) is offered by Dumbarton Oaks to engage students in object-based inquiry and enhance learning. Dumbarton Oaks facilitators will provide a close-looking discussion of khipus and a hands-on activity decoding and encoding khipus. Please contact education@doaks.org for questions or assistance or to book the synchronous element conducted via Zoom.
Content Areas: Social Studies/ History/ Geography, Arts
Discipline: Visual Arts, Hands-On/Lab/Tactile
Resource Type: Other Interactive Distance Learning Activity/ Online or Printable Resource
Learning Standards: This resource is aligned with the Creative Process unit of the DCPS Arts Framework.
Grades: 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th
Length: 120 minutes
Accessibility Measures: Adjustable Volume, Closed Captioning
Previous Lotteries
Propaganda, Faith, and the Transformation of the Roman Empire
Presented by: Dumbarton Oaks
Far from “falling” or “collapsing,” the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which we call Byzantium, continued to thrive at the crossroads of Europe and Asia into the Middle Ages. This program explores the history of Byzantium, from the early fourth to the late seventh century, through the lens of coins, one of our most important sources for political messaging. It will pay specific attention to the development of Christian imagery/iconography as well as to the continuity of Roman institutions in the East during a period of transformation in the West. By combining historical narrative, close-looking exercises, and comparison with other objects from the Dumbarton Oaks Museum collection, students will decode political and religious imagery, learn about the processes of social, religious, and political change, and apply material culture to the historical narrative.
Dates and Times: Mondays (October 5, 19, 26, November 2, 9, 16, 30, December, 7, 14, 21) at 12 and 1 Tuesdays (October 6, 13, 20, 27, November 3, 10, 17, December 1, 8, 15, 22) at 10 and 1 Wednesdays (October 7, 14, 21, 28, November 4, 18, 25, December 2, 9, 16) at 12 and 1 Thursdays (October 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12, 19, December 3, 10, 17) at 10, 11, 12, and 1 Fridays (October 16, 23, 30, November 6, 13, 20, December 4, 11, 18) at 10, 11, 12, and 1
Length of Event: 45 minutes
Location: Virtual
Content: Social Studies/History
Medium: Artifact or Object Exploration; Visual Arts;
Learning Standards: 7.3.1 Describe the main function and meaning of works of art from Ancient Civilizations and the Middle East (e.g., ancient Greece, the Persian Empire, Egypt, Rome, India, China, and the Silk Road)
7.3.6 Explain how objects made for functional, ritual, and other purposes are considered art in different contexts.
8.3.2 Explain the function and meaning of works of art from its historical perspective.
HSP 3.3 Discuss the similarities and differences between several comparable works of art from the same cultural domain (region or ethnicity) across long durations of time (centuries).
HSA 3.5 Identify and demonstrate how a historic and cultural idea has been represented and has changed or remained static over time and location (e.g., Egyptian Pharonic sculpture; representations of Buddha; the human figure in European art).
HSA 3.7 Investigate and discuss universal concepts expressed in works of art, articulating the various ways (both similar and different) though which these concepts are expressed across diverse cultures)
HSA 3.9 Examine artworks of world culture with regard to major periods of art from the ancient era to early modern times, and genres from various geographic regions.
Grades: 6th-12th
Ticket capacity: 40 per date
Margaret Mee and the Amazon
Presented by: Dumbarton Oaks
In the Margaret Mee and the Amazon virtual workshop, students will learn about the Amazon Rainforest through the story of Margaret Mee, a pioneering artist, explorer, and advocate for the Amazon. Students will examine interconnected ecosystems and the plant-bird relationship by looking closely at botanical watercolors featured in the Margaret Mee: Portraits of Plants exhibition. Students will construct a section of the Amazon Rainforest ecosystem, discuss the impact of deforestation, and consider how to help protect the rainforest as youth activists.
Dates and Times: Mondays 10am, 11am October 5, 19, 26 and November 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, and December 7, 14, 21 • Wednesdays 10am, 11am, 1pm October 7, 14, 21, 28, and November 4, 18, and December 2, 9, 16 Thursdays 1pm October 8, 15, 22, 29, and November 5, 12, 19, and December 3, 10, 17 • Fridays 10am, 11am, 1pm October 16, 23, 30, and November 13, 20, and December 4, 11, 18
Length of Event: 45 minutes
Location: Virtual
Content: Science
Medium: Artifact or Object Exploration; Visual Arts;
Learning Standards:
Arts, Social Studies, and Science DCPS Standards
6.1.3 Identify and discuss works of art including the subject, theme, genre, style, function, and differences in media. Describe how an artist can use the same theme in a work of art using different media and style resulting in a different effect.
6.1.9 Identify and describe examples of art that shapes the natural environment
7.1.4 View and describe ways subject matter is depicted.
8.1.7 Analyze how scale is used in developing a drawing.
HSP.1.14 Compare and contrast similar styles of works of art using electronic and non-traditional media with media traditionally used in the visual arts.
HSA.1.9 Explain the role and influence of new technologies on contemporary works of art.
• Social Studies Standards
6.4. Students describe rural and urban land use, ways of making a living, cultural patterns, and economic and political systems.
6.5 Students acquire a framework for thinking about Earth’s physical systems: Earth-sun relationships, climate and related ecosystems, and land forms.
6.6. Students analyze ways in which humans affect and are affected by their physical environment.
• Science Standards
6.6. Broad Concept: Sources of materials differ in amounts, distribution, usefulness, and the time required for their formation.
7.3. Broad Concept: Similarities are used to classify organisms since they may be used to infer the degree of relatedness among organisms.
7.8. Broad Concept: Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and nutrients among themselves and with the physical environment.
HSB.6. Broad Concept: Plants are essential to animal life on Earth.
HSB.8. Broad Concept: Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects.
HSE.2. Broad Concept: The environment is a system of interdependent components affected by natural phenomena and human activity.
HSE.3. Broad Concept: Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between competing effects.
HSE.4. Broad Concept: The amount of life any environment can support is limited by the available energy, water, oxygen, and minerals, and by the ability
of ecosystems to recycle organic materials from the remains of dead organisms.
HSE.5. Broad Concept: Numerous Earth resources are used to sustain human affairs. The abundance and accessibility of these resources can influence
their use.
Grades: 6th - 12th
Ticket capacity: 40 per date
Beyond the Grave: Unearthing Medieval Egyptian Fashion
Presented by: Dumbarton Oaks
In ""Beyond the Grave: Unearthing Medieval Egyptian Fashion,"" students will uncover the fascinating history of the ornate, colorful, and sophisticated textiles that clothed the people of medieval Egypt from the 4th to the 14th century. Worn in life and often buried with the dead, the Egyptian fashion objects on display at Dumbarton Oaks reveal 1,000 years of history across a broad swath of society: from childhood to adulthood, polytheism to Christianity to Islam, the everyday to the elite. In guided discussion and activities in the galleries, the program will ask students to consider clothing and jewelry, familiar features of our everyday lives and personal and community identities, through an art historical lens (looking at color, symbols, material, production, and historical context) and from a lost world: medieval Egypt, a part of the multicultural Byzantine Empire. Through hands-on activities, students will be introduced to textile designing and making and will reflect on what clothing, both historically and currently, tells us about how people see themselves and want to be seen, what they believe and value, and who they are, in life and death.
Dates: 12/5/19, 12/10/19, 12/12/19, 12/17/19, 12/19/19
Time: 10:00 AM
Length of Event: 75 minutes
Content Area: Social Studies/ History/ Geography, Arts
Grades: 6th-9th
Ticket capacity: 30
