Program Overview

Overview of Material Witnesses: Sixteen Objects and the Shaping of Global History

Material Witnesses endure not only in museums, but in the art, architecture, and texts left behind by people—individuals who dreamed, believed, resisted, and remembered. Each carved statue, work of art, sacred manuscript, monumental structure or historical document is more than an artifact; it is a witness to human lives. These objects speak not just of empires, ideologies, and revolutions, but of the humanity within them: the aspirations, fears, and questions that have shaped our shared story. This lecture series—spanning Ireland, Europe, and beyond—places that humanity at its centre. From the grandeur of state architecture to the quiet symbolism in devotional art, from the language of treaties to the margins of personal letters, we find the traces of human voices struggling with power, identity, memory, and meaning.

Details of the Lecture Series

Delivered by scholars from History of Art and Architecture, Classics and History, Material Witnesses is an interdisciplinary lecture series exploring how art, architecture, text—and everyday objects—are entangled with human lives. Across sixteen talks, it considers how materials have helped construct and question authority, express belief, survival, and protest, and shape public memory. From monumental buildings to worn tools, sacred texts to personal letters, these objects reflect the full range of human experience. They remind us that history lives not just in events, but in the everyday encounters between people and the things they create, use, and carry with them.

Date, Time, and Place

• This lecture-only module comprises of 16 lectures, eight in semester 1 and eight in semester 2.
• The lectures commence the week beginning 29 September 2025 and recommence 19 January 2026.
• Lectures take place on Mondays 7 – 8 pm on Trinity Campus.
• Lectures will be live streamed but not recorded.

Course Fees

• €180 for the full course.
• €99 per semester.
• €100 concession rate for the full course.
• €60 per semester concession rate.
• The concession rate is available to all those retired, over 65s, and those on a government pension/payment plan and the unwaged, including second and third level students.

Program Structure

• The program is structured as a series of lectures, with no recorded sessions available.
• It is designed to explore the intersection of human lives with art, architecture, and everyday objects across history.

Application and Enrollment

• Enrollments for this course will open in mid-August.
• Applications can be made online or by telephone.
• Further details on the application process are available upon request.

Program Objectives

• To explore how materials have helped construct and question authority, express belief, survival, and protest, and shape public memory.
• To consider the full range of human experience as reflected in monumental buildings, worn tools, sacred texts, and personal letters.
• To place humanity at the centre of historical inquiry, focusing on the aspirations, fears, and questions that have shaped our shared story.