This panel engages with the theory and praxis of geoaesthetics in early modern worlds. Defining geoaesthetics as an emerging approach in art history that reflects on the reciprocal relationship between the nonhuman and the human in shaping the earth, the panel seeks a deeper horizon for the concept-term. How might we understand historical constructions of nature and the natural environment, along with their aesthetic dimensions? How do we think of the agentive force of matter and nonhuman life in relation to human action? How was geoaesthetics visually configured in geographically distinct, yet interconnected, terrains through non- human and human agency? How did striated knowledge systems, materialities, and artistic practices shape such configurations? How do we theorize geoaesthetics in relation to economic and political processes and transformations? We invite contributions from art historians, artists, archaeologists, conservationists, and museum professionals to reengage with relational practices produced through human interaction with geographical, geological, botanical, zoological, astronomical, and climatic formations.

Please submit a completed session participation proposal form, an abstract (1-2 pages, double spaced), a letter of interest, and a cv to both chairs by May 8, 2015 (sugata@berkeley.edu; baader@khi.fi.it). For full guidelines on abstract submissions and participation, please see: http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/2016CallforParticipation.pdf