Cosmic visions: bridging science and art

Abstract

Since the dawn of recorded history, stargazing has shaped—and been shaped by—our understanding of the universe and the place of humans within it. Though we tend to conceptualize art and science as separate spheres, the observation of the heavens has always been interwoven with culture, and artists and astronomers continue to draw inspiration from one another even today. The authors of this paper, over the past few years, have developed and team-taught an interdisciplinary course titled Cosmic Visions: The Science of Astronomy and the Arts. Our course traces the shared, often symbiotic, history of these two ways of knowing, combining scientific instruction with examination of art in a range of genres and traditions, including visual art, music, and theater. Each week students engage in discussions, listen to lectures, and consider readings related to both the science of astronomy and the role of celestial objects in literature and the arts. A midterm and a final exam test students’ mastery of the science, while short essays on works of art and literature challenge them to think about how our changing understanding of heavenly bodies intersects with changing beliefs about humanity. The course culminates in an art project in which students express their own vision of the cosmos and our place within it. What happens when students employ humanistic modes of analysis in company with scientific ones? How does artistic expression change students’ apprehension of scientific concepts? This short essay offers preliminary answers to these deep pedagogical questions.