Whether you are a jewelry major, aspiring fashion designer or merchandiser, video game creator, painter - you should be able to find something in this visually rich course to apply to or influence your own career and your own work.

Jewelry has a long and rich history - the oldest piece currently discovered was created over 120,000 years ago, long before the famous cave paintings at Lascaux and Altamira! It is found in every culture, and is made from every material imaginable. The project will be described in detail later in the course and you will be given plenty of time to finish it.) As part of the Final, you will even get to create your own piece! (Do not worry, this is intended to be fun and what you make will be entirely based on whatever skill level and resources you have, be you a new beginner or advanced student. So that you may speak intelligently about the subject, you will also learn about different jewelry artists, jewelry-specific terminology, and even a bit about some common techniques used to create jewelry. Throughout the course, we will study all of these various aspects of jewelry and see how a piece is deeply intertwined with the culture and time period in which it is created. Far from being mere pretty body decoration, jewelry has played many different roles throughout history and across cultures - it signifies power, status and wealth honors our heroes and champions can be a device for preserving a memory or even the physical remains of a loved one is a means of showing you belong to a group or another person brings good luck and offers protection is a way of honoring the gods, showing you are chosen by them, or insures entry into the afterlife effects political change and reflects cultural and humanistic issues and, like a painting or sculpture, can be a way to express your thoughts and feelings about a subject. I hope you find this class exciting and inspiring, and that it makes you see jewelry in a different light.

Welcome to the History of Jewelry and Metal Arts from Around the World.

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