Are fellows required to work within a specific historical time period during their studies?

No. The goal of the program is to teach analytical skills, provide content knowledge, and develop conceptual thinking. After training in object analysis, Winterthur students can apply these skills to any objects, no matter the time period and Fellows’ thesis topics can relate to any time period of the student’s choosing. While the connoisseurship classes primarily utilize Winterthur’s object collections (which do include objects earlier and later than the core dates, 1650 – 1860) and library collections which span 1600 – 1935, Fellows are also exposed to countless other collections during their field-study trips. Selected sites complement Winterthur’s collections, giving students access to objects from many different time periods. Students may also interact with objects from a variety of time periods in their elective classes, internships, and/or independent studies.