Semester:
Offered:
Course Description: Money is everywhere. As both an abstract construct and a material entity, money makes the world go around. Since before the invention of writing, money has been a common facet of everyday life, informing how we think and how we act. The course explores how societies across human history have made, used, and valued money in divergent ways. We will consider money as an object of aesthetic appreciation, an ethical problem, an architect of social relations, and environmental disruptor, a tool of political resistance, and much more. How has coinage design been a function of money's role as a political, religious, and cultural symbol? Is money a measure of value, and how does it align with other potential values, such as religious, moral, and aesthetic ones? Is it ethically neutral or an instrument of moral vice or virtue? What were the debates surrounding the rise of paper money beginning in the eighteenth century? How was money used as a tool of political resistance during the suffragette movement? Does money get recycled, and what is the environmental cost of different money forms today? What are the links between art, literature, theater, cinema, and money?
The course is open to undergraduates and graduates and capped at 90 students. No prerequisites are required.
HAA 73: Money Matters, Students' Voices, Spring 2022 (a selection)
My time in Money Matters this semester was amazing! It was a great class to take in my last semester in college, as it opened me up and exposed me to many academic perspectives I had not gotten as much before this semester. At the beginning of the course, I was not sure how understanding the design of currency would relate to both art & history in a significant way, however, the course showed me the link between currency design & history is significant. Being able to understand the political and economic backgrounds at the times currencies were minted allows one to use currency design as a looking glass into the past. Without this course I would never have truly understood this link nor how to identify these motifs & link them to the subsequent related history and implications.
Being able to work with real artifacts at the Harvard Art Museums, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, and the Baker Library of Historical Collections was my favorite part of the course. This experience showed me how much being able to see objects from periods that are being studied can inform the understanding of the event & time. Specifically, in the context of this course being able to see these objects in person allowed scale, function, design, and use to be visualized, which in turn worked to make sense of the related political, societal, and socio-economic factors that were at play when these artifacts were minted or created. Subsequently, from a formal analysis perspective, understanding the motifs, design, materials, form, and use of the artifacts inspected in our sections was informed by the related history & the artifacts’ place within it.
Matt Jenkins, Class 2022, Economics
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I could not be more thankful for this wonderful class. Money Matters brought me a new world of knowledge and a tight-knit community that I will never forget. One of my favorite aspects of this class was the handling sessions I attended every Monday morning at the Harvard Art Museums, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, and the Baker Library of Historical Collections at the Harvard Business School. I felt that these sessions were critical to my understanding and learning of the civilizations that created their currencies. Being able to feel and touch these currencies allowed me to create a deeper connection with the cultures, as I felt as if I was going back to the past. As a hands-on learner, I quickly remembered the information that came with each coin and felt that if I was handed the same currency years later, I could recall everything. On top of that, Professor Georganteli did an extraordinary job expanding on each presented object.
Haven Montefalco, Class 2024, Neuroscience
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Money Matters has absolutely deepened my awareness of money in culture! I'd previously never considered how money could be used as a means of propagating a national identity or asserting power, as I think it's difficult to develop awareness of those functions when living in a monetized society whose currency hasn't changed during my lifetime. Not knowing much about the production of money in older societies also meant that before this course I hadn't known much about the artistry and purpose behind the iconography on these coins, and how they might have been used to spread messages or even propaganda, in so digestible a form as an everyday means of exchange. The ability to handle objects physically in the Baker Library, the Peabody Museum, and the Harvard Art Museums has greatly shaped my experience in the class.
Eli Su, Class 2022, Art, Film, and Visual Studies & Computer Science
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When signing up for Money Matters, I was attracted by the prospect of taking a journey through history while having the chance to experience tangible relics from the past. This class has been all that I had hoped, and more: I had not foreseen just how relevant our discussions of ancient monetary systems would be for the economic issues of the present day. Coming from a biology and computer science background, I was introduced to a wealth of knowledge regarding economic systems, financial markets, and currencies. This class tied together these important concepts with my personal fascination with history, and I don’t think such an experience would have been possible anywhere else. The weekly visits to the Harvard Art Museums, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, and the Baker Library of Historical Collections at the Harvard Business School were an invaluable part of this class. Handling these objects in person made them real and helped us better understand the role they played in their cultures. My personal favorites were the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine collections, because they represented the perpetuation of a metallic currency system over a period of thousands of years. These metal canvases depict the evolution of power structures and belief systems over a significant fraction of recorded history.
Andrew Zhang, Class 2022, Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology/Computer Science
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I joined Money Matters having never taken a course remotely related to the history of art and architecture, and I’m so glad I did!!! After four wonderful years at Harvard, this class truly stood out. I feel like a moment during the very first handling session captures what a wonderful privilege it was to take this class. Professor Georganteli held up a silver Roman denarius with an image of Brutus (yes, THAT Brutus) on the obverse and two daggers, along with the phrase ‘EID MAR,’ on the reverse. The idea that someone would mint a commemorative coin to immortalize the assassination they organized…this in and of itself was so cool to me. Waking up each Monday morning and being able to handle such incredible pieces of history at the Harvard Art Museums, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, and the Baker Library of Historical Collections at the Harvard Business School was a class experience I will never forget.
Ella Michael, Class 2025, Government
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Money Matters has been one of, if not THE most, beneficial class I have taken so far during my Harvard academic journey. I have developed such a deep passion and understanding for various currencies throughout history that I never had the chance to explore before. I was even able to see some of these currencies in person and hold them, which was a surreal experience, I will never forget. I am forever grateful for this class, Professor Georganteli, and the Teaching Fellows, and want to conclude that money does in fact matter!
The close-up inspection, study, and discussion of artifacts and money-related objects at the Harvard Art Museums, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, and the Baker Library of Historical Collections were an integral part of the class. Not only were they incredibly enjoyable and a once in a lifetime experience to hold such rare and valuable currency with such a rich history, but I was also able to learn an incredible amount about each artifact. Every Friday, I always looked forward to these sections to have hands-on experience with these artifacts and being able to discuss them with other students enrolled in the class.
Bradley Ferguson, Class 2023, Applied Mathematics/Computer Science
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I have so thoroughly enjoyed Money Matters, and I have been amazed at the ability of Professor Georganteli and our Teaching Fellows to foster a sense of community. There is no class at Harvard that I have ever felt achieved a more personal connection between faculty and student. In the case of the course at-large, my biggest takeaway was the hands-on experience at the Harvard Art Museums, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, and the Baker Library of Historical Collections at the Harvard Business School. Consistently, we were able to discuss as a class and touch incredible objects. I loved this class- and I feel blessed to conclude my time at Harvard having taken it.
Blake Barclay, Class 2022, Economics/Env Science and Public Policy
