Ted and Shirley Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award
— Award-Winning HSP Course —
Each year, Humanities Seminars Program students select a small group of professors whose teaching rises to the highest level of excellence. Chosen entirely through student evaluations, the Ted and Shirley Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award recognizes faculty who combine deep scholarly expertise with the rare ability to ignite curiosity and sustain lively intellectual discovery in the classroom.
This summer, we are pleased to make our 2024 award-winning seminars available again as recorded courses. These classes capture the energy, insight, and conversation that made them standouts among HSP’s many seminars. If you missed the opportunity to take the course live, this re-release offers a chance to explore an exceptional seminar led by one of the University of Arizona’s most inspiring teachers. For those who have never experienced an HSP course, it is also a perfect way to test the waters. Enrollment provides online access to the complete course experience, including video recordings of each session, the original syllabus, and course readings. The seminar remains exactly as students encountered it during its original presentation—an invitation to join a community of curious learners and follow the ideas wherever they lead.
Course Description
“Is this the real thing?” Museum professionals periodically get this question, where wide-eyed visitors are struck by the reality that they are face-to-face with authentic works of art. But what exactly does it mean for an artwork to be considered authentic, or original? Are there certain traits or characteristics that tell us so? What happens to a work of art that is deemed inauthentic? Does it no longer have value? These questions will guide us as we investigate concepts of authenticity and originality as they relate to the visual arts. Using various case studies, we will examine originals, copies, replicas, forgeries, appropriated works and more. Throughout the course, we will consider how these objects hold value and the ways in which those value systems are dependent on the type of object, the creator, the culture, and the time period.
Summer Registration Opens
Monday, March 30, 2026 at 8 AM (AZ Time)
