Course detail
Glass in the contexts of history and society
FaVU-1SHSSAcad. year: 2026/2027
The course is designed as a historical and theoretical overview of the development of glass and glassmaking technologies over a long historical period. Through lectures, the material and cultural history of glass will be presented, from the earliest attempts at its production in ancient civilizations to advanced technologies and complex ways of working with glass in the early modern and modern periods. Individual production methods and technologies will always be situated within specific geographical and cultural contexts, with an emphasis on their place of origin, the conditions of their development, and their subsequent spread through commercial, political, and cultural networks.
Attention will also be paid to glass as a commodity subject to economic, social, and power relations: its role in bourgeois and everyday life, in architecture, especially in connection with the emergence and development of glass windows, as well as in science, religion, and representation. The course will also include a basic overview of the history of glass artistic artefacts, not in isolation, but in relation to the technological possibilities and social needs of a given period.
Thematically, glass is understood as a material that is not neutral, but whose acceptance, rejection, or specific use in different cultures reveals values, aesthetics, and ways of understanding the world. The course thus connects technological history with social, cultural, and ideological aspects, creating a framework for a deeper understanding of glass as one of the key materials that shaped Western civilization.
Language of instruction
Number of ECTS credits
Mode of study
Guarantor
Department
Entry knowledge
Secondary school level of knowledge of history and art history.
Rules for evaluation and completion of the course
Credit will be awarded for active participation in lectures (up to 3 unexcused absences are permitted) and for writing a paper on a topic covered in the lectures.
Aims
The aim of the course is to provide students with a general and critical overview of glassmaking in human history, with a special emphasis on glass as a material phenomenon and an active agent in cultural, technological, and social development. The course examines glass not only as a craft or artistic material, but also as an actor that has contributed to the formation of civilizations, especially Western society, in everyday life, architecture, science, commerce, religion, and ways of thinking.
Students will:
- gain a historical overview from the origins of vitreous materials and early glass production to modernity and the present.
- gain a basic orientation in material studies focused on glass and will be able to understand this material within broader historical, cultural, and ideological contexts;
- understand the changing functions and meanings of glass in different periods and regions, as well as on the ability to read glass not only as a finished artifact, but as part of technological, social, and power relations;
- understand the sociocultural impact of this material: from glass as a luxury artifact and trade commodity, through its role in religious and metaphysical thought, to its importance for the development of natural sciences, medicine, architecture, and modern forms of transparency.
Study aids
Prerequisites and corequisites
Basic literature
Corning Museum of Glass, „59th Seminar on Glass Day Two Panel Four: Wrap-Up Discussion“, YouTube, 9. října 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inT0BUoeups. (EN)
Daniel JÜTTE, Transparency: The Material History of an Idea, New Haven: Yale University Press 2023. (EN)
Edgar Dutra ZANOTTO, „Do Cathedral Glasses Flow?“, American Journal of Physics, roč. 66, 1998, č. 5. (EN)
Hugh TAIT, 5000 Years of Glass, London: The British Museum Press 2012. (EN)
Jaroslav R. VÁVRA, Pět tisíc let sklářského díla, Praha: Orbis 1953. (CS)
Julian HENDERSON, Ancient Glass: An Interdisciplinary Exploration, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2013. (EN)
Luke KEOGH, The Wardian Case: How a Simple Box Moved Plants and Changed the World, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press 2020. (EN)
Miloš Bohuslav VOLF, Sklo, podstata – krása – užití, Praha: Pražské nakladatelství V. Poláčka 1947. (CS)
Rudolf HAIS, O výrobě skla a jeho historii, Tanvald: Vydavatelství ČSS 2022. (CS)
Recommended reading
Iain Boyd WHYTE, „Bruno Taut’s ‘Alpine Architektur’“, DM Journal: Architecture and Representation, 2023, č. 1. (EN)
Peter FRANKOPAN, Hedvábné stezky, Praha: Vyšehrad 2021. (CS)
Štěpán POPOVIČ, Výroba a zpracování plochého skla, Praha: Grada Publishing a.s. 2009. (CS)
Walter BENJAMIN, „Experience and Poverty“, in: Michael W. JENNINGS – Howard EILAND – Gary SMITH (eds.), Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings. Volume 2, Part 2: 1931–1934, přel. Rodney LIVINGSTONE and others, Cambridge, Massachusetts – London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 1999. (EN)
Classification of course in study plans
- Programme DES_B Bachelor's 4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective - Programme VUM_B Bachelor's 4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
4 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
3 year of study, winter semester, elective
Type of course unit
Lecture
Teacher / Lecturer
Syllabus
1. Introductory lesson: Glass as a material phenomenon
- Basic characterization of matter
- Origin of glass
- Types of glass
2.–3. Significance and production of ancient glass
- Glass in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
- Roman glass before the blowing technique
- European Celts and glassmaking
- Glass in China and India
4. Technological advances in glassmaking thanks to glass blowing its beginnings
- Sidon glass workshops
- The Tyrian trade network and glass
- Glass blowing and the Roman Empire
- The spread of technology outside the Roman Empire
5. The first glass windows and their development
- The absence of glass windows in ancient times
- Technology
- The first glass windows in architecture and their transparency
6.–7. Medieval glassmaking and the formation of Western civilization
- Medieval potash and sands
- General glass production and glass in alchemy/science
- Constantinople and Byzantium, Venice and Normandy
- The concept of stained glass
- Differences in the perception of glass in Islamic countries, China, and Japan
8.–9. Glass in the Renaissance
- Glass and perspective
- Differences in production around the world and new types of glass
- From colored to transparent glazing
- Glass and science
- Glassworks in Europe, glassmakers' guilds, and aristocratic titles
10. Europe's path to industrialization
- Changing views of glass and through glass
- Expansion of glassmaking technology and the importance of glass in non-European countries
- New glassmaking technologies and revolutionary inventions thanks to glass
- Standardization and anonymity
- Glass in architecture
11. Artistic glassmaking
- Artistic glassmakers and the decline of the craft
- Tension between art and industry
- Fused sculpture from the 20th century to the present
- Contemporary artistic practice with glass
12. Contemporary glass technologies and their applications
- Invisible infrastructure
- The digital world
13. Natural glass and its origins
Epilogue: glass returns to nature
Individual preparation - study of study materials
Teacher / Lecturer
Individual preparation - creating a presentation
Teacher / Lecturer