On Saturday, February 3, 2024, The Carmel Institute organized a trip to one of Washington’s most unique museums, Dumbarton Oaks. Dr. Fedyashin  brought students from American and George Washington universities to explore Dumbarton Oaks’ new exhibit called “Rich in Blessings: Women, Wealth, and the Late Antique Household.” The group received a 90-minute tour of the exhibit from its creator, Dr. Elizabeth Dospěl Williams. Dr. Williams is Curator of the Byzantine Collection at Dumbarton Oaks. Her teaching, publications, and exhibitions explore dress practice, gender, materiality, and aesthetics in Byzantium and the Islamicate worlds.

Museum visits, concert attendance, and class-trips have been part of the Carmel Institute’s programming since its inception. As Professor Fedyashin has always reminded his students, although our knowledge about the past depends mostly on reading, history must also be walked, seen, touched, smelled, and tasted.

After the tour, the students went to lunch at Divan Café, where they sampled Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine. Experiencing the classical and Byzantine through exhibits helped to open young minds to the wonders of history as well as the great legacy of American philanthropy.

For more about the Dumbarton Oaks, please visit https://www.doaks.org/