Question Authority examines seventeen objects in the Yale University Art Gallery’s collection that challenge the norms and expectations that existed when each work was made. This topic has proved particularly interesting and relevant to the four contributing writers. As undergraduates, we are constantly negotiating the conventions of everything from academia to activism to fashion. The objects we have chosen to write about embody the kind of healthy questioning that creates unique individuals within a larger community. Discussions with curators and other Gallery staff in the process of researching this project have revealed the range of influences on art making that hold positions of authority. Today, the term “authority” has a political connotation, and while political concerns often shape the nature of art, the objects presented here also challenge aesthetic and social traditions. Through these examples, we can learn about the values of cultures past and present and recognize the function of artistic production as a way to question a variety of those values.