Architecture and Art of South and Southeast Asia

Catalog description

Survey of the architecture/art of South/Southeast Asia (emphasis on India) from the Bronze Age to a globalizing present. ARTH 215 / ASIA 215 Architecture and Art of South and Southeast Asia (3) (GA;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course has a focus on the architecture and art of South Asia (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) and Southeast Asia (particularly Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia). Topics will span a time period that begins with Bronze age urbanization in South Asia and concludes with the emergence of globalized architecture in the context of modern nation states. The course will be an opportunity for students to engage with artistic traditions and patronage systems that have adapted to cross-cultural currents, including the more recent forces of colonialism and globalization. Early Buddhist and Hindu architecture and sculpture, the medieval Hindu temple, the advent and adoption of Islam and its artistic forms, the emergence of an early modern empire under the Mughals and their patronage of architecture and painting, British colonial architecture and contemporary interpretations of Modernist architecture and art, are some of the topics that will be covered. Besides paying attention to the formal aspects of buildings, cities and objects, lectures will incorporate information on the emergence of Art History as a discipline in South and Southeast Asia. Lectures, exams and reading assignments will aid in providing students with an intensive introduction to the region's cultural and artistic diversity.