East Asian Art & Architecture

Catalog description

This course introduces students to the visual culture of East Asia from prehistory to the present, viewed through the lens of history, literature, and religion. Topics of particular focus will include ancestor worship in ancient China; the intersection of Buddhism with art and architecture; calligraphy as an art form; the illustration of The Tale of Genji and Heian court culture; class, gender, and ukiyo-e (woodblock prints); popular art such as manga and anime, and trends in contemporary Asian art of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. We will also discuss the idea of cultural interaction and appropriation between China, Korea, Japan, and the West, as well as issues surrounding the collection and display of East Asian art in America. Students are given the opportunity to see relevant works of art in collections in the Philadelphia region.