ARTH 103
East Asian Art Fall 2020
Division I Difference, Power, and Equity
Cross-listed ASST 103
This is not the current course catalog

This course is an introduction to the history of East Asian art from prehistory to the present with particular emphasis on China, Korea, and Japan. Through four thematic units (memorialization, religion, nature, and identity), we look at artworks in their original contexts and consider how cross-cultural exchanges stimulated new interpretations across time and space. We examine a broad range of objects including ritual bronze vessels, Buddhist temples, landscape paintings, woodblock prints, and installations. We also discuss these artworks in relation to other forms of creative expression such as ritual practice, performance, and literature. How is East Asia defined geographically and culturally? How did the exchange in ideas, trade, and travel impact the formation of East Asian art? How do artworks and artifacts help us understand East Asia’s past? These fundamental questions guide our discussion. Through this course, students learn to think critically about shared and diverse human experiences across cultures and historical periods. Students also reflect on historiographical issues surrounding East Asian art and analyze why certain types of artworks were historically underrepresented in museum spaces and academic scholarship. To contribute to public knowledge, students will also develop and edit a Wikipedia page on an artwork or artist of their choice. Visits to the Williams College Museum of Art and Special Collections also form an integral part of the course.