ASST 252
The Arts of South Asia Fall 2016
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed ARTH 251
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This course is an introduction to the history of art in the Indian subcontinent from ca. 300 B.C. to the present. We will explore the wide range of artistic production in South Asia, including painting, manuscripts, sculpture, and architecture, and examine the developments in their style, production technique, and subject matter within specific social, historical, and cultural contexts. The Indian subcontinent has been home to multiple artistic, religious, and philosophical traditions, including Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Islam, and a special emphasis will be placed on the ways in which artists, patrons, and audiences have negotiated their encounters with the diverse cultural practices within and beyond South Asia. Topics include ritual and temple space; architectural reuse and appropriation; art as dynastic propaganda; miniature painting and courtly culture; trade and circulation of art objects. Students will learn the skills of visual analysis and interpretation, and become familiar with the different approaches art historians have taken to understand the development of South Asian art. In addition to lectures, the class will make use of the collections at the Williams College Museum of Art to provide firsthand experiences with South Asian art objects. No background in Asian or South Asian art is necessary for the successful completion of this course. This course fulfills EDI requirements through its exploration of the intercultural dialogues in South Asian art through the transmission of ideas, objects, and people, and the economic and political dynamics that facilitated such movements.
The Class: Format: lecture
Limit: 30
Expected: 30
Class#: 1571
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: midterm and final exams, two short papers (3 pages), final paper(6-8 pages)
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: juniors and sophomores
Distributions: Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under ARTH; meets Division 2 requirement if registration is under ASST
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
ARTH 251 Division I ASST 252 Division II

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