Students will explore the arts of Japan from 500 BCE to 1868, covering a wide range of materials, including sculpture, calligraphy, ink paintings, architecture, oil painting, and woodblock prints. We will discuss historical and social contexts, such as gender and representations of the body, Buddhist versus secular viewing contexts, and the relations of power involved in the collection of “Japanese art.” The class will follow a rough chronological order while allowing the linkages between past and present to be examined, rather than obscured. No past experience in Japanese studies or art history required.
Autumn 2021
Professor Namiko Kunimoto
Class #34108
Online, synchronous Wed & Fri 3:55-5:15