Japanese Culture and Art

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course will introduce Japanese visual and performing arts from the Jomon period to the present. We will explore painting, sculpture, calligraphy, architecture, landscaping and performance, examining the critical factors of the work's creation: how it was created, the historical and sociocultural context in which it was created, who created it and for whom it was created. A variety of related topics will be discussed, ranging from changing theories of aesthetic expression, the influence of alternating periods of internationalization and isolation, the integration of religious thought into artistic production, the role of patronage, and the relationship between traditional and modernist sensibilities.