This course introduces the arts of China in the context of political and economic changes, philosophical development, and international interactions through land and sea routes from the imperial era through the establishment of the Republic at the turn of the 20 th century. This course fulfills the international studies breadth requirement. This course explores the way the built environment, diverse objects, vision and visual depiction all respond and contribute to the spread of industrialization between the late eighteenth century and the twentieth century. We will consider the ways social life and space are reorganized in the period of rapid industrialization, and the new visual forms that arise in response to these distinctly modern forces. Course work includes a midterm, paper, and a final.
Class quizzes, two short papers, final examination.
The beginning of the twentieth century witnessed major shifts in the cultural hierarchies of Europe inherited from the nineteenth century. The status of Paris as the cultural capital of Europe began to face serious challenges from other European and American artistic centers. The upheavals of the First World War and the Russian Revolution opened new possibilities for art overtly engaged in public social engineering, while images also played a part in the more private politics of defining gender roles. Topics to be considered include the revival of premodern traditions, artists' sojourns in Europe, Japanese perspectives on modernism, craft objects designed for export, the graphics of war, and the development of new visual signs of Japanese identity. This interdisciplinary course will examine the arts in the United States during the 1920 s and 1930 s, a period when advanced machine technology had a profound impact on all aspects of American life.