Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0231 - Power, Image, Propaganda

This seminar will examine expressions of power in art and architecture across cultures in pre-modern East Asia, including the manipulation of images by ruling classes for purposes of propaganda and political legacy. We will examine how the ambition for political power impacted the development of certain artistic and architectural canons, what state-sponsored art can tell us about ruling regimes and power relations, how propaganda in art and architecture affected society and historical events and how our own preconceptions and modern concerns about propaganda, media, and political manipulation color our own approaches to ancient culture. Students will examine the following issues; the nature and meaning of propaganda; pictorial narrative and the fabrication of history; the role of art and architecture in fashioning rulers' public political images; art as a means of communicating rulers' ideologies; conceptions and representations of the enemy; and public spectacles and rituals as propaganda.

Independent Work Multiple Cultural Perspectives Quantitative Skills Writing and Research In this course, students are expected to spend 10 hours weekly on preparation and work outside of class time.