Tibetan Art and Material Culture

The course introduces how Tibetan art and material culture express the religious beliefs and reflect the movement of artists, art, its forms and methods, as well as the patronage of rulers, religious teachers, and lay people continuing to the present day.

Using an object- or site-centered interdisciplinary approach and resources of the newly developed Project Himalayan Art digital platform, students will learn about modes of visual representation, the relationship between text and image, the social lives of objects and images, the processes of “reading” an object and interpretation. In this course situated at the intersection of Tibetan studies’ students will develop skills applicable across disciplines within a broader context of Asian Studies, relevant to contemporary times.