AH 205 - Arts of the Ancient Americas

As an introduction to the Art of the Ancient Americas, this survey examines cultures that lived in the Americas prior to European conquest and colonization. This course focuses on eight major cultures in Mesoamerica (Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, and Aztec) and Andean South America (Chavín, Nasca, Moche, and Inka). In examining a wide range of media, students will explore the central and powerful role that the visual arts played within the civilizations that produced them. This course will reveal the values and philosophies encoded in material culture, from monumental works such as architecture, city planning, sculpture, and mural painting to small-scale objects including textiles, ceramics, and metallurgy. Using a variety of interdisciplinary methods, students will reconstruct (to the degree that is possible), the meaning and function of the visual arts in multiple, interlocking economic, political and sacred spheres. (Offered every year.) 3 credits