Ontario College of Art & Design

Course Calendar

COURSE DESCRIPTION

VISC 3B44
South Asian Art and Culture: Vision of the Sacred (NOT OFFERED IN 2008-2009)
0.50 Credit(s)
Academic Course
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: 1.0 Liberal Studies credit at the 200 level, including 0.5 VISC credit.
(NOT OFFERED IN 2008-2009)
This course will address some of the most formidable stages of artistic creation in South Asia (broadly the area that currently includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Nepal and Sri Lanka) dating from the prehistoric period to ca. 1000 CE. Students will study the development of religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, the cultures that developed in the countries concerned as well as their interaction with each other through the transmission of artifacts, ideas and belief systems. Among other elements, the course will focus on the imbrications of vision and cognition within the context of the “sacred” in South Asian thought. Using historiographic material as well as contemporary writings addressing the issue of the “sacred” this course will critically evaluate the art and culture in question through a re-reading of the monuments/objects as visual texts.
Course was last updated June 4, 2008 - 3:10 PM