Global Arc

This seminar will explore ethical dilemmas in past and current study and practice of archaeology, cultural resource management, museum studies, and bioarchaeology. We will consider conflicts between living communities and archaeological research; the ethics involved in bioarchaeological research; the acquisition and display of items in museums or private collections; and the nature of archaeological inquiry itself. Twice-weekly meetings (once as a class, once in small groups) will be accompanied by written assignments and an in-class debate, as well as a student-directed final paper.

In this course we will explore, discuss and dispute key archaeological topics pertaining to various aspects of the material multicultures of Jerusalem, from the time of Alexander the Great until its surrender to the Muslem Caliph, 'Umar. During these centuries, Jerusalem grew from a small city into "by far the most famous city, not of Judæa only, but of the East." It became the central sacred locale of the Jewish people, and the cradle of Christianity. During these times, it was twice a pagan city -Antioch in Jerusalem and Aelia Capitolina.

Topics of Greek art and architecture that will normally deal with the Hellenistic period (323-31 B.C.). Depending on student interest, special subjects may also be treated in relation to the Hellenistic period, such as classicism, or the course may concentrate on thematic studies, such as architectural sculpture. Two 90-minute seminars. Prerequisite: a course in ancient art or instructor's permission. For department majors, this course satisfies the pre-400 historical distribution requirement. Offered in alternate years.

This seminar is devoted to this history of portraiture in the Greek and Roman world. Emphasis will be given to artistic matters as opposed to issues of identity. Many of the seminar's sessions will be held in the Princeton University Art Museum, which holds a wide variety of examples. Course will also include a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to study additional works.

Antioch has been a major point of contact between the Mediterranean region and Asia from ancient times to the present. Students in this new course will get exclusive access to the artifacts and records of Princeton's Antioch excavations of the 1930s and will read and discuss sources and studies on the history of the city from its Hellenistic origins to recent activity by ISIS in the area. Attention will be paid to the city's geological setting and changes in its cultural identity and ecological environment. Each student will work on a research project, and all students will collaborate on the production of a public website about Antioch.

A topic in Chinese or Japanese art, explored in depth. For department majors, this course satisfies the Asian and East Asian cultural area and may satisfy one of the historical period distribution requirements. One three-hour seminar. Prerequisite: a course in Asian art or the instructor's permission.

Direct and regular contact between China and Europe in the early modern period brought new artistic forms and expressions to China and reconfigured the entire picture of Chinese art. Even though China appeared to have been the recipient of European art, it did not play a passive role; in fact, Chinese agents, including emperors, artists, literati, and merchants, appropriated European artistic resources according to their own agendas. This seminar will tackle the multiple dimensions of how European art worked at the Chinese imperial court and in local societies from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century.

An examination of Japanese woodblock prints from the 17th through the 19th C. This seminar considers formal and technical aspects of woodblock prints, and the varied subject matter, including the "floating world" of prostitution and the theater, Japanese landscape, and burgeoning urban centers. Students explore the links between literature and prints. For department majors, this course satisfies the 1400-1800 or 1800-present distribution requirement and the Asian & East Asian cultural area. Prerequisite: one course in art history or Japanese studies, or permission of instructor. One three-hour seminar.

This course focuses on the genre of portraiture in China, examining different types of pictures, sitters, ideologies, and representations. Portraiture in China has largely been ignored or dismissed in modern critical scholarship. The tradition of portraiture, however, is both rich and varied, as evidenced by the writings of early Chinese critics and theorists as well as by the numerous terms for 'portrait' and 'portrait making' that they used. We will consider the problem of defining what a portrait is, the formal aspects of portrait making, and the questions of individuality, likeness, authenticity, and function.

The Song Dynasty has long been considered the high point of Chinese painting, representing a classical period to which later artists consistently looked back.This seminar will explore the artistic qualities and development of landscape, figure, and flower-and-bird painting and will consider main issues concerning these genres. Such issues include the relative importance of different genres, the relationship between the natural and the human world, the roles of the court and literati in producing art, and the materiality and visuality of Song painting.