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CS92PROD
Mughal India: Introduction to the Practice of Art History

ARHA 181
Fall 2016
Section: 01  
Certificates: Muslim Studies, South Asia Studies

Founded in northern India in the early 1500s, the Mughal empire was one of the largest centralized states in the history of the premodern world. During the two centuries of their effective rule over most of the Indian subcontinent, the Mughal emperors and their subordinates were prolific patrons of the arts, overseeing the production of lavishly illustrated books and picture albums and commissioning such architectural masterpieces as the Taj Mahal. This course offers an introduction not only to the art and culture of Mughal India, but also to the practice of art history itself, through a sequence of six thematic units exploring and applying different methods that are central to the discipline. Each unit begins with critical reading and discussion of one or two key theoretical or methodological statements, then continues through application to case studies drawn from Mughal India. The units include (1) techniques of visual description and formal analysis, (2) the concept of style and stylistic analysis, (3) the analysis of meaning in visual images (iconography and iconology), (4) models of time and the historical explanation of change, (5) architectural and historical analysis of buildings and their sites, and (6) historiographic assessment of debates and changing interpretations within art history. Each unit culminates in a writing exercise designed to provide students with structured experience in some of the various modes of art historical writing. The course is appropriate as an introduction both to art history and to Mughal art.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ART
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (ARHA-MN)(ARHA)(ARST)(GSAS-MN)(GSAS)(MUST-MN)
Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above

Last Updated on DEC-05-2024
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