Fall 2023

HART 2815 Digital Humanities: The Chinese Temple

This is a project-based course on digital documentation and the development of computer-based research tools for the study of architecture and cultural heritage in China. We will focus on digital approaches to artwork, architecture and built assemblages (monasteries and temple complexes) and spiritual landscapes of premodern China. Class time will be divided between substance and practice. Thus, we will study the history of the architecture, setting, and decoration of temple buildings in China; learn about the underlying theory of heritage studies and international translation practices for technical terminology; and gain practical experience in data curation for cultural heritage sites. We will focus on research methods relating to the technical terminology used to describe individual buildings and temple sites, including structural and stylistic concepts and their translation and interpretation for different cultural environments–highly desirable skills in current art and architectural history, museum work, and heritage studies. Final projects will focus on studies of form, subject, iconography, and the cultural and religious contexts of timber frame architecture, architectural ceramics, and the materiality of temples in the Chinese context.

HART 3140 Healing and Art in East Asia

Because the physical environments of healing (including the built environment as well as the appearance of healing specialists, medicines, and the tools to consume them) impact the effectiveness of healing practice, much about a society’s conceptions of health and beauty can be explored through examining objects of intended to cure illness and heal the sick. In this course we will look at the influence of early healing practices on the development of the arts of China and their legacy in Japan. Topics to be examined include: magical healing texts and talismans; the art of the Buddha of Medicine, gardens and growing transformative herbs, and tea as medicine and art.

Spring 2023

On Research Leave

 Fall 2022

On Research Leave