Art History 303: Agency & Image in Asia is a first-year friendly course that has no prerequisites and can be used as a humanities breadth and L&S credit. Ph.D. Candidate Young Kim will be teaching this class IN-PERSON during the Fall 2021 semester, MWF 12:05–12:55pm.
How do humans interact with images? Why are certain images feared, revered, loved, or hated? What kinds of cultural, artistic, and psychological processes charge images with “agency” or capacity to act? This course explores the various ways in which images in both two- and three-dimensional forms become agentive forces with the power to act upon humans, including formal and stylistic choices, ritual and religious contexts, myth and storytelling, reproduction and repetition. While largely considering examples from premodern Asia (6th–19th c.), the course cultivates a cross-cultural sensibility in understanding different ontologies and discourses on the power of images. To this end, students will be introduced to key theories and revealing literary anecdotes from East and West regarding how images act on and interact with humans. Enroll here.