AH 341 - Issues in Non-Western Art

Upper Division

This course offers an introduction and survey of the Sub-Saharan African arts from the ancient and classical periods to the colonial to the modern and contemporary times. It will explore the common and shared aesthetic values as well as the dazzling diversity of these arts in the continent of 700 million belonging to very different cultures. There will be a focus on the historical and cultural context of each region whose arts are covered in this course. African art will be explored through the investigation and understanding of local aesthetic values rather than through the imposition of categories of external origin. It may be a field of well-hoed yam heaps (as, for example, among the Tiv people of Nigeria) or a display ox castrated in order to enhance its visual effect (as among the Nuer and Dinka pastoralists of South Sudan) that constitutes the significant work of art in a given area of Africa.

Core Curriculum Designation(s)
ACP, ARTS, HUM, HSP - Arts and Humanities Analysis and Practice

Repeatable
Yes

Fee
$50

Additional Notes
Previous course number: AH 144

Course credits: 4