Contemporary Asian and Asian American Art and Architecture

This seminar introduces a variety of diverse artistic and architectural projects spanning the cultures of East, South, Southeast Asia and the United States from 1945 to the present. Students learn to discuss and analyze key artworks, exhibitions, architectural sites, and urban developments. Course content will be organized both chronologically and thematically. Discussions are linked to a variety of social and theoretical issues pertinent to Asian and Asian American art, such as modernity vs. tradition, Orientalism, nationalism, identity, cosmopolitanism, post-colonialism, urbanization, globalization, and the city. Students engage materials through a series of multi-media presentations, film screenings, interdisciplinary readings, guest lectures by artists and curators, museum and gallery visits, and creative projects.