The course will explore a broad range of media representing 5000
years of Japanese art history by delving into the life stories of
individual things.
Developing the critical skill of visual
analysis will be a key focus of the course. Students will learn to make
close, sustained, and repeated observations of objects, and then
articulate those observations. “Although it is a fundamental tool of the
academic art historian’s tool kit, developing this kind of attention
has applications as an ethical, intellectual, and even spiritual
practice that you can take into many other areas of life,” said
Professor Rachel Saunders. “It will change the way you see.”