Featured Courses: Japan
A list of past courses related to the East Asian Art program.
Yukio Lippit
This seminar explores painting of Edo-period Japan (1615-1868) through specific examples drawn from the Feinberg Collection. Spring 2016.
HAA 18J: Introduction to Japanese Architecture
Yukio Lippit
This course surveys the diverse architectural traditions of the Japanese archipelago from the prehistoric era through the twentieth century. Various building types—including the Shinto shrine, Buddhist temple, castle, teahouse, palace and farmhouse—will be...
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HAA 18K: Introduction to Japanese Art
Melissa McCormick
Surveys the arts of Japan from the prehistoric period to the nineteenth century. Includes Japanese painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well as calligraphy, garden design, ceramics, and prints. Essential themes include...
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JAPNHIST 240: Museum Research in Japanese Art: Seminar
Ryuichi Abe, Melissa M. McCormick
Examines works in the Harvard Art Museums in art historical, literary, and religious context in preparation for future exhibitions. The Fall 2016 seminar focused on the celebrated thirteenth-century sculpture of Shôtoku Taishi (99.1979.1), the texts, sculptures, and relics, once stored inside the statue, and how the ensemble sheds new light on Kamakura religious history, charismatic monks such as Eison and Ippen, and the meaning behind dedicatory offerings by nuns and laypeople in the medieval period.
JAPNHIST 256: The Ise Shrines: Seminar
Helen Hardacre, Yukio Lippit
This seminar examines Shikinen Sengu, the practice of rebuilding the Ise Grand Shrines every twenty years, addressing these shrines' history, architecture, religious practices, and related topics. Course readings will be in English and Japanese.... Read more about JAPNHIST 256: The Ise Shrines: Seminar
JAPNLIT 124: The Tale of Genji in Word and Image
Melissa M. McCormick
Introduces students to The Tale of Genji, often called the world's first novel, authored by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu around the year 1000 CE. In addition to a close reading of the tale, topics for examination include Japanese court culture, women's writing, and the tale's afterlife in painting, prints, drama, manga, and film.
JAPNLIT 133: Gender and Japanese Art
Melissa M. McCormick
Examines the role of gender in the production, reception, and interpretation of visual images in Japan from the twelfth through the twenty-first centuries. Topics include Buddhist conceptions of the feminine and Buddhist painting; sexual identity and illustrated narratives of gender reversals; the dynamics of voyeurism in Ukiyo-e woodblock prints; modernization of images of "modern girls" in the 1920s; and the gender dynamics of girl culture in manga and anime.