[
Wesleyan Home Page
] [
WesMaps Home Page
] [
WesMaps Archive
]
[
Course Search
] [
Course Search by CID
]
| |
This seminar is a general and systematic introduction to the cosmology, religion, and ritual practices of the ancient Maya from approximately 300 BC - AD 900. The course first examines Classic Maya mythology as it is
depicted
in visual narratives and recorded in hieroglyphic inscriptions, especially those from the sites of Palenque, Quirigua, and Copan. This evidence will be supplemented with a review of colonial and current mythological
narratives
from both the Maya area and elsewhere in Mesoamerica. With a sound understanding of Maya and Mesoamerican mythology, we will turn to ritual and ritual art, to address such issues as divine embodiment, sacral presence,
and
the actualization of myth in
ritual. Additionally, we will explore the art historical and cultural factors that guided the formal development of certain genres of ritual art, and how changes in style and modes of
representation
suggest corresponding changes in ritual practices. A central theoretical goal of this seminar, therefore, is to build a bridge between the disciplines of art history and anthropology so that a more complex understanding
is
gained of representation's role in ritual and religion. This project requires viewing the Maya's ritual use of art within a wider, cross-cultural context that compares it not only to other Mesoamerican traditions, but
also
to other pre-industrial societies outside the Americas.
COURSE FORMAT: Seminar
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ART Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE
Last Updated on MAR-30-2006
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459