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Academic Year 2005/2006

The Art and Anthropology of Sacrifice and Cultural Violence
ARHA 392 SP

Sacrifice, as part of ritual practice and economic necessity, occurs in some form or another in all the documented cultures of the world. This seminar explores the phenomena and depiction of sacrifice, cultural violence, and warfare in a number of areas, particularly focusing on South America, Mesoamerica, and South Asia. The course introduces the major anthropological works on the subject and explores how objects, images, and buildings can be understood to have grown out of and in turn influenced the visual and conceptual development of sacrifice. We will address such questions as the role of sacrifice in systems of exchange and ritual economies, the mechanisms by which blood sacrifice was rationalized as both natural and necessary, the development of classes of images and objects that acted as substitutes for the sacrifice of living entities, the reasons for the depiction of sacrifice and institutionalized violence, the colonial debate on sacrifice that ensued with the expansion of European powers, and the ethical issues which stemmed from these encounters and that continue to be of critical importance to this very day.

MAJOR READINGS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ART    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-30-2006

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