History of Buddhist Art

Assistant Professor William Ma School of Art

This course explores the artistic traditions associated with the Buddhist faith from its origin in India to a global religion. Spanning from the beginning of Buddhism until the present, the course will examine representations of Buddhism in a variety of media from Asia to the United States. With emphases on interaction, transformation, and mobility of the faith, the course is organized around specific themes such as humor, gender/sexuality, (post)colonialism, political instrumentation, race/ethnicity, museum/display, aniconism/iconoclasm, doctrine/practice, adaptation/appropriation, etc.