The Global Seminar in India
“Religion and Politics in Indian Art and Architecture” will be taught in Goa and Madurai, India, from June 4 to July 17. The seminar will be led byEsther da Costa Meyer, an associate professor in art history in the Department of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University, and Mallica Kumbera Landrus, currently a visiting professor at Brown University and a faculty member of the Rhode Island School of Design. Kumbera Landrus was a PIIRS visiting fellow in AY 2008-09.
How did religion, ritual, patronage, and politics combine to influence art and architecture in India? The seminar will examine architectural stylistic developments and the emergence of new ideas produced under the political authority exercised by different religious groups. Patterns of patronage that developed under Islam and European rule in India had powerful consequences for art and architecture on the subcontinent. At the same time, enduring distinctions of caste, class, and race differences surfaced in architectural form and function. Students will develop their understanding of these intersectional histories by studying some of India's most remarkable architectural sites, including: the fifth-century Buddhist cave monastery at Ajanta, the eighth-century rock-cut Jain and Hindu temples at Ellora, the grand monumental architecture of the Mughals in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri, and British colonial architecture in Chennai. Though the seminar is primarily based in Goa, the center of Portuguese rule in India, the last ten days will be based in Madurai, where students will visit the Meenakshi temple and be able to compare the south Indian Dravida style in temple architecture with the north Indian Nagara style.
Click here for the course syllabus.
This course fulfills the Literature and the Arts (LA) general requirement. Check back to view the syllabus.
