Spring 2013

ART XXX Pre-Columbian Art

Professor Julia C. Fischer

Department of Art, College of Fine Arts and Communication, Lamar University Classroom: Dishman 101 Class Time: Tuesday/Thursday 9:35-10:55 Ofce: Dishman 202A Ofce Hours: Tuesday 12:30-3:30 or by appointment Virtual Ofce Hours By Appointment: Via skype (username julia.c.scher) Email: julia.scher@lamar.edu Ofce Phone: 409-880-7784 (the best way to contact me is via email) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FischerArtHistory Twitter: https://twitter.com/FischerArtHist COURSE DESCRIPTION Course prerequisite: Art History I and Art History II. The survey of the arts of Pre-Columbian America is intended to introduce students to the rich and varied art and architecture of ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes up to the time of contact with European cultures. Organized chronologically within each major region, we will discuss artworks associated with many of the major cultures of the regions, including Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Chavn, Moche, Paracas, Nazca, Tihaunaku, Wari, and Inca. COURSE OBJECTIVES ! Develop a familiarity with the art of the major cultures of pre-conquest Mesoamerica and the Andes ! Understand the importance of the visual arts in Central and South America in both the historical and aesthetic sense ! Understand how art and art history can help us gain insight into these cultures ! Develop research and writing skills REQUIRED TEXTS Mary Ellen Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica, revised edition Michael Coe, The Maya, 7th edition Rebecca Stone-Miller, Art of the Andes: From Chavin to Inca, revised edition Additional readings will be posted on Blackboard COURSE BLOG This course has a wordpress blog in which you will upload your presentations and comment on other students presentations. In addition, the course blog will be used for online discussions.
Pre-Columbian Art - Syllabus Spring 2013 ! 1

TWITTER AND FACEBOOK This course also has Twitter and Facebook pages. Both are public and therefore you do not need to have a Twitter or Facebook account in order to view the content of this page though you can like the pages so they show up in your updates and feeds. Twitter and Facebook will be used for updates on whats going on in the art world today. COURSE REQUIREMENTS The nal grade for this course will be based on ve weighted evaluations. 1. Three Exams: 45% 2. WikiLoot Project (paper and Sliderocket presentation): 20% 3. Google Art Project Research Paper and Sliderocket presentation: 20% 4. Online Discussions and Participation (via blackboard and course blog):10% 5. In-Class Attendance and Participation: 5% The grading scale I employ is a traditional 100% system: A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%, F = 59% and below.! I will not respond to emails asking me what your current grade is so keep track of it yourself. Throughout the semester, there are three exams. Study guides will be posted on the course website approximately one week prior to the exam. Your exam will consist of slide identications, slide comparisons, matching and labeling terms, maps, and/or a longer essay. The rst exam will cover South American cultures. The second exam covers Pre-Classic Olmec and West Mexican styles as well as Pre-Classic through Classic period Teotihuacan and Zapotec cultures. The third exam will cover the Mesoamerican ballgame, Classic Maya, Epi-Classic, and Post-Classic cultures. There will be no make-up exams unless an extremely unusual circumstance prevents you from taking the testand even then only if you have contacted me before the test and can provide appropriate documentation. Please be advised that there are no make-up exams for make-up exams. It is your responsibility to request and make an appointment for a make-up exam if you are granted an excused absence. Students who miss an exam without being excused will receive a zero. 20% of your grade is the WikiLoot Project. In this project, you will research looting and the illicit trade of antiquities from a particular Central or South American country. Your paper must be 3-4 pages long. As a second portion of this assignment, you will create a sliderocket presentation, including your own discussion of this object, and post it on the course blog. Every student is required to watch all the videos posted and to comment on them. This assignment will be discussed further. Your second project is a longer object-based research paper (5-6 pages). For your project, you will write a visual analysis and short research paper of a particular PreColumbian work of art that can be found in one of the collections of Google Art Project.
Pre-Columbian Art - Syllabus Spring 2013 ! 2

As a second portion of this assignment, you will create a sliderocket presentation, including your own discussion of this object, and post it on the course blog. Every student is required to watch all the videos posted and to comment on them. This assignment will be discussed further. In addition to in-class attendance and participation, you also will participate in online discussions on the course blog and website. You will be posting your assignments and projects on the blog and you are required to comment on these. At times, the instructor will also pose open-ended questions that you will respond too. More instructions will follow. IMPORTANT: An impending graduation date, a scholarship which requires the maintenance of a particular GPA, or the GPA requirement for admission to an academic program of study will not earn you a passing grade in this course.! While it does seem to be the trend nowadays, there will be no negotiation of changing a nal grade you will meet with no success.! I do not give grades your grade will be evaluated solely on the scores you earn on your exams and assignments.! While I am happy to meet with you to help you nd ways to improve your scores, do not wait until the end of term to contact me as this will almost certainly be too late. If you believe I have made a mistake in my calculations, please contact me, and I will be happy to review your grade.!!!! CLASS ETIQUETTE AND DECORUM You are expected to arrive on time and not disturb those around you with private chatter, doing work for other classes, answering cell phone calls, texting, or playing games. All of these are distracting not only to the students but also to me! Whispers travel in the auditorium, so refrain from talking while I am lecturing. Please turn o" your phones and put them away. Students who participate in disruptive and inappropriate behaviors will be asked to leave the class and you will not have credit for attending the class. If you intend to take notes on your laptop, please respect the decorum of the classroom by not working on other assignments or playing games, updating your facebook status, etc. This is disrespectful not only to the professor but especially to those around you who are engaged in the class. Academic Dishonesty Policy [Insert Lamar University policy.] No cheating; no plagiarism. If you are uncertain what constitutes cheating and plagiarism, these topics are covered in your student handbook, and you are expected to be familiar with them. As members of the campus community, students are encouraged to actively support academic honesty and integrity in the classroom. Any occurrences of cheating and/or plagiarism will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. !Accommodations for Disability: [Insert Lamar University policy.] Do not wait until the day of the exam to notify me that you require accomodations and expect me to make these accommodations it is logistically impossible.
Pre-Columbian Art - Syllabus Spring 2013 ! 3

CLASS SCHEDULE AND OUTLINE Below is a very general outline of what we will be studying with corresponding readings of the text. Handouts will be given at the beginning of each new section containing terms and images, possible readings, and good websites pertaining to specic cultures. The schedule and procedures listed in this syllabus are subject to change as I deem necessary. Date MWF 1/7 Topic PART 1: THE ART OF MESOAMERICA Introduction to the Course/ Introduction to Pre-Columbian Art Preclassic Olmec Art and Culture Olmec La Venta: City Planning and Buried Treasures Pre-Classic Writing and Calendrics at Zapotec Monte Alban: Danzantes and Mound J Conquest Slabs Pre-Classic West Mexican Ceramic Styles West Mexican Ceramics continued NO CLASS: Martin Luther King Jr. Day Pre-Classic Teotihuacan: City Planning and Monumental Pyramids Teotihuacan: Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent Classic Teotihuacan: Painted Walls in Palaces and Suburban Dwellings Classic Teotihuacan: Murals, Ceramics, and Masks Classic Zapotec Monte Alban: Architecture and Sculpture Monte Alban: Tomb Murals and Funerary Urns Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted Miller Ch. 5 Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted Reading/DUE DATES Miller, Preface and Chapter 1 Miller Ch. 2 Miller Ch. 3 Miler Ch. 3

1/9 1/11 1/14

1/16 1/18 1/21 1/23 1/25 1/28 1/30 2/1 2/4

Miller Ch. 4

Pre-Columbian Art - Syllabus Spring 2013 !

Date MWF 2/6 2/8 2/11 2/13 2/15 2/18 2/20 2/22 2/25 2/27 3/1 3/4-3 /8 3/11 3/13

Topic The Ballgame and Classic Veracruz Style Video: Teotihuacan Exam 1 Classic Tikal and Maya Ceramics Tikal continued Copan: Easternmost City of the Maya Realm Palenque: Western Jewel of the Maya Realm Sculpture of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan Painted Walls of Bonampak and Courtly Figurines from Jaina Puuc Style of Uxmal and the Yucatn Epi-Classic Cacaxtla and Xochicalco NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK Post-Classic Tula and Chichen Itza Tula and Chichen Itza continued

Reading/DUE DATES Additional readings to be posted

Coe Ch. 5 Miller Ch. 7

Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted Coe Ch. 6 Miller Ch. 8 Coe Ch. 7 WikiLoot Project Due

Additional readings to be posted Miller Ch. 9

3/15 3/18 3/20

Aztec History and Myth/ Late Postclassic Aztec Sculpture Late Post-Classic Zapotec Culture: Mitla

Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted

Late Post-Classic Mixtec Culture and History in the Additional readings to be Mixtec Codices posted
5

Pre-Columbian Art - Syllabus Spring 2013 !

Date MWF 3/22 3/25 3/27 3/29 4/1 4/3 4/5 EXAM 2

Topic

Reading/DUE DATES

Introduction to the Ancient Andean Culture/ Chavn Culture Chavn de Huantar Paracas Textiles Paracas Textiles continued/Nazca Ceramics Nazca Ceramics Nazca Geoglyphs Video: Digging for the Truth: Secrets of the Nazca Lines Moche Ceramics Moche Ceramics continued Moche: Erotic Themes/War and Sacrice Moche War and Sacrice continued Tiwanaku Inca Culture and Architecture

Stone-Miller, Ch. 1-2 Stone-Miller Ch. 3 Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted Stone-Miller Ch. 4 Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted Additional readings to be posted Stone-Miller Ch. 5 Additional readings to be posted Stone-Miller Ch. 7 Read Carolyn Dean, The Inka Married the Earth Additional readings to be posted Google Art Project Due

4/8 4/10 4/12 4/15 4/17 4/19

4/22 4/24 2/6 5/2

Inca Culture and Architecture continued After the Spanish Conquest: Colonial Art DVD: Lost City of the Incas EXAM 3

Pre-Columbian Art - Syllabus Spring 2013 !