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Fall 2002
This information effective
for Fall 2002.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.
Instructor: Carolyn Dean
E-mail: csdean@cats.ucsc.edu
This course examines selected visual cultures from the gulf coast, central, western, and southern portions of (what is today) Mexico between c. 1500 BCE and CE 1521, including those of the Aztec, the Mixtec, Teotihuacan, West Mexico, El Tajin, the Zapotec, and the Olmec. In addition, we will critically analyze some of the past and current scholarship in the field of pre-Hispanic Mexican culture studies. Because scholarly efforts to interpret visual culture become increasingly problematic with chronological distance, we will begin with the most recent and best documented pre-Hispanic culture (the Mexica/Aztec) and work our way back to the earliest complex society (the Olmec). Lectures will NOT survey all of pre-Hispanic Mexican art history nor make any attempt to cover all aspects of Mexican cultural production. Rather, we will focus on selected issues and problems facing scholars in their study of over 3,000 years of Mexican visual culture.
Texts: The text for
this course is Mary Ellen Miller's The Art of Mesoamerica from Olmec to Aztec,
rev. ed. (London: Thames & Hudson), 1996. It is on sale at the UCSC book
store and is on reserve at McHenry (call no. F 1219.3.A7 M54 1996).
There is also a required reader available at Bay Tree.
Evaluations will be based on two exams (one midterm and one final) and
two papers. The papers (combined) count as 40% of your course evaluation/grade;
the midterm counts 25% and the final 35%. You must complete both papers and
pass the final to pass the course.
Exams: Both midterm and final exams will consist of slide identification and essays.
Papers: Two 3-5 page critiques of assigned readings are required.
Lecture Topics: