Visual Worlds of Himalayan Religions
RELI 321
Fall 2025
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
GSAS 321 |
How do Tibetan Buddhists look at religious images? What do pilgrims in Nepal see when faced with sacred monuments? Why do devotees in Bhutan display erotic caricatures in public? This seminar will explore the ubiquitous role of images and imagining in the religious traditions of the Himalayan region. Readings and viewings will examine the painting, sculpture, architecture, and performing arts of the Himalaya (including Tibet, Nepal, north India, and Bhutan), placing them in the context of local religious beliefs, ritual practices, and literary canons. The seminar aims to understand how Himalayan cultures produce religious images and the ways of seeing that invest them with meaning. Classes will address specific modes of visual representation, the relationships between text and image, and the social lives of images, as well various theoretical and methodological approaches for their reading and interpretation. Particular attention will be paid to representations of Buddha Sakyamuni and visual expressions of his life. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS RELI |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (Global South Asian Studies)(Religion Minor)(Religion) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Stanley Abe, "Inside the Wonder House: Buddhist Art and the West"
Diane Ackerman, "Vision"
Richard Brilliant, "The Authority of the Likeness"
Vidya Dehejia, "On Modes of Visual Narration"
Vidya Dehejia, "The Multivalent Sign in Early Buddhist Art"
Diana Eck, "Seeing the Sacred"
Alfred Gell, "The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of Technology"
Rupert Gethin, FOUNDATIONS OF BUDDHISM (recommended)
Alexandra Green, "Rethinking Visual Narratives from Asia"
Claire Harris, "The Politics and Personhood of Tibetan Buddhist Icons"
Susan Huntington, "Early Buddhist Art and the Theory of Aniconism"
Deniese Leidy, THE ART OF BUDDHISM
David Morgan, THE SACRED GAZE
Elizabeth and Robert Sharf, LIVING IMAGES
Donald Swearer, "Canonical Accounts of the First Buddha Image"
Various essays from Project Himalayan Art https://rubinmuseum.org/projecthimalayanart/
Films
Samsara. Dir by Ron Fricke (2011)
Lost Horizon. Dir by Frank Capra (1937)
Most readings will be made available on Moodle
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly short responses on readings and viewings
1 short essay
1 object/image analysis
Oral presentation
Final project |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills both the Historical Traditions and Method & Theory requirements for the Religion Major. |
| Instructor(s): Quintman,Andrew H Times: .M..... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 18 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 3 | | |
| Seats Available: 5 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 6 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 1 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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