Cultural Exchange: Trade, Religion, and War in Armenia, 300-1600
The course will trace
artistic and cultural exchange over the centuries through trade, religion, and
war as a way to understand the global reach of art and culture. Primary
emphasis will be on the Armenians, whose homeland in eastern Anatolia
controlling significant trade routes, made them a crossroads for cultural
transmission between their West (the Romans, the Byzantine Romans, the Latin
West, the Crusaders, and the Ottomans) and their East (the Parthians,
Sasanians, Seljuks, Mongols, Safavid Persians, and Chinese). These connections
extended north to the Slavs and Mongol states of Russia and south to the Holy
Land and India. The catalogue of the Met’s 2018 “Armenia!” exhibition will be the basic text (
Armenia: Art,
Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages can be downloaded from
the Met’s website).
Using works in the catalogue, or ones suggested by the student, students will
research their global sources and their relevance to the Armenians, or others,
who produced the finished object. Topics will be selected in consultation with
the professor. Each student will present their research in class and as a final
paper. 3 credits.
Satisfies the chronological requirement.