ARTS 4851 Comparative Aesthetics

This course is designed to introduce students to diverse philosophies of art from a variety of cultural perspectives. Every culture has questions and ideas about the origins and nature of art and the philosophical basis of art's relationship to human existence. Art is intimately linked to diverse religious practices and to various ceremonies of birth, transition, death, and transcendence. Through explorations of the visual and performing arts of several different world cultures, this course compares similarities and contrasts differences of diverse cultural responses to these basic philosophical questions about the nature of art and its role in human life.