In this seminar we will examine and discuss Japanese religious objects with regard to issues of materiality, which will include scrolls, icons, ritual equipment, and other things, from a range of different historical periods and perspectives. Materiality studies may be understood as explorations into the constitution of objects with their surroundings and the shaping of human experience. We will be fortunate to have Dr. Caroline Hirasawa, Associate Professor of Japanese Art History at Waseda University in Tokyo and expert on Buddhist narrative handscrolls and materiality, join us for some sessions as a Visiting Murphy Lecturer. During this course, we will make use of objects in the Spencer Museum of Art and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
