This course examines major characteristics of visual arts and material culture in China from the Neolithic period to the present time. Lecture topics include the relationship between material artifacts and state power in the bronze age; the significance of ancestral veneration in the artifacts of early dynasties; Buddhism and its influence on art and architecture; early painting and calligraphy; technology and achievements of Chinese porcelain; conceptions of nature and landscape painting and garden culture; patronage and art making in late imperial China; conflicts and compromises between Westernization and Traditionalism in modern China ; art and politics in Communist regime; and contemporary art in the era of globalization. In-classroom lectures will be supplemented by two museum visits and one calligraphy workshop. Pathway: Art and Design History