ARCH 21907 - Mesoamerica

Course Credit: 1
In this course we examine the political and ritual structures of the major cultures from the region of Mesoamerica which are inextricably linked domains. We proceed chronologically from the peopling of the new world, spanning from the Archaic up to the Contact Period with brief discussions on contemporary understandings of Pre-Hispanic imagery and meaning, particularly for Chican@ people today. Given this geographical expanse, we focus in particular on themes including cultural interactions across the region, considerations of Mesoamerican art, iconography, worldview, and landscape across time and space, the importance of state and domestic ritual, pivotal points of epigraphically recorded history as told by Classic Maya peoples, as well how these various features of ancient Mesoamerican states relate to performance, architecture, the economy, the environment, warfare, from both elite and non-elite contexts. This course is primarily lecture and discussion based with the final two weeks focused on student presentations. Prerequisite(s): Minimum of 2 courses in the major, or permission of the instructor. [HSS]