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Module Schedule [updated on 24 June 2025]

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Pre-Course Reading

Pre-Course Recommended Reading List

Behrendt, The Art of Gandhara in The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Barnes, An Introduction to Buddhist Archaeology

Lopez, Introduction, Curators of the Buddha

Acri Sharrock, The Creative South

Week One

Week Three

Week Eight

Week 1

Lecture PDFs

Recommended Reading

Dehejia, Vidya. ‘On Modes of Visual Narration in Early Buddhist Art.’ The Art Bulletin 72, no. 3 (1990): 374-92.

Gombrich, Richard. 2013. What the Buddha Thought. Sheffield: Equinox. ‘Introduction’, pp 1- 18.

Huntington, S. 1985. The Art of Ancient India. New York: Weatherhill. --- ‘The Maurya period (ca. 323 to 185 B.C.)’, pp.41-55;

Lopez, Donald S. Jr. 1995. ‘Introduction’; in Lopez, Donald S. Jr. (ed.), Curators of the Buddha. The Study of Buddhism Under Colonialism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1995, pp. 1-29.

Week 2

Week 2 Tutorials

Lecture PDFs

Recorded Lectures

Recommended Reading

Craven, Roy C. 1976, 2nd ed 1997. A Concise History of Indian Art. London: Thames and Hudson. ‘Chapter 6: The Kushan Period: Gandhara and Mathura’, pp. 81-111

Huntington, S. 1985. The Art of Ancient India. New York: Weatherhill. ‘The Gupta period (fourth to sixth centuries)’, pp. 187-219, esp 196-219. ‘Bihar and Bengal under the Pala and Sena kings’, pp.387-413

Davis, Richard H. (2024). “Popular Religious Cultures during the Shunga Era (200 BCE- 0CE). In: Religions of Early India: A Cultural History. Princeton University Press, pp. 220-261.

Zin, Monika. 2011, “Narrative Reliefs in Kanaganahalli – A Short Outline of Their Importance for Buddhist Studies.” Marg 63.1, pp. 12–21.

Online Lecture Recording

1. Art of Kanaghalli Prof Monika Zin

Week 3

Week 3 Tutorials

Lecture PDFs

Recorded Lectures

Pala Art - Dr Louis Copplestone

Recommended Reading

Fisher, Robert E. 1997. Art of Tibet. London Thames Hudson 1997. Chapter 3

Van Schaik, Sam. 2011. Tibet: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press. ‘Introduction’, pp. xv-xviii

Luczanits, Christian. ‘Infinite Variety. Form and Appearance in Tibetan Buddhist Art. Part I.’ Lotus Leaves 7, no. 2 (2005), pp. 1–9.

Samuel, Geoffrey. 2012. Introducing Tibetan Buddhism. New York: Routledge, 2012. pp. xi- xiv, 220-234

Week 4

Week 4 Tutorials

Lecture PDFs

Recommended Reading

Chemburkar, Swati. 2018. ‘Visualising the Buddhist Mandala Kesariya Borobudur and Tabo’ in India and Southeast Asia: Cultural Discourses, Dallapiccola, Anna L. &amp; Verghese, Anila, eds Mumbai: K R Cama Oriental Institute, pp. 197-222, 2018

Hudson, Bob. 2019.Sri Ksetra or An Introduction to Pyu Kingdom. Yangon: Pentagon.

Lavy, Paul. 2014. ‘Conch-on-hip Images in Peninsular Thailand and Early Vaisnava Sculpture in Southeast Asia’ in Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology, eds. Nicolas Revire and Stephen A. Murphy Bangkok: River Books

Miksic, John. 1990. Borobudur: Golden Tale of the Buddhas Singapore: Periplus

Murphy, Stephen. 2016. ‘The case for proto-Dvāravatī: A review of the art historical and archaeological evidence’ Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 47(3), pp 366–92.

Rooney, Dawn F. 2008. Ancient Sukhothai: Thailand’s Cultural Heritage Bangkok, River Books (pp.12-54)

Sharrock, P. D. 2007. ‘The Mystery of the Bayon Face Towers’ in Bayon New Perspectives Bangkok: River Books: 230-81.

Zoom Lecture Recording

Week 5

Week 5 Tutorials

Lecture PDFs

Recommended Reading

Abe, S. Ordinary Images, Chicago: Chicago UP. 2002. Chapter 4 ‘Sinicization’.

Tsiang, Katherine, ‘Visualising the Divine in Medieval China’, in Martin Powers et al. eds, A Companion to Chinese Art, pp. 158-176 [ebook]

Leidy, Denise Patry, ‘Buddhism and Buddhist Sculpture in China’, in Leidy and Donna Strahan eds. 2010. Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Pp. 3-17

Vignato, Giuseppe. ‘Archaeological Survey of Kizil: Its Groups of Caves, Districts, Chronology and Buddhist Schools.’ East and West 56, no. 4 (2006): 359-416. Accessed March 25, 2021.

Week 7

Week 7 Tutorials

Lecture PDFs

Recommended Readings

Chemburkar, Swati. 2018. ‘Visualising the Buddhist Mandala Kesariya Borobudur and Tabo’ in India and Southeast Asia: Cultural Discourses, Dallapiccola, Anna L. & Verghese, Anila, eds Mumbai: K R Cama Oriental Institute, pp. 197-222, 2018

Sharrock, P.D. & Bunker, E. 2016. ‘Seeds of Vajrabodhi: Buddhist Ritual Bronzes from Java and Khorat’ in Esoteric Buddhism in Mediaeval Maritime Asia: Networks of Masters, Texts, Icons. Acri, A. ed. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing.

Meegama, S., & Wong, L. (2024). “An interdisciplinary, post-colonial response to the statue of Tara from Sri Lanka at the British Museum.” (pp. 3-16) Archetype.