AH 3795
Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture
Crouching Male Transformation Figurine
Mexico, Olmec, 900–300 BCE
Stone
Serpentine with traces of cinnabar
Height: 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm)
Gift of Constance McCormick Fearing (M.86.311.6)
AH 3795 F2024 Syl.pdfWelcome to the home of AH 3795, Pre-Columbian Art and Architecture of the Americas!
Navigation is above - see pages for syllabus and other important information there.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. You can talk to me in person, of course, but also by email or phone. Here's the relevant info:
Prof. Mayhall
Office: Vaughn Eames 425
Phone: 908.737.4399
Office Hours:
Monday and Thursday 11 to 1
Wednesday 2 to 3 pm
I'll invite you to a Google chat space, too, for quicker convos.
Even though we'll have a Canvas classroom set up, our main hub will be here. Everything you need is on the pages of this site (and more, tbh!). We'll discuss whether we want to use Perusall in class the first week.
Kerr Number: K638
Comments: War scene. A procession of warriors with naked captive. He will be decapitated, Note the paper garment and the decapitation instrument
Nasca, Mantle ("The Paracas Textile"), 100-300 C.E., cotton, camelid fiber, 58-1/4 x 24-1/2 inches / 148 x 62.2 cm, found south coast, Paracas, Peru (Brooklyn Museum)
Lintel 24, c. 723-26, Structure 23, Yaxchilán, Classic Maya, limestone, 109 x 78 x 6 cm (The British Museum) depicts the ruler Shield Jaguar II holding a torch over the head of his wife Lady K'ab'al Xook's as she performs a bloodletting ritual pulling a thorny cord through her tongue
Ear ornament depicting a warrior, 640–680 C.E., gold, turquoise, and wood, 9.5 cm diameter (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-SA 4.0)
We'll be traversing the continents in this class - starting in central and north America with early Mesoamerican cultures like the Olmec, the Zapotecs, Teotihuacan, the Maya, and the Aztecs, and then going further south to look at several cultures that pre-date the Inka as well as the Inka themselves.
We will not be looking at pre-Columbian Caribbean (like the Taino) or North American (like Cahokia) cultures, so these would be great topics for individual student presentations or papers!
We'll also be talking about information literacy, geography, and how to find, use, and cite images.
Check out the resources tab for places to get images and good online sources of up-to-date research.
"Teotihuacan - Artifact" by Artotem is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Possible presentation topics
a survey of museum exhibitions on Mesoamerica since 2011
agriculture
Olmec style
Kneeling lord with incised toad on his head, 900–500 B.C.
Middle Formative
Stone with red pigment
h. 17.6 cm., w. 10.8 cm., d. 10.1 cm. (6 15/16 x 4 1/4 x 4 in.)
Princeton University Art Museum. Museum purchase, gift of Mrs. Gerard B. Lambert by exchange
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My commitment to you:
Here are some basic rules I will honor during this semester:
You NEVER owe me personal information about your health, whether mental or physical, but of course you can always come talk to me if you want!
I will try my best to direct you to the proper resources if I can’t help you myself (I’ve been at Kean for a long time, and I KNOW things).
If you need extra help, more time, have to miss class, just let me know. I will work with you! I promise. But you have to let me know.
Since we will be working together a great deal this semester, I want to establish generosity as a key principle of the course. This means a few things:
•I will assume that you are each doing your best.
•I hope that you will give me and your classmates the same generous benefit of the doubt.
•You are expected to show generosity by showing up ready to participate, by sharing your ideas, by treating each other with respect, and by working with each other.
Our commitments to each other
What you can expect from me:
I will provide you with a clear, organized course that is designed to ensure you meet our course outcomes in a meaningful manner.
I will provide a variety of assignments to ensure your learning needs are met.
I will be actively present in your learning.
I will provide a supportive and safe environment for you to share and discuss ideas with your peers.
I will reach out to you when I sense that you need support.
I will treat you with dignity and respect and be flexible to support your individual needs.
I won't be perfect. I am human and will make mistakes at times. I will view mistakes as an opportunity to learn and grow.
Is there anything else you would like to add to this list? If so, you will have the opportunity to make a suggestion in your introduction Padlet or in an email to me.
What I will expect from you:
You strive to be an active participant in this course and strive to meet due dates.
You will maintain an open line of communication with me so I understand how to support you.
You will contact me if you have a concern with meeting a due date.
You strive to regularly contribute to collaborative activities to ensure other members of the community have ample opportunity to read/listen, reflect, and respond to your ideas.
You will treat your peers with dignity and respect.
You will do your best to have patience with technology. There will be hiccups, expect them. We will get through them together.
You will give yourself grace. Expect to make mistakes. You are human and you are stressed.
Is there anything else you would like to add to this list? If so, you will have the opportunity to make a suggestion in your introduction Padlet or Google Form or in an email to me.
(borrowed, with permission, from Michelle Pacansky-Brock, my online teaching hero)
How to contact me:
EMAIL: mmayhall@kean.edu
If you want to talk to me individually, I have student hours set up in Google at the link below. You can sign up for a slot, or you can email me - we can do a Zoom meeting, Google Hangouts Meet, or a phone call. Monday through Friday I will try to respond within 24 hours. Weekends may take a bit longer - we should all be taking breaks sometime.
I will also open up a Google Chat during student hours so that you can drop by if you want. You will be automatically invited.
