Schmucker Hall
Room 111
300 North Washington St.
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400
Education
BA Peking University, 1994
MA University of Pittsburgh, 1997
PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2001
Yan Sun received her bachelor’s degree from the Department of Archaeology at the Peking University (1994) in Beijing, China and a doctoral degree on Chinese Art History from the Department of History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh (2001). Her research primarily focuses on the rise of regional bronze cultures in north China and the interplay between material culture, social identities and power during the late Shang and Western Zhou period (late 2nd millennium-late 8th c. BCE). She teaches courses on Art History Methods and Exhibition Curation, Material Culture Studies, Asian Art, Arts of China and Early Chinese Art and Culture.
List of Publications: https://gettysburg.academia.edu/YSun
Courses Taught
The course is an introduction to material culture studies, a dynamic interdisciplinary field that examines the fascinating lives of objects. Students will explore how scholars in diverse disciplines, primarily art history, archaeology and anthropology, and museum studies, study objects. By studying college’s special collections, student will learn how to address historical knowledge through examinations of objects, not only their physical attributes, but people’s relationships with them, and how objects and human shape each other in antiquity and contemporary world.
ANTH 270 and ARTH 270 are cross-listed.
A survey of the Arts of Asia from Neolithic period to Modern times. Three general topics, including Ancient Civilization, Asian Religion and Art, Traditional China and Japan will be discussed. The course covers different art forms primarily painting, sculpture and architecture from several regions: India, China, Japan, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. The works of art are important in their own contexts and we want to learn what they reveal about their parent cultures. Offered every semester. ARTH 131 and AS 131 are cross-listed.
An introduction to the history of the art historical discipline and its research and interpretive methods. A broad goal of the course is to have students build a foundation of knowledge and methodology from which to approach works of art with understanding and critical appreciation. Through lectures and class discussions students will develop a thorough familiarity with various art-historical methodologies and be able to evaluate their applicability to the analysis of individual works of art. Students in the class will curate an exhibition of artworks from the college special collection in the Schmucker art gallery. Prerequisite: Any ARTH course, FYS 122-1, or HIST 201
This course examines how objects and images illuminate the cultural history of China from the late Neolithic period to the twentieth century. Recognizing China as an evolving geographic and cultural entity, the course approaches artworks from an interdisciplinary perspective, drawing on art history, archaeology, anthropology, and cultural studies. Students explore how objects and images both shaped and were shaped by Chinese and foreign ideas about identity, power, belief, and everyday life, and learn to interpret visual and material forms as carriers of meaning and as windows into China’s social, political, and cultural history. Open to First Year Students. Offered once a year. ARTH 234 and AS 234 are cross-listed.
A study of Chinese painting and the art forms that have long held prestige positions in Chinese art. This course is intended to introduce the students to artistic practices created by both professional artists and scholar-painters. Class lecture and discussion focus on painting, the history of collections, theories on connoisseurship and aesthetics from the 3rd c to modern times. The interplays between painting and poetry, philosophy and politics are emphasized. Ink and brushworks is also analyzed and demonstrated in class. ARTH 235 and AS 235 are cross-listed.
The course is an introduction to material culture studies, a dynamic interdisciplinary field that examines the fascinating lives of objects. Students will explore how scholars in diverse disciplines, primarily art history, archaeology and anthropology, and museum studies, study objects. By studying college’s special collections, student will learn how to address historical knowledge through examinations of objects, not only their physical attributes, but people’s relationships with them, and how objects and human shape each other in antiquity and contemporary world.
ANTH 270 and ARTH 270 are cross-listed.