Research essay on a single work of art or a single artist or dynasty of artistic merit from a local Museum. You may also consider a single exhibition or display of art showing at a museum that features art from any region or culture. You many also consider collections of manuscriipts. Focus should be placed on the materiality of Buddhist culture as it is Material Culture (art, temple, artifact, manuscriipt), that helps better contextualize Buddhism in Practice than texts alone.
List of some Museums and Collections you can visit with extensive Buddhist art and exhibitions:
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions
https://rubinmuseum.org/
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/
Research should reflect how the chosen work or works relate to themes such as Buddhist sectarianism (Mahayana, Theravada, Vajrayana, Pureland, Chan, etc.), Buddhism and regionalism, Buddhist conversion, philosophy, Buddhist doctrine, Religious syncretism, among others may be considered. Are such themes seen in your chosen work or works of art? If so how and in what way?
Research should focus on a single dynasty or region. Examples of dynasties are the Gupta or Pala dynasties in South Asia or the Tang or Song dynasty in China. There are other possible dynasties and regions as well that may be considered (but please confirm with me!) . In the case of modern art or a living temple, highlight the particular cultural region of the world that the work is inspired or influenced by.
You may compare and contrast your material focus (artwork, artifact, or manuscriipt) with a specific textual source from the readings out of “The Experience of Buddhism” (chapters are uploaded if needed). Try to choose appropriate textual sources. For example, if your chosen work is from Thailand, it might be better to choose a text that is not Mahayana in origin since they practice Theravada Buddhism there. Origins of the text can usually be found in the notes at the end of a reading. Remember that Pali texts are associated most strongly with Theravada and other schools of Early or Mainstream Buddhist traditions. Alternatively, Sanskrit works or works translated from Chinese and Tibetan are typically associated with the different branches of Mahayana (Vajrayana, Pure Land, Chan, Zen, etc.).
Bibliography:
Must include a bibliography with at least 3 sources from a trusted academic research database (Jstor is highly recommended) in addition to entries related to the work(s) of art and any curatorial essays or ephemera associated with an exhibition that is published by or available from the gallery or museum.
Additional, searchable resource for South Asian Art:
Search Engines (suggested):
Jstor
Artstor
Oxford Bibliographies Online: Buddhism
