Art, Monuments, and Power in Native American Cultures Before 1500

A Dialogues webinar

Ruling elites have always wanted to show their power through monuments and artworks that celebrate their grandeur and exalted status. This Dialogues seminar examines the linkage between power and monumental art in the societies that flourished long before 1500 C.E. in places that are now within the southeastern United States and Mexico. How did the powerful rulers in these societies proclaim their power through the buildings, landscapes, sculptures, and artistic rituals that they commissioned across the territories they controlled?  How did they use objects and monuments to align themselves and their people with divine actors or creation narratives? We’ll explore such questions with an art historian and archaeologist as we discuss how rulers proclaim their power and how monumental art contributes to complex political systems.

TOPICS and SPEAKERS

Society, Politics, and Religion in the Late Pre-Columbian American South

Vincas P. Steponaitis, William E. Leuchtenburg Distinguished Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology

The Art of Power: Monuments and Rulers in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica

Eduardo Douglas, Associate Professor of Art and Art History

What Can We Learn about Art, Monuments, and Political Power from Pre-Columbian Societies in the Americas?

A panel discussion with our speakers

TUITION

This Dialogues webinar is a virtual event. Tuition is $30, which includes “admission” to the webinar in real time (with live Q&A) as well as access to the recorded talks to watch at your leisure for up to 2 weeks after posting. Registrants will receive instructions for accessing the event online by 4pm on June 11.

**Save money by purchasing a SUMMER PASS to all summer programs (except Great Books) for only $125 ($100 for GAA members).**

Register here or call us at 919.962.1544.

Online registration closes at midnight the night before the event. For same-day registration, please call our office at 919.962.1544.

Co-Sponsored by the General Alumni Association.

For information about GAA discounts and other scholarships available to Humanities Program participants, click here.

Tuition is complimentary for any currently teaching, full time K-12 teachers. If you are eligible, click here to register. Complimentary teacher registration closes at 4:30 pm the Friday before the event.