From Tomb to Temple: Ancient Chinese Art and Religion in Transition
Examines ancient Chinese art and religion from antiquity to the mid-10th century, focusing on funerary culture, religious contexts, and key media like jade, metalwork, and calligraphy.
Summary
Past student reviews · Julia Murray
The student found the exams nearly impossible despite receiving flashcards from the instructor.
What you’ll be able to do
Critically read art historical texts critically to interrogate authors for their argument, evidence, and content.
Analyze how an artwork’s format, materials, and visual properties convey meaning, content, and social function.
Discuss how an artwork relates to its socio-historical context, and—in turn—how its socio-historical context informs our reading of the artwork.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing
- Sophomore standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Sophomore standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Julia Murray
One past student described the historical instructor Julia Murray as harsh toward questions and noted the class was not worth three credits.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2019: 3.28 GPA, 62.5% A/AB (n=16 letter grades); Spring 2023: 3.31 GPA, 53.8% A/AB (n=13 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.61 GPA, 73.9% A/AB (n=23 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Julia Murray
The student found the exams nearly impossible despite receiving flashcards from the instructor.
Past student reviews · Julia Murray
The reviewer reported feeling intimidated to ask questions in class because the instructor was perceived as critical.
Topics
- Funerary culture and the use of jade for afterlife and life-prolongation.
- Reappropriation of Buddhist art and the emergence of calligraphy as high art.
- Artistic media including jade-carving, metalwork, sculpture, ceramics, calligraphy, painting, textile, and architecture.
- Aesthetic concepts and social groups associated with different art forms.
Skills
- Critical reading of art historical texts to interrogate arguments, evidence, and content.
- Analysis of how an artwork's format, materials, and visual properties convey meaning and social function.
- Discussion of the relationship between artworks and their socio-historical contexts.
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2024— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2024
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"output_id": "20983ef7977b4d45550bf4600f753d640af892b163478c8ea685dc0de20e9b67",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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