This 18-credit CSP provides a
transcultural approach towards the understanding of the existing
relationships between visual images, mathematics and the written/spoken
word. As symbols of the world, they constitute basic means of
communications. As such we intend to emphasize this function in a holistic
manner and not merely from one or another specific viewpoint. Against a
broad backdrop of prehistory to the Renaissance our case studies will cross
continents with examples from the Silk Road, Egypt, Africa, and Islam, among
others. Through changing perspectives, we hope to accomplish our goals with
course activities that include hands-on work, visual images, seminar
discussions, guest speakers, and field trips to local museums.