08/05/2026
AHVS 392 History of World Animation
Course-Related Questions
1. If you were to describe this course in a single sentence, what would you say?
AHVS 392 explores animation as a dynamic art form that moves across technology, entertainment, experimentation and cultural expression.
2. What aspect of this course excites you the most or do you find most rewarding?
What excites me most is that animation allows us to rethink what art can do. It is not only about drawing, storytelling, or visual pleasure; it is also about movement, transformation, imagination, and the creation of entire worlds. I find it especially rewarding to introduce students to animation beyond the most familiar commercial examples, including experimental animation, independent shorts, political animation, internet animation, and global animation traditions. Through these works, students can see animation as both a popular medium and a deeply expressive artistic practice.
3. How do you think this course will shift our perspective on art? What changes do you expect students to experience before and after taking the course?
Many people first encounter animation as childhood entertainment, cartoons, anime, video games, or digital media. This course invites students to reflect on those familiar experiences in depth and to understand animation as part of art history. Before taking the course, students may think of animation mainly as a genre or technique. After taking the course, I hope they will see animation as a way of thinking: a form that can bring drawings to life, transform bodies, question reality, express political ideas, build fictional worlds, and imagine different relationships between humans, technology, animals, machines, and environments.
4. Are there any unique activities or projects in this course that allow students to engage more deeply with art and its creation?
Yes. Students will engage with animation not only by watching and analyzing works, but also by thinking about how animation is made, circulated and experienced. Activities may include character design; short writing responses to weekly screenings; and creative or research-based projects that allow students to examine animation from artistic, cultural, or technological perspectives.
5. If students are interested in expanding their knowledge beyond this course, are there any books, films, or resources you would recommend for further exploration?
For students who want to continue exploring animation, I would encourage them to look beyond the familiar Western canon and approach animation as a truly global art form. Japanese animation is an especially rich field, including the films of Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Oshii, and Makoto Shinkai. I would also recommend exploring Chinese animation, from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio’s ink-wash and paper-cut films to contemporary works that combine mythology, digital technology, and popular culture. Eastern European animation, especially Czech, Polish, Russian, and Yugoslav traditions, offers another powerful alternative to commercial animation, with artists such as Jan Švankmajer, Jiří Trnka, Yuri Norstein, and the Zagreb School of Animation developing distinctive approaches to politics, surrealism, materiality, and visual experimentation.
Students might also look at animation from Iran, Korea, India, Latin America, and Indigenous media practices, where animation is often used to address memory, migration, folklore, colonial history, environmental change, and cultural identity. Rather than treating animation as a single tradition that developed in one place, I hope students will see it as a medium that has been reinvented across different societies, technologies, and artistic communities.
September 9 – December 7, 2026
Thursdays
1:30 PM – 4:20 PM
ONLINE
CRN: 10064
Instructor: Yang Liu
