The Artistry of the Maya Scribe

The Maya produced what was arguably the most beautiful script of the ancient Americas—a true combination of art and writing. This course explores Maya history and the fundamentals of their writing system, but with a twist: instead of just focusing on reading comprehension, we explore how scribes learned to write. Using ancient painting techniques and natural pigments, students will discover how to combine words and images in playful ways and, in so doing, understand why this system evolved as it did. They will explore the stylistic choices made in the first millennium CE—and perhaps make those same choices again. This course is part of the Public Humanities Labs Initiative administered by the Axinn Center for the Humanities./