The Asian Art Museum San Francisco’s Society for Asian Art has an excellent line-up for their annual South Asian lecture series. Lectures are held in the museum’s Samsung Hall on Fridays from 10:30-12:30 pm. For more info visit asianart.org. Each lecture is also available for download through iTunes University!

August 26

Up Close and Personal with the Asian’s Collection

Forrest McGill, Asian Art Museum

September 2

Indian Art and Culture from Avatar to Zenana

Forrest McGill, Asian Art Museum

September 9

Surreal or Practical? India’s Ethereal Architecture

Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Mills College

September 16

The Miraculous Buddha: The Role of Miracles and Magic in the Life of the Buddha

Robert Brown, UC Los Angeles

September 23

Epic Visions: The Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Visual Culture of Early Hinduism

Robert Goldman, UC Berkeley

September 30

The Site of the Buddha’s Enlightenment and Its Significance for Asian Art

Forrest McGill, Asian Art Museum

October 7

An Apparent Paradox: The Sacred as Sensuous in Hindu India

Vidya Dehejia, Columbia University

October 14

Jewels from a Brush: The Manuscript Paintings of India

Joan Cummins, Brooklyn Museum

October 21

Heavenly Bodies: The Indian Temple and Its Sculptures

Darielle Mason, Philadelphia Museum of Art

October 28

Highlighting Zoroastrians, Jains, and Sikhs

Gurinder Singh Mann, UC Santa Barbara

November 4

Content and Context of Visual Arts in the Islamic World

Priscilla Soucek, New York University

November 11

Mystics and Kings: Islam in India From the Time of the Delhi Sultanate Through the Great Mughals

Catherine Asher, University of Minnesota

November 18

From Baghdad to Delhi: Islamic Art at the Asian Art Museum

Qamar Adamjee, Asian Art Museum

December 2

After the Great Mughals: The Rise of the Rajas and “The British Are Coming!”

Stephen Markel, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

December 9

The Shock of the New: Art Today in India and Pakistan

Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Mills College