BLACK CONTEMPORARY ART : SPECULATIVE (UN)MAKINGS

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Upper-Level

This course introduces students to the speculative and dynamic field of black contemporary visual and performance art by joining visual analysis with the critical application of race, gender, sexuality, and disability theory. This class centers application over memorization. By the end of the semester, students will demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of contemporary trends in black art production and circulation, be able to identify the work of formative black modern and contemporary artists and contextualize art objects across theories of blackness and the social process of representation. This course occasionally meets at an area museum during the semester. By the end of the semester, students will be equipped with a set of skills--reading, writing, and analysis--that will set a foundation for the creative development of a 10-to-12-page analytical essay on an art object of their choice. This assignment is methodically organized over the course of the semester to encourage each student to develop an argument that arises from their own close reading, application of theory, and lived experiences. Distribution 1 credit effective Fall 2021.