ART AND ACTIVISM: CREATIVE PROTESTS IN THE 20TH CENTURY AMERICAS

Credit Hours: 3 · Graduate

How have art and activism in the Americas from the early 20th century to today informed and fed one another? Moving between South and North America, this seminar study artists and collectives that have confronted, in isolation or with intersectionality in mind, indigenous rights, gender equality, LGBT+ rights, and systemic racism. The course is organized around artwork and activism grouped within three loose themes: race and disenfranchisement; gender and sexuality; and ecology and capitalism. From graphic art employed by the Black Panthers to photographic essays in defense of ways of life in the Amazon Basin of northern Brazil, “Art and Activism” will offer a chance to contemplate, study, and debate visual and performative projects that have endeavored (or continue to try) to effect social change. Graduate Students will write a 20-25 page (not counting bibliography and illustrations) final research paper; undergraduate students will submit a paper 10-12 pages in length. Some class meetings may be held at area cultural spaces. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: HART 315 .