American Modernisms, 1900-1940

3 units

American modernism: what is it? What is the nature of its encounter with mass culture? What happened to modernism as it migrated from its high European origins to its middlebrow version in America between the turn of the century and the eve of World War II? What was the rhetoric of modernism in everyday life -- its impact on design, photography, advertising? In addition to the fine arts, this course will look at popular media, film, and photography. Lecture/discussion.