Upper-Division

Examines contemporary arts in post-colonial Africa, 1960-present, including new popular cultural forms; arts resulting from new class and national structures; commodification of culture; Pan-Africanism; exhibitionism; and questions of destiny.

Examines the history and significance of the subjects most prominent in Chinese painting since the Han Dynasty, focusing on the cultural factors that made landspace a fundamental value in the Chinese tradition and the methods whereby painters created pictorial equivalents.

Examines painting, photography, sculpture, film, mixed-media works, propaganda posters, and performance art from the mid-19th century to the contemporary period. Investigates how transcultural exchanges shaped the trajectory of Chinese arts; the roles new mediums played in changing Chinese art and national identity; the impact of politics on the development of visual culture; and the varied styles and movements that burgeoned since the post-Mao period. Course provides students with a firm understanding of the development of modern and contemporary Chinese art and visual culture within social, political, and historical contexts.

Explores critical debates concerned with the visualization of African-American identity. In the 21st century, we have seen a renewed interest in racial justice and a sense of urgency around eradicating the enduring scourge of intolerance and inequity. As a result, there is a great necessity to explore the complexities of race and representation. By surveying a range of visual forms—from narrative and documentary film, to Internet-based and print media—the course explores the current landscape of black cultural representation. Also looks at the intersection of gender, race, and sexuality as intersecting phenomena.

Examines contemporary art visual culture in relation to climate havoc. Climate-change threats and impacts grow more widespread, frequent, and severe wreaking environmental havoc worldwide. In the absence of effective governance and international leadership in addressing adequate solutions, artists and activists are inventing and participating in creative strategies of consciousness-raising, mass mobilization, and ecologically sustainable modes of thinking and living. Seminar focuses on creative practices of climate justice, considering ecological transformation in relation to justice-oriented frameworks that both stress socio-political and economic inequities, and seek ways to rectify such inequalities. Also maps out new trajectories of practice and methodologies of scholarship at the convergence of art history, visual cultural studies, and climate breakdown.