ART 3130 - African American Art from the Middle Passage to Black Lives Matter

(3) Credit Hours

This course surveys the cultural production of African American artists from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. It examines the range of visual media–including, but not limited to, paintings, decorative arts, sculptures, prints, photographs, clothing, and performance–produced by Black artists from the time of enslavement through the Black Lives Matter movement. Particular attention is given to the styles, aesthetics, social contexts, political motivations, ideological underpinnings, and gendered nature of this history. This course prioritizes the production of peoples of African descent within the United States, although depictions of Black subjects by white Euro-American artists are occasionally considered for contextual purposes. It also explores how the field of “African American art history” has been defined in relation to Euro-American cultural history and investigates both the advantages and disadvantages of this formation. This class is designed to advance students’ visual acuteness, cross-cultural awareness, critical thinking, application, and skills of writing and interpretation. Every other fall semester.