ARTH 2700

Introduction to African American and African Diaspora Art

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

This course focuses on African American and African Diaspora visual art from the 1800s to the present. It introduces significant artists and artworks as well as key movements, social, political, and economic issues, and critical discourse that mark this body of work. We will begin with an overview of African art and experiences of the Middle Passage, slavery, and colonialism that inform global blackness and our definition of diaspora. Then, we will address a range of topics central to African diasporic artmaking including representational struggle and visual capture, commodification, institutional and political critique, queered black gender and sexuality, spatial instability and reclamation. The core of the course is centered in the 20th century with a focus on painting, sculpture, installation art, performance, photography, film, and new media.

Distribution Requirements (ALC-AS)

Last 4 Terms Offered (None)

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