Course Schedule and Catalog

Department: Art History

Meeting: 6:30PM - 9:20PM W (13-JAN-2025 - 25-APR-2025) 

Part of Term: Full Term

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Seminar

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Method of Instruction: Face to Face

Credit Hours: 3

 

Section Max Enrollment: 20

Section Enrolled: 0

Total Cross-list Max Enrollment: 40

Total Cross-list Enrolled: 0

Waitlisted: 0 (Max 198) 

Current members of the waitlist have priority for available seats.

Enrollment data as of: 14-NOV-2024 10:49PM

 

 

Final Exam: No Final Exam

 

Description: What is this so-called contemporary art world that is seemingly everywhere? Can everything in everyday existence be considered art? Is that good for art? Is it good for life? In this seminar, we will attempt to engage with many of the paradigms of contemporary art as it has developed in the wake of political, theoretical, and aesthetic engagements of the 1990s and 2000s. How have social media, spectacular and/or “immersive” culture, and the ever-expanding global reach of art market forces changed what was once considered the artistic potential that characterized the historical and neo-avant-garde. Is contemporary art unmoored from its historical engagement and responsibilities? Has contemporary art become just a glitch or meme? What might an art of resistance look or smell like? To broach these and other matters, seminar participants will engage in intensive critical reading and lively discussions with experts from the global art community—artists, critics, art historians, and curators, among others. Topics studied will include identity, abstraction, topicality, erotics, historical beholdenness, ir/responsibility, and their complex interrelatedness and fun. Cross-list: ARTS 350.