Art x Resistance Course Description

Art plays an essential role in social resistance to dominant culture and political organizing against oppression. It is a key to shifting cultural consciousness and mainstream perspectives. When social activists tell their own stories and counter mainstream narratives in visual forms, they capture the public imagination, creating room to envision new realities.

This unique studio and seminar course will employ research about the role of art in social activism, through art making, field interviews, and academic study. As a studio practice, students will develop their own body of work, rooted in a weekly self-investigation of stories and issues connected with their own lived experiences. Students will explore questions including: What social and/or political conditions have visibly and invisibly shaped your life? How is authorship and representation political? What is the role of technology and social media in art and activism today? How can the process of activism work in tandem with the strategic vision of social movements? What are the possibilities and problems with allyship in artistic activism?

With a grounding in anti-racist principles and centering the historic and contemporary leadership of LGBTQ and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) in social justice work, students will engage with historic and contemporary investigations of the role of art in social movements locally and globally. Students will connect with activists currently working at the intersections of art and social justice to conduct primary research. As a group, they will study an array of historically relevant artistic activists.

Required Texts:

- Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown

- Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution

Recommended Reading:

- I encourage you to deepen your understanding of structural oppression over the course of this semester. You can find recommended readings and podcasts about structural oppression here.

Student Learning Outcomes:

- Students will demonstrate an understanding of roles of artists in social and political movements in the late 20^th and 21^st centuries.

- Students will develop their own analysis of a current artist and activist effort or movement of their choice, through primary research.

- Students will document weekly self-reflection about social and political issues of personal importance.

- Students will create a body of work with themes of social resistance and/or political organizing, based on their own life experiences.

Developed and facilitated by Hannah Brancato, Fall 2020