Critical Studies: Nation's Nature - Art, Environment and the American Landscape

Catalog description

This course will explore how representations of the American landscape create an ever-shifting national identity. Slogans like "Make America Great Again" trade on nostalgia and a desire for a fixed narrative but ignore the experience of marginalized groups. The actual environment, meanwhile, is being destroyed by the same people who use it as a symbol of power and purity. From painting to photography, print, animation, sculpture and social practice, we will consider how art has fueled or challenged nationalism, patriotism, American exceptionalism. Readings in historical texts, narrative essays and cultural geography, along with discussions and presentations will provide art students a broader context for their own research.