Visual Culture during the Enlightenment and the Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World

Catalog description

The eighteenth century witnessed a number of important political, economic, scientific, and artistic transformations that shook the foundations of the Atlantic world. This seminar will focus on the intersections of art and liberation in the 18th century Americas. We will explore the role of visual culture, including maps, illustrations, paintings, talismanic objects, and ephemera in the mobilization of political dissent and revolution. The course will consist of a series of case studies that include the Tupac Amaru and Katari Rebellions (Peru/Bolivia), the Haitian Revolution, the Aponte Rebellion (Cuba), and various slave revolts across the Caribbean and Brazil, with a focus on the use of visuals in the spread of information and the creation of insurgent imaginaries in the years leading up to Independence in the 1820s. This course would bring in students from a variety of disciplines, including History, Art History, Visual Studies, Indigenous Studies, Latina/o Studies, and Latin American Studies, given its interdisciplinary focus and the relevance of these transformative political and social movements to the present day.