African American Art ((4 Credits))

Catalog description

The course provides a revised history of African American Art focused on the twentieth century. In addition to taking a broad historical perspective based on influential social theory of the time, students will look closely at the work of individual artists such as Edmonia Lewis, Augusta Savage, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Jacob Lawrence, Aaron Douglas, Archibald Motley, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Whitfield Lovell, Jean Michel Basquiat, and Kara Walker. Students engage in critical dialogue about the realities, changes, and strategies for inclusion of African American artists by examining their relationship to the traditional canon of art history; and for expanding knowledge of how these artists either connected to or even influenced that history. Students will understand the importance of African American artists in shaping American art history despite historical attempts to exclude them and ongoing efforts to achieve greater inclusion.