Participatory Visual Inquiry in the Public Sphere

Catalog description

Theory and praxis seminar to consider contemporary practices of participartory inquiry and public action with an emphasis on visual methodologies. A ED 522 Participatory Visual Inquiry in the Public Sphere (3) Students will analyze practices of participatory inquiry in response to social and cultural issues, situations, and challenges taken up by visual artists and interdisciplinary collectives who intend their work to construct new knowledge and positive change through collective action. Students will discuss and identify societal situations and propose possible responses as sites for participatory inquiry. A key focus of the course is the exploration of theories and practices of collaborative inquiry in the public sphere with emphasis on visual methodologies. The course revolves around related and overlapping concepts such as participatory democracy, participatory culture, ideas to actions, collaborative inquiry, collaborative design, community-based research, public pedagogy, and action research. The course is intended to function as a discursive space to broaden perceptions about contemporary art and inquiry practices; informal and public pedagogies; the interdisciplinary roles of art and artists in society, community-based projects and inquiry; and ways collaborative artmaking and cultural production can function as forms of research. Course content focuses on community artworks, interdisciplinary creative projects, and other forms of cultural production created for and existing within the public sphere in response to specific issues, challenges, and conditions. Examples of such work include public murals, public performance interventions, environmental responses, community health and change interventions, and social media activism, among others.