ClassInfo - Fall 2022 Art History Classes

Fall 2022 | ARTH 5466 Section 001: Contemporary Art (33172)

Instructor(s): Jane Blocker
Class Component:: Lecture
Credits:: 3 Credits
Grading Basis:: Student Option
Instructor Consent:: No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:: In Person
Times and Locations:: Regular Academic Session

09/06/2022 - 12/14/2022

Mon, Wed 01:00PM - 02:15PM

UMTC, West Bank

Blegen Hall 115
Enrollment Status:: Open (14 of 30 seats filled)
Also Offered:: Fall 2022

Course Catalog Description:: The art of today as it is practiced around the globe takes a bewildering variety of forms - from traditional painting and sculpture to AI, interactive digital media, film projections, bio art (involving human, plant, and animal blood, tissue and DNA), participatory and community engaged projects, and environmental interventions. It addresses urgent social and political themes including globalization, institutionalized racism, climate crisis, big data, and mechanized vision. Just as today's citizens should inform themselves about contemporary politics and current events, so is it crucial that we understand the art of our own time. In this course students gain an understanding of art's development since the late 20th century and key ideas that are central to interpreting the art of this period. The course begins with a review of important movements, significant artists, and influential theories and issues. It then takes up and studies specific themes through the reading and analysis of theoretical texts. Students are asked to read, participate in class discussions, complete guided or independent research papers, prepare an in-class presentation on one of the course themes, and complete a book review for a textbook on contemporary art history. Each of these assignments is designed to impart specific historical knowledge about the period of the contemporary, to provide students with opportunities to practice critical reading and synthetic writing, and to offer them a chance to inspect their own positions regarding key debates.
Class Description:: The course begins with a review of important movements, significant artists, and influential theories and issues in art of the last fifty years. It then takes up specific themes and studies those through the reading and analysis of theoretical texts. The goal of the course is first of all to think critically about the relation between history and the contemporary through an attempt to trace the origins and full development of the period variously known as the postmodern, post-postmodern, and the contemporary, to examine the aesthetic and theoretical debates of this period, and to consider the present state of art production and reception.
prereq: 3464 or instr consent
Grading:: Participation 10%
Book Review 20%
Group Presentation 30%
Either 2 Take-Home Essay exams @ 20% each, or 1 research paper @ 40%
Class Format:: Lecture and discussion, supported by Moodle.
Workload:: 20 pages of writing per semester
40 pages of reading per week
Textbooks:: https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/33172/1229
Past Syllabi:: http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/block023_ARTH5466_Fall2016.pdf (Fall 2016)
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:: 24 August 2016

ClassInfo Links - Fall 2022 Art History Classes

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