Course Description
An examination of the history of how art has been used to enact cultural, social, and political change in the United States. Topics covered include the imagery and history of abolition, WWI, WWII, the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, Vietnam anti-war protests, and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Athena Title
Art and Activism in the U.S.
Pre or Corequisite
Any HIST or ARHI or ARTS or COMM or POLS or AFAM or CMLT or SOCI course
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students will be able to arrive at conclusions about art, activism, and political change by gathering and weighing evidence, logical argument, and listening to counter argument.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to write stylistically appropriate papers and essays. Students will be able to analyze ideas and evidence, organize their thoughts, and revise and edit their finished essays.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to identify how the history of art and activism has shaped social and cultural identities, particularly among Black and minority communities, encouraging them to understand diverse worldviews and experiences.
- By the end of this course, students will be able to apply appropriate methodological approaches to their analysis of primary sources and to organize their evidence to show historical continuities and discontinuities.
Topical Outline
- 1. Imagery of the horror of slave ships and activism against the transatlantic slave trade
- 2. Photographs of the horrors of slavery and abolition discourse
- 3. Bobalition broadsides and pro-slavery discourse
- 4. Uncle Sam and Army Recruitment
- 5. U.S. Interventions in Cuba and Haiti and the Political Cartoons that Justified Them
- 6. WWII and the Double V Campaign
- 7. McCarthy Era and the Suppression of Art
- 8. The Cold War, Anti-Communism, and Political Cartoons
- 9. Media and the Civil Rights Movement
- 10. Media during and Imagery of the Black Power Movement
- 11. The Black Arts Movement
- 12. Hawks v. Doves: Imagery of the Vietnam War Era
- 13. Anti-Apartheid Movement in the United States and its Imagery
- 14. Art During the HIV-AIDS Crisis and the Activism of ACTUP
- 15. Art and the Homelessness Crisis
- 16. Art as Community Building
- 17. Social Practice Art
- 18. Mexican Muralists’ Impact on Public Art and Murals in the United States
- 19. Art and the Power of Self Expression
- 20. Everyday People and Art Education
- 21. The Power of Art From the Women’s March and Beyond
