ARTH 370 - Slavery and the Problem of the Visual

FC ARHU CD WINT

4 credits
What aesthetic strategies can we, or should we, use to try to visualize the history of trans-Atlantic slavery? Through a series of case studies spanning the Atlantic world, we will tackle the visual culture of slavery through lenses of trauma, witnessing, memory, racial and gendered subjectivity, and cross-cultural conceptions of enslavement. Specific topics will include the role of public memorials, the paradox of ‘slave portraiture,’ and anti-aesthetic efforts to ‘flee’ visual representation altogether. Recommended Preparation: one intermediate (200-level, formerly 300-level) course in art history.

Undergraduate Research Intensive