Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An in-depth investigation of a selected topic in the history of art, performance and/or cinema. This course can be repeated twice for credit if the topic is different.

COURSE DETAILS:

Picture yourself in a sustainable society. What would it look like? How would it feel to be there? How does it differ from the place you live now? How does this vision build on the imaginary worlds that artists, filmmakers, and novelists have created?

We begin by acknowledging that, while the environmental crisis is not new, it is hard to face. Through a series of readings, screenings, artist talks, and opportunities for learning outside of the classroom, we will consider the ethical, philosophical and historical roots of our environmental challenges. As we critically examine narratives of human progress, we’ll consider the role the arts can play in the “great leap outward of the mind and imagination” that Ursula Le Guin declares is necessary if we are to survive. 

We will examine a wide range of cultural forms — documentary and experimental film, science fiction, performance, and visual art — to explore the different ways that artists and writers with diverse perspectives imagine and convey the relationship between humans and the environment. Indigenous artists and writers will introduce us to alternative practices of knowledge-learning, such as relational ways of learning from the land, Indigenous Futurisms, and environmental kin studies.

Final projects will apply learning to actions outside of the classroom. Your new ideas will become real by doing some little thing to engage external audiences in meaningful environmental thinking or change. Think of your project as one of the many actions, large and small, taking place around the planet that are serving to usher in an era of radical transformation.

 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

• Develop a better understanding of the place of art in the world, and in their own scholarly and creative practices through the discussion of seminar readings, an engagement with visiting artists, and oral and written presentations on their work
• Develop interpretations of specific examples of writing, film, visual and performance art as responses to global environmental change
• Understand how the marginalization of Indigenous perspectives and power differences have influenced narratives of progress 
• Gain an understanding of how the arts can inspire action-oriented projects that address topics in sustainability

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

REQUIRED READING NOTES: