ARTH248

Description

An exploration of how constructs of gender intersect with the production and reception of art. Although many of the classes will focus on time periods in which gender identity was understood as binary (female/male), we will think more broadly and critically about the assumptions that undergird our understanding of gender: what are the governing structures that shape femininity? masculinity? As we interrogate how gender and power are related, we will examine, in case studies throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, feminism, queer identities, intersections of gender and race, and trans activism in art. The course will consider the role of gender in art from three perspectives: 1) how gender affects the artist's sense of self; 2) how gender affects representation; 3) how gender impacts the way one views or interacts with a work of art. The course will focus primarily on late-nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century art, with individual classes devoted to selected artists, movements, or thematic issues.