INST 2603 - Art for Social Change

Hours: 3
As technology has allowed the mass production and rapid dissemination of images through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, art has been increasingly able to introduce new ideas and perceptions to larger and more diverse audiences. In this class, we will explore the role of visual culture in changing perceptions and values of society through the nineteenth century to the present day. Since the nineteenth century, certain artists have worked to enact social change through their creative projects. From Jacob Riis’s photojournalism and A. W. Longfellow’s model tenements in the nineteenth century, to Diego Rivera’s murals and the Guerrilla Girls’ posters in the twentieth, this class surveys the role of art in challenging, subverting, and changing social norms and values. As we consider how artists create work that often shock or upset their audiences, we also examine how our own values and beliefs are triggered to elicit those feelings of shock and upset. By considering those aspects of communities and cultures subject to change and critique by visual artists, this course helps prepare students to face the “challenges and complexity of a 21st century world.

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INST 2603 - Art for Social Change