This course will explore the many ways in which artists and activists use art (performance, theatre, graffiti, photography and digital technologies) to make a social intervention in the Americas. We begin the course by examining several theories about art and activism (from Plato and Aristotle to Brecht, Boal, Buenaventura, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Foucault, among others) and then focus on issues of agency, space, event, and audience in relation to major political issues and movements. Jesusa Rodríguez will lead an intensive one-week performance activist workshop as part of the course. We will also explore the use of the Internet as a site for activism, doumentation, and research. Local scholars and artists will be invited to give workshops and lectures on a variety of topics. The course will culminate in a collective web-based project that brings together scholarship, art and activism on Art and Resistance.
Working knowledge of English is required. Applications will be made available in the Spring; applicants from member institutions will be given priority.