Courses

Cross-disciplinary in inspiration, this seminar engages work in anthropology, art criticism, literary studies, aesthetics, and philosophy to think about the political possibilities of art and the aesthetic dimensions of the political.  Focusing most sharply (but not exclusively) on what is variously called socially engaged art, relational art, or participatory art, the seminar will consider recent art practices, performances, texts, and objects across a diverse range of genres and national-cultural locations.  Art thinkers studied will include Kant, Benjamin, Adorno, Lyotard, Ranciere, Kitagawa, García-Canclini, Groys, Bishop, Bourriard, and beyond.