African American art history's origins are rooted in an ambitious, comparative framework, as exemplified by Alain Locke's and James A. Porter's writings of the first half of the twentieth century. One way to continue their projects of subverting racism and exclusionism might be to develop a critical and comparative study of races (plural) and their representations in art. Whiteness, a construction that has been dependent upon blackness and alterity from its beginnings, is an obvious target. We also will consider ethnicity and nationality, e.g., "the (Red) Indian," "Asian-ness," and Orientalism, too. "Critical Race Art History" is a means of identifying specific systems of representation with which artists are explicitly engaged. We shall undertake contextualized examinations of depicted appearances and style as image-making strategy and of power differentials mediated across specific, constructed communities of artists and patrons. Requirements: 2 oral presentations on assigned readings, 2 précis of readings, 2 papers
(10-15 pages) and an oral presentation on the final semester paper.
