Black Art and Empowerment 4219-SD0099
This elective offers an interdisciplinary approach to the history and theory of African American visual culture and fine arts, grounded in frameworks of intersectional feminism and decolonial thought. Utilizing the critical insights of authors like Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Sylvia Wynter, we will trace the history of Black artistic expression as a vehicle for social and political transformation. The curriculum covers pivotal moments and themes including early abolitionist photography, quilts as subversive literacy, Transatlantic Modernism, the Harlem Renaissance, the iconography of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, contemporary artivism (BLM), and the speculative visions of Afrofuturism. Students will engage in close readings of visual and textual sources to understand how art serves as a locus of resistance, collective memory, and cultural agency.
1. Transforming silence into language and action - framework of empowerment
2. Early photography and abolitionists
3. Challenging the color line
4. Vision and Justice
5. Quilts for freedom
6. Transatlantic Modernism
7. Harlem Renaissance
8. Art and Civil Right Movement
9. Art of protest
10. Black Art, Black Power
11. ”Black is Beautiful”
12. Body and memory
13. Diasporic solidarities
14. BLM and contemporary artivism
15. Afrofuturism
Course coordinators
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
KNOWLEDGE:
- knows and understands the main movements and theories of African American art from the nineteenth century to the present,
- defines and applies concepts from the fields of cultural theory, intersectional feminism, and decolonial studies in the context of analyzing artworks,
- identifies and explains turning points in US socio-political history and their direct impact on the dynamics and form of artistic expression within the Black diaspora.
SKILLS:
- is able to independently analyze and interpret artworks and visual materials, utilizing standard methods of art history and cultural studies,
- critically evaluates historical and contemporary source texts as well as academic literature in the field of Black Studies and art theory,
- communicates effectively in English during discussions, utilizing appropriate specialized terminology.
SOCIAL COMPETENCES:
- utilizes the acquired knowledge to promote social awareness and actions towards inclusivity and social justice in their immediate environment,
- is ready to critically perceive minority representations in the media and mainstream art, demonstrating sensitivity to stereotypes and cultural appropriation.
Assessment criteria
Final grade depends on the following criteria:
Final Essay (including a visual analysis of a chosen artwork and the application of Black Studies methodologies)
Active participation (there will be a possibility of short discussions during the lecture and afterwards)
Attendance: the maximum number of missed classes: 2.
The lectures will take place remotely and synchronically (in "real time")
Bibliography
Fragments from books listed below. At the beginning of the course a list of set texts or other materials for each class will be provided. The materials will be made available to students on Campus platform.
1. Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. Project Gutenberg (1903)
2. Hooks, bell. Art on My Mind: Visual Politics. The New Press (1995).
3. Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (1984). Penguin Modern Classics (2019).
4. Powell, Richard J. Black Art: A Cultural History (1997). Thames & Hudson (2003)
5. Sealy, Mark. Decolonizing the Camera: Photography in Racial Time. Penguin (2019).
6. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures. Smithsonian Books (2024).
7. Willis, Deborah. Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present. Liveright Publishing (2025).
8. Wynter, Sylvia. Being Human as Praxis. Duke University Press (2015).
9. Vision & Justice: A Civic Curriculum. Aperture, Issue 223 (2016/2019).