Special Topics in the Humanities (370-6-27)

Topic

How Art, Images, & the Senses Shape City Politics

Instructors

Kyle Benedict Craig

Meeting Info

ANTHRO Sem Rm B07 - 1810 Hinmn: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

How Art, Images, and the Senses Shape City Politics

What does gentrification sound like? What is the role of smell or color in shaping ideas of racial difference in contemporary cities? Does public art challenge or reinforce social hierarchies in urban spaces? This course examines how aesthetic expressions and practices such as urban design and architecture, public art and graffiti, and public performances shape struggles over rights to the city. For example, we will learn how Indigenous migrants from Latin America paint murals to challenge anti-Indigenous racism and erasure in Los Angeles and how urban developers in Delhi use aesthetic judgments of the working poor to justify their forced removal from public spaces. While aesthetics are commonly associated with the visual qualities of people and things, this course will also explore multi-sensory aesthetic experiences and judgments, such as noise control initiatives in Tapei and the racial politics of smell in New York City. Students will have the opportunity to develop arts and media-based final projects that examine urban aesthetics through methods that include but are not limited to sound/smell maps, comics, podcast episodes, performances, or art installations. By the end of the course, students will be able to critically analyze the aesthetic politics of the urban built environment within and beyond dominant visual-centric approaches.

Registration Requirements

This course is open to juniors and seniors only.

Class Notes

This course is open to juniors and seniors only.

Class Attributes

Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area