Studies in Native American and Indigenous Literatures (374-0-20)
Topic
Woven Being: Literature and Art for Ahegagoynak/Ch
Instructors
Kelly E Wisecup
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-339: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
Topic: Woven Being: Literature and Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland
This course is designed in partnership with the Block Museum's 2025 exhibit of Indigenous art entitled "Woven Being." Building on the exhibit's attention to the "interwovenness of Indigenous art, materials, and time in the Chicago region," the course will place literatures and visual art from/about the Chicago region and Great Lakes in conversation to ask the following questions: what are the relations between Indigenous literatures and visual arts? How do different literary and visual forms weave materials, stories, and beings together?
Anchored by four visual artists collaborating with the Block—Andrea Carlson (Grand Portage Ojibwe), Kelly Church (Pottawatomi/Ottawa/Ojibwe), Nora Lloyd (Ojibwe), and Jason Wesaw (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi)—the course places these artists' work in conversation with literatures by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, Susan Power, Simon Pokagon, and more. Students will gain skills in art historical and literary research practices, exhibition design, archival research, the transcription and interpretation of historical materials, and more. Substantial class time will be spent at the Block engaging with the exhibit and with featured artists.
Teaching Method
Seminar discussions, hands-on workshops, classes in the Block Museum, conversations with artists and guest speakers.
Evaluation Method
Susan Power, Roofwalker (2002) (9781571310415)
Blaire Morseau/Simon Pokagon, As Sacred to Us (1893/2023) (9781611864625)
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity