Critical Theory and the Study of Politics (308-0-20)

Instructors

Michael Loriaux
847 491 2632
601 University Place, Scott Hall #235
Office Hours: http://www.polisci.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/michael-loriaux.html

Meeting Info

Harris Hall L06: Mon 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

From time immemorial the visual arts have been mobilized to legitimate political power through aesthetic glorification. The visual arts differed from literature by valuing conservatism over critique. But the visual arts in Europe took a critical, revolutionary turn in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They repudiated what was decried as decadent, nihilistic, exploitative "bourgeois" culture, and promoted controversial stylistic innovations and ambitions that gave rise to works of enduring influence.

In this course we examine how political thought, the visual arts, and the world in which they evolve resonate with one another by following the visual arts through the twentieth century and up through the present. We examine art's critical yet parasitical relationship with modern capital, and we focus specific attention on the power of art to encourage debate and engagement with the political challenges of our time.

Learning Objectives

We examine the expression of and engagement of the visual arts with anxious times, such as the period we are currently living. We do so by examining another period of great anxiety, the interwar period, 1919-1939.

Evaluation Method

Class participation and a final short essay on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the instructor.

Class Materials (Required)

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, Art in Theory: 1900-2000: ISBN 978-0631227083 Linda Weintraub, To Life! : ISBN 978-0520273627

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Pre-registration -- Reserved for Political Science students until the end of preregistration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites.