This course frames contemporary art as a set of conversations, arguments and counterarguments that have been proposed in key exhibitions, works of art, and critical writings produced across multiple continents over the past three decades. We will identify and critique the ideas that have shaped contemporary art, discuss their impetus, and examine their assumptions. Through such conversations, the course presents contemporary art as a form of processing a present and a past in which the artwork is indivisible from the dialogues and conversations that create, define and continue to change it. The title of the class alludes not only to the idea of making and reading contemporary art as cognitive, rhetorical and dialogic activities, but also to the art world as a series of geographically dispersed and temporally promiscuous processes, deeply resistant to modernist systems of order, periodization and mapping. The course combines lectures by the instructor, as well as by visiting critics and art historians, which outline some of the key issues and historical pressures of contemporary art, alongside seminar-type discussions where we process the lectures and select readings as a group.

Elective

The course offers students a forum for exploring historical and theoretical foundations of contemporary design and craft arts. Readings, discussions, lectures, and writing projects address a range of contexts for the practice of design, from materials and making, to ways that objects are encountered, consumed, and lived with, to design's promises and limitations for dealing with global crises of climate, poverty, conflict, disease, and displacement. Weekly meetings are structured around critical themes selected through student input. Readings and case studies offer points of departure for discussion and writing. Guest lectures by designers, curators, and critics provide viewpoints on contemporary practice. Culminating with a final artist statement and presentation, the work undertaken throughout the term will be oriented toward developing historical and critical frameworks in which to situate students' own studio and research practices.

Elective

This course is designed to introduce students to the major historical and intellectual developments in the field of Chinese archaeology, from its inception in the 10th century as antiquarianism, to the latest scientific achievements. The course will provide a general overview of key discoveries relating to the period of time spanning from the Paleolithic to the Han period, concentrating on crucial research issues on such topics as (among others), the origin of man in Asia (an alternative to the Out of Africa theory), the earliest settled societies and the beginning of rice and millet agriculture, the origins and impact of Chinese writing, the Chinese urban revolution of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, the political use of bronze and jade in the dynastic period, and the burial customs and religious beliefs of the early imperial period.

Elective

Taught by a working professional actor/director, this introduction to acting will lead the beginning student through the artistic process involved in acting for the stage and other media. Through exercises, study of technique, scene work and improvisation, the student will work to develop natural abilities and will become familiar with the working language and tools of the modern actor. Emphasis in this class will be on the physical self, mental preparation, the imagination, and discipline. Written work will include keeping a journal and writing a character analysis. Perfect attendance in this course is vital and mandatory. Open to sophomore and above.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.

The first semester of Theory and History of Art and Design introduces students to artistic traditions and ways of making, building, crafting, and thinking from across time and space. This course explores a diverse array of materials, makers, traditions, sites, and periods from the histories of art, architecture, and design, with attention to histories of race, gender, labor, technology, the environment, and colonialism. Lectures are organized roughly chronologically but change annually with the expertise of lecturing faculty.

Registration for first-year students is processed by the Division of Liberal Arts.