This course introduces interdisciplinary methods of analysis and interpretation in Southwestern art/cultural production/expressive culture, including, but not limited to visual arts, material culture, music, drama, and literature. Students gain a historical foundation that allows them to analyze and interpret early forms of Indigenous, Mexicana/o, and Hispano art, which we use to examine the relationship between art, identity, and power. As we move through the course, we examine how histories of colonialism and cultural mixing produce new identity categories and influence contemporary Southwestern art/cultural production/expressive culture created by Indigenous, Latinx/Chicanx, Hispana/o, and Mexicana/o artists, writers, performers, and musicians. We utilize the rich collections of Southwest art and material culture housed at the Fine Arts Center (FAC) at CC, along with visits to regional sites like museums, artist’s studios, and artist communities, to engage in discussions about art and identity, to address how art is a tool for decolonization, and to imagine the ways that artists (broadly speaking) have created narratives of resistance and accommodation through their work. May meet either the Critical Perspectives: Global Cultures or Social Inequality requirement. Meets the Critical Learning: AIM requirement. Meets the Equity and Power: EPUS requirement.

Degree requirement — Critical Learning: AIM, Equity and Power: EPUS

1 unit — Roybal

Previously Featured Offering

Art, Power & Resistance

Block 2, Sep. 2021
Instructor: Karen Roybal

SW273 introduces interdisciplinary methods of analysis and interpretation in Southwestern cultural production, including, but not limited to visual arts, material culture, music, drama, and literature. 

As part of our course of study, we will utilize the rich collections of Indigenous, Hispano, and other southwest art and material culture housed at the Fine Arts Center (FAC) at CC to engage in discussions about art and identity, to address how art is a tool for decolonization, and to imagine the ways that artists (broadly speaking) have created narratives of resistance and accommodation through their work.

In this course, the main objective is to advance our ability to read and interpret cultural evidence; thus, throughout the course, we will explore selected genres and styles of cultural expression within their cultural and historical contexts. Our course will be guided by questions central to issues in Southwestern expressive culture that will allow us to better understand the deep and dynamic relationship between time, expression, and place and how those areas culminate in culture. Throughout the course, we will discover various forms of expression that have shaped the cultural landscape of the Southwest and discuss how that landscape has evolved as a network of many different contributors, modes of expression and types of media.

Offerings