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Academic Year 2000/2001

Blockbuster! Politics and Art
ARHA 378 FA
Crosslistings:
CHUM 378

This seminar will examine selected post-1945 art exhibitions of artworks from diverse cultures as case studies to examine the category of blockbuster and how the theme and content of art exhibitions have been influenced by marketing strategies, as well as the modes of interaction among institutions, patrons, politicians and scholars/interpreters. Among the exhibitions we will examine are "Advancing American Art" (organized by the State Department in 1946), "Harlem on My Mind" (Metropolitan Museum), the Robert Mapplethorpe Retrospective (organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia), and the Enola Gay exhibit (Smithsonian Institution).

MAJOR READINGS

There is no single text applicable to this course: students will be assigned readings from the catalogues for the exhibitions under discussion as well as contemporary reviews (newspaper, magazine and commentaries).

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Weekly submission of notes from reading assignments; each student will also be assigned to prepare a 15-20 page paper on the planning, execution and reception of a selected exhibition, and to deliver an in-class progress report.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ART    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: ARHA271 OR AMST200 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001

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