[ Wesleyan Home Page ] [ WesMaps Home Page ] [ WesMaps Archive ] [ Course Search ] [ Course Search by CID ]
Academic Year 2001/2002

Sociology of Art
SOC 223 SP

Works of art are social products. As such, they are able to provide us with important information about the socio-historical conditions of their production. In this course, we will enlist the sociological imagination to analyze the social position of works of art along with their production distribution and reception. Focusing primarily on works of art and art movements from the second half of the twentieth century in the United States, we will discuss the intersection of art and government, progressive social movements, work and the economy, class formation, technology and mass culture. Although we will focus primarily on visual art, we will also consider the general cultural milieu, including music, literature, theater and dance within eac h example was developed.

MAJOR READINGS

Major readings will include selections from Max Weber, Georg Simmel, Georg Lukacs, Pierre Bourdieu, Howard Becker, Janet Wolf, Arthur Danto, Clement Greenberg, Raymond Williams, Fredrick Jameson, Walter Benjamin, Linda Nochlin and T.J Clark.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

In addition to several shorter papers, students, working in small groups, will present analyses or art movements or artists. Presentation topics could include: Abstract Expressionism, feminist art, performance art, minimalism, Andy Warhol and Pop art, Mapplethorp, Karen Finley and the NEA controversy, Richard Serra and the public art controversy, the Sensations show, etc.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Students with interdisciplinary interests are encouraged to register.

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: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS SOC    Grading Mode: Student Option   

Prerequisites: SOC151 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2002

Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459