This course charts past and present artistic mediations of racial, ethnic and gendered experiences throughout the world, using the rubric of the body. In the struggle to understand the relation between self and other, artists have critically engaged with the images that define our common sense of belonging, ranging from a rejection of stereotypes to their appropriation, from the discovery of alternative histories to the rewriting of dominant narratives, from concepts of difference to theories of diversity. The ultimate goal of the course is to find ways of adequately imagining and imaging various identities today.

The course will also highlight works of art from the Davis Museum at Wellesley College.

This course is taught by Professor Nikki A. Greene, Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Art History and Africana Studies at Wellesley College.