ART2201 - 01 - Understanding Gender Through Art

(VCI) Visual & Creative Inquiry (AI-A) Aesthetic Inquiry Art (DM) Diversity & Multiculturalism

This course is an examination of the ways in which gender is constructed and explored in works of art. Taking a thematic approach rather than a chronological one, we will closely examine art objects from a broad range of art historical periods that both reinforce and challenge historically and culturally constructed notions of gender. Informed by the theory of intersectionality, we will consider constructions of gender in relation to race, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Examination of the representation of the human body is central to this exploration, a subject which has been a large focus of artistic production since the beginnings of art. Other topics for consideration include the gendered hierarchies of art, subjectivity, and the impact of feminist art history on gendered readings of art.