This studio course engages students in a critical examination of contemporary art and design practices through the lens of decolonization. Drawing on theories from Critical Ethnic Studies, postcolonial studies, and Indigenous studies, students will explore how creative practices can both reinforce and challenge colonial legacies.

Through readings, discussions, and creative projects, students will interrogate the ways in which power, privilege, and oppression manifest in artistic and design practices. They will develop a deep understanding of decolonial theories and methodologies, applying them to their own creative work.

Students will be encouraged to reflect critically on their own positionality and engage in processes of unlearning dominant narratives and modes of production. The course will culminate in a final project where students will demonstrate their understanding of decolonial practice through a creative intervention, design project, or artwork.Critical Ethnic Studies 3000-level studios deepen students’ knowledge of the fundamental theoretical and political questions regarding the social construction of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class from both domestic and global perspectives through art, writing, and design practices. The seminars utilize decolonial, transnational, and intersectional approaches for producing works related to power, oppression, and systems of knowledge from the following interdisciplinary fields of critical ethnic studies, Africana studies, African-American Studies, Asian American studies, Indigenous studies, Chicano/a /x and Latino /a/x studies, Women’s studies, border studies, cultural studies, Queer studies and global racialized and marginalized communities. Studio courses bridge the gap between seminar and studio courses and can be in-person, hybrid, or online.

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