Chromophilia, n. The property possessed by cells of staining readily with dyes. The title of this course is derived from a chapter in David Batchelor's book, Chromophobia. The author eloquently traces concepts of color in nineteenth and twentieth-century Western art and literature as they relate to notions of purity and contamination. This course analyzes how color is folded into a complex set of Western cultural narratives and how the so-called neutrality of "whiteness" in the museum setting is constructed on racist and gendered stereotypes. Through readings, discussions, and assignments, students investigate the diverse meanings of color in different cultural landscapes. Texts are selected from multiple disciplines including anthropology, art criticism, art history, and fashion theory.

Fine Arts Seminars are intended to broaden and clarify students' perspective on contemporary art practice. Each semester these seminars shift in focus and subject matter. Seminars may concentrate on art from the perspectives of art history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and so forth, or may take the form of a discipline-based critique focusing on the history, theory, and practice of painting, sculpture, and photography, among others.

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