The politics of identity continues to be a compelling and hotly debated topic in visual culture. This course explores the construction, negotiation, and contestation of identity and difference in visual and critical studies. The theoretical scope of this course includes postcolonial theory, race theory, gender studies, and whiteness studies. Students investigate how theorists and artists address the complex intersections of race, sexuality, gender, class, health, and nationality in light of subjects such as immigration, transnational media, diasporic communities, disidentification, belonging, and desire. Special attention is given to critical and visual perspectives that challenge monolithic views of identity. Instead we privilege diverse, multiple, and intersectional approaches that connect lived experience, social critique, and artistic practice. This course focuses on cultural diversity, critical analysis, and visual literacy. Students also sharpen their research, verbal communication, and writing skills. Students will develop a general understanding of visual and critical studies in relation to theories of identity and difference, hone skills for analyzing culture from a visual and critical perspective, and focus on a final research project and class presentation using principles of visual and critical studies.

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