AAAS/WGS 121A — Black Visibility
[ deis-us ss ]Drawing on theories of the Black gaze rooted in both Black feminist visual culture (Tina Campt, bell hooks, Nicole Fleetwood) and surveillance studies (Simone Browne, Kelly Ross), this interdisciplinary course pairs a discussion of histories of anti-Black social control with an emphasis on Black reclamations of the visual field in modalities including popular film, social media, performance art, and literature. Students will emerge with a deepened understanding of how linked formations of Blackness, gender, and sexuality shape ways of seeing in American culture, and how different Black women, gender-expansive, and queer folx negotiate these formations with their art. Usually offered every year.
Carmel Ohman