SOC30690

This module examines the dynamics, roles and politics of culture, art and creative agency in the reproduction and transformation of society. It focuses on the ways art and artists respond to, dismantle and reimagine beyond the discursive and institutional formations that construct difference as ‘problematic’, and the injustices they give rise to.

We will critically explore art, artists, art practices and art institutions
(1) as subjects of research (ie., as forms of political and cultural production that reflect the workings of the social world);
(2) as acts, instigators and spaces of political intervention (which are, themselves, implicated in the global colonial histories of modernity), and the ways they play out in the contemporary politics of voice, representation and participation; and
(3) as forms, sites and producers of inquiry – how, like other forms of 'research', art practices involve processes of social engagement, analysis and critique.

This is an empirically- and practice-focused module that interrogates the relationships and tensions between knowledge, aesthetics and pedagogy through examination of ground-breaking works of art and scholarship across a range of pressing social justice issues and national contexts.

It is interdisciplinary, and convenes readings from sociology and anthropology, art history and social movement studies, across the theoretical traditions of feminism, Black, indigenous and queer studies, as well as post- and decolonialism. There is no ‘textbook’ or singular approach to this area of study. Coursework therefore will require equal measures of weekly scholarly and weekly arts-based work.

Students do not need to have prior arts experience or skills, and will not be graded on the basis of their artistic or creative 'ability' (whatever that actually means - just navigating everyday life is a confirmation of our inherent creativity!).

But this is a PRACTICE-based module that explores the embodied and creative mobilisations of art and artists. As such, experimenting with different modes of expression used in art-making (mapping, drawing, collaging, journaling, audio-visual etc) is a central element of the coursework.

NOTE: This course is designed for students who are seeking active and novel learning experiences. It is not recommended for those who shy away from engaged, reflective, multi-modal coursework that progresses in a developmental fashion, and must be completed on a weekly basis.