This course will explore the ways in which different aspects of visual culture were used to construct national, regional, political, social and cultural identities in Mexico. The omnipresence of the visual in the everyday life of Mexicans -including state-sponsored muralism, cinema, photography, graphic press, wide-circulating comic books and nationalist architecture- allows for the study of different ways in which citizens become embedded both in official national projects and in projects of political dissidence. The class will thus use the Mexico in the 20th and 21st centuries to introduce students to the study of the visual as a social practice, through theoretical discussions that will run parallel to the study of different visual manifestations. The course will discuss the changing social and political role of art, the influence that Mexican visual culture exerts in other parts of the world and the way in which visual culture allows Mexicans to think about their identity.
Course Attributes: EN H; AS HUM; AS LCD; FA HUM; AR HUM; FA VC
