Ind. Study: Adv. Readings in Theory

This advanced directed readings course enables Art & Media Studies students interested in theory to develop an immersive and deconstructive approach to challenging theoretical texts, particularly those emerging from writing on art (and particularly the modern and contemporary). Suggested writers and art theorists might include Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Claire Bishop, Walter Mignolo, Jacques Derrida, Thierry deDuve, and Geeta Kapur. Students will propose their choices of texts and develop a reading list in collaboration with their classmates and the instructor, and each week will be devoted to carefully thinking through the language, ideas, and images generated by the texts. Emphasis will be placed on slowing and breaking down the ways in which we search for and produce meaning in reading and through our own writing. Students will create an individualized assessment plan in consultation with the instructor, and while discussion and participation will be substantially weighted, other assessments may take the form of annotated bibliographies, long and short essay forms, creative and curatorial writing, in addition to the realization of artistic works.