- Summer 2019
Syllabus Description:
Art History 270 Art H 270 Syllabus Summer 2019.docx
Art/Identity/Politics: Issues of Representation in Contemporary Art
Summer Quarter 2019
Instructor: Kolya Rice
Office hours: By appointment: Art Bldg 302
Teaching Assistants:
Laura Stowell
Emma McIntosh
Course Description:
This course is designed to introduce participants to various ways contemporary artists and art movements, primarily in the U.S., have explored the intersection of visual representation, identity (gender, ethnic, racial, sexual) and politics, one of the most persistent themes in art since the 1960s. Participants will work through sequences of materials and assignments organized in weekly “modules” on Canvas according to their own individual schedules with a great degree of flexibility. In the few cases where there is a fixed time that students will need to adhere to, multiple time slots will be offered so that everyone will be able to participate as fits their schedule.
Course content will be delivered through a series of Panopto video lectures and coordinated readings where participants will explore how artists have contested dominant representations of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, as well as other minority “subjectivities,” and how artists have proposed alternatives for the representation of these constituencies. Online discussion forums, reflective papers on readings, online quizzes and assignments have been designed to engage students with course topics, foster creative and critical thinking, allow dialogue concerning the stakes involved in visual representations, and allow instructor assessment and evaluation of participants’ progress.
Required Readings:
There is no text for this course. Pdf files of course readings are posted on Canvas. Each weekly “module” on Canvas contains the course readings for that week. For most readings, I will provide an introduction and “reading guides” that will help you focus on and engage with key ideas.
Student Responsibilities:
3 quizzes: 15% each (45% of overall grade)
Each quiz will require students to write short answers and longer essays on topics covered in the Panopto lectures and readings. These are open notes quizzes—you may return to the lectures and readings when composing your answers. Each quiz will only cover the topics for that 3 week section of the course. In other words, they are not comprehensive. These quizzes will be graded on a 100 point scale.
Summary/reflective essays on reading assignments (35%)
To ensure that participants have on strong comprehension of key ideas from course readings, and to allow me to offer feedback, each week students will write summary/reflective essays on the readings. I will provide you with two “guides” to help you compose these informal essays. First, you will get a specific, if general prompt for each weekly summary/reflective reading. Second, you can refer to the reading guides, or even answer the questions provided in them for that week as you compose your essays. These essays will be graded on a 10 point scale.
Participation in weekly discussion forums (20%)
The topics of this course lend themselves to rich discussion and manifold perspectives. Candidly, this is often difficult to achieve in an online course. My hope is that you will engage with each other, respectfully and thoughtfully in the weekly online discussion forums. Each week I will provide you with specific topics, ideas and issues raised in the lectures and reading. Each student will be required to make one post in the discussion forum before the end of the day on Wednesdays. Once you have posted, you will be able to see others students’ posts. You are required to respond to at least one of these posts from another student by the end of the day on Fridays. You are welcome and encouraged to post/respond as many times as you desire. Your posts/responses will be graded on a 10 point scale.
VeriCite anti-plagairism software:
Notice: The University has a license agreement with VeriCite, an educational tool that helps prevent or identify plagiarism from Internet resources and work submitted by previous students of this course. I will use the service in this class; all assignments and quizzes you submit will be checked by VeriCite. The VeriCite Report will indicate the amount of original text in your work and whether all material that you quoted, paraphrased, summarized, or used from another source is appropriately referenced. All instances of intentional plagiarism will result in zero credit on the assignment, and a report of indicating academic dishonesty to the School of Art and the University of Washington. For further information, visit: https://itconnect.uw.edu/learn/tools/canvas/canvas-help-for-instructors/assignments-grading/vericite/plagiarism-faqs/
Late papers and discussion post policy:
Papers will be marked down 1 point for each day they are late and will not be accepted more than five calendar days following the due date. Discussion posts will be marked down 2 points for each day they are late and will not be accepted if more than 3 days late. If you have a serious conflict or emergency, please talk to me about it in advance of the due date and I will work with you.
The 10 point scale corresponds to the following grades:
10 4.0 A
9 3.4 B
8 2.7 B-
7 1.7 C/C-
6 1.0 D
5 and below 0.0 F
The 100 point scale corresponds to the following decimal/letter grades:
95-100 4.0-3.9 A
90-94.99 3.8 - 3.5 A-
87-89.99 3.4 - 3.2 B+
83-86.99 3.1 – 2.9 B
80.00-82.99 2.8 - 2.5 B-
77-79.99 2.4 - 2.2 C+
74-76.99 2.1 - 1.9 C
70.00-73.99 1.8 - 1.5 C-
67-69.99 1.4 - 1.2 D+
64-66.99 1.1 – 0.9 D
60-63.99 0.8-0.7 D-
Below 60 0.0 F