In Our Own Image: The "Selfie" in African and African Diaspora Art
AFRA 3898 -001
3 Credits
Mo/Wed 1:00 - 2:30 PM
In recent years, the self-portrait or "selfie" has become a ubiquitous element in popular culture, thanks to the ready availability of especially front-facing cameras in cellphones and other digital mobile communication devices. However, the self-portrait or "selfie" is a very old form in art and art history, and has been made by artists over hundreds of years. It is also a form that many Black artists have explored, some occasionally and others more regularly in significant bodies of work. This course looks at the different ways or "tropes" through which a number of these artists have used the self-portrait or "selfie", that is to say, images of themselves, to investigate important issues of race and representation.
The course takes the form of a participatory seminar in which participants will study and discuss a series of artists and images of art works from different sources, under various designated topics. Students will occasionally be assigned readings as well as artists and images to research independently and make class presentations on those artists and images. There will be short writing assignments, also. Group discussions are critical to the success of the seminar, therefore, regular attendance is necessary. This is not a lecture course.
Some of the artists whose work will feature in this course will visit to make presentations and share insights on their work with the students. The course will conclude with participants making their own "selfies" not just as a regular carefree popular pastime, but as a means to explore or address equally important personal or public issues.
Instructor: Prof. Olu Oguibe, Art and Art History/Africana Studies
For more information, contact: Africana Studies Institute at africana@uconn.edu