Welcome back students!
If you are registered for Arts & Craft from William Morris to DIY with Professor Obler, there has been a change. HONR 2053W.80 will be held on Foggy Bottom campus rather than Mt. Vernon campus.
If you’re interested in joining this class, you can still register online!
Here is a brief course description:
This seminar examines the relationship between art and craft from the late nineteenth century to the present, with an especial focus on the theory and history of craft as a distinctive approach to creative production. Why did William Morris turn to handicraft as an alternative to the ills of industrialization? Why did the Zurich Dadaists consider cross-stitch embroidery preferable to oil painting? How did the G.I. Bill result in a proliferation of craft studios across the United States? What is the appeal of Etsy in the information age? We will consider craft through time as well as space: where and when does the carving of African masks morph from craft to art—and back again? When is sewing a handicraft and when (and where) is it the “mass production” of sweatshops? In addressing questions such as these, we will draw on art history (e.g. Glenn Adamson, Elissa Auther, Julia Bryan-Wilson) as well as anthropology (Alfred Gell), sociology (Richard Sennett), and theories of class, gender, race, and politics (e.g. Hannah Arendt, Karl Marx). We will also take advantage of Washington’s museums, such as the Renwick Gallery, the National Museum of African Art, and the Textile Museum.
