COURSE DESCRIPTION (Begins September 16, 2019)
Can art speak more or as effectively as conventional language? To what extent does an artist's skill relate to the audibility and the reach of her art? Can art inspire contemplation? Can it affect/influence policy decisions? If art cannot affect social change, does its expression still have value?

This course examines these questions and more, as we review examples of activist art in the 21st Century including how advances in technology affect the production, delivery, and consumption of art. The course also examines the evergreen activist nature of art within historical movements such as Baroque, Rococo, Renaissance, Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Surrealism, and Dadaism.

This course examines what constitutes art, what makes art valuable, and the tensions that exist between individual versus collaborative expressions. 

COURSE FORMAT
This online course is a modified version of the course I teach in a live classroom setting for university undergraduates. This online course will be housed in a private Facebook Group where I upload required reading, Live Video Lectures, and a "Letter to Students" organized into 8 Units as follows:
UNIT 1: Identity
UNIT 2: Artist to Activist
UNIT 3: Influence + Relevance + Refusal
UNIT 4: Public v Private
UNIT 5: Photography & Framing
UNIT 6: Art History
UNIT 7: The Joy & Sorrow
UNIT 8: Feathers, Resistance & Flight

Participants will be asked to respond to each unit's lecture and readings in the form of a "Letter to the Instructor" which references the lecture and readings. Participants will be asked to share the letters under each Unit portal so that participants can access the written letters in an organized fashion. These letters are expected to be thoughtfully composed, to inspire high quality interaction among group members. 

Approximately one week will be allotted for each unit. This course is not a "forever" class where you return to it a year later to do art projects. It is an "in the now" class where we interact with one another in the present moment to digest content together, and contemplate ideas together. There will be some flexibility so that if you fall behind, you can always review and catch up. For example, if you are unable to watch a LIVE Video Lecture when it happens, you can still watch it in the Facebook Group at a later time so that you have everything you need to do the writing assignment. But you won't have an endless amount of time because we will continue to move through each unit by giving each unit approximately one week. (There might be a unit that is allotted two weeks.)

NOTES:

• Once you enroll, you will be invited into the Facebook group in early-September.
• Once you are in the group, you will be given the title of one book that you need to get before the first Unit begins on September 16th. That book is the only book you will be required to read. All other readings will be provided in the form of a PDF or a link.
• There will be one 90-minute documentary that you are asked to watch, available to be rented on amazon for $2.99. There will also be a 50-minute episode of a reality show that you are asked to watch. It is available to be rented on amazon for $1.99. There is an episode of a podcast that you will be asked to listen to, which is available for free, wherever you get your podcasts. 
• Ground rules will be explained in the Facebook Group. The biggest rule will be about interacting with respect while pursuing robust discussions based on curiosity and scholarship. In other words, I'd like for us to not be afraid to question and delve but to do so with respect and dignity.
• Though this is a modified university course, there will be no official university credit offered.
• Office Hours: Throughout the course if you would like the opportunity to discuss something on a one-to-one basis, we can coordinate a time to do a private FaceTime conversation. This will be available two times for each participant for the duration of the entire course.
• The first Unit will begin Monday, September 16, 2019

Thank you for your art.
Thank you for your activism.

See you in class!
Jenny Doh, MSW
Lecturing Faculty
University of California, Irvine