Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0291 - Bauhaus: Designing New Worlds

This course will explore the history, art, architecture, design, theater, and crafts of the German school, the Bauhaus--including relationships to the cultural philosophy of the Frankfurt School. We begin with WWI, the German Revolution, and the controversies surrounding the Bauhaus during the Weimar Republic; study the closure and exile of the Bauhaus by the Nazis; and consider Bauhaus legacies--including WWII, the Cold War, and 21st century perspectives emerging from the Bauhaus centennial in 2019. We will look at the work of architects, artists and writers (e.g., Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, Mies van der Rohe, Lilli Reich, Paul Klee, Marianne Brandt, Oskar Schlemmer, Wassily Kandinsky, Gunta Stozl, Moholy-Nagy, Anni Albers, Rainer Maria Remarque, Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht, Theodor Adorno, and Siegfried Kracauer). All students will be responsible for advanced, research, reading, speaking and writing; in-depth final research projects can be scholarly papers, curatorial experiments, art projects, or architectural designs.

Writing and Research In this course, students can expect to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.