2020: Art Can Help

(Offered as ARHA 233 and FAMS 233) We approach the fall of 2020 in the midst of a global pandemic, a wave of international protests in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, systemic racism, an escalating climate emergency, and widespread anxiety about the consequences of the upcoming American elections. Our own responses to these crises can vary, often from day to day. We may feel inspired to make change or to further educate ourselves, but we can also feel overwhelmed and unsure of our own place in the world.

Katie K Smith

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Primary Title:  
Assoc Dir Research Advnc & Ops
Institution:  
UMASS Amherst
Department:  
Inst for Social Science Research (ISSR)
Email Address:  
bonniesmith@umass.edu
Office Building:  
Machmer Hall

John R Mullin

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Primary Title:  
Lecturer
Institution:  
UMASS Amherst
Department:  
Landscape Architecture & Regional Plan
Email Address:  
jmullin@provost.umass.edu
Telephone:  
413-545-5271
Office Building:  
Goodell Building

FEMINISM, RACE, TRANSNATIONLSM

This practicuum course is an academic complement to the work students interning with the Meridians journal as Praxis interns, Quigley Fellows, STRIDE Fellows, MMUF, Meridians interns, etc. will be doing. Run by the journal Editor, the class will discuss the scholarly, creative, artistic, archival and artistic work published in Meridians and how it is informed by - and contributes to - intersectionality as a paradigm and practice.

Agriculture, Ecology, Society

This course (combining NS: 150, 250, and 350) examines agriculture as a set of ecological systems and issues, focusing on organic and/or sustainable methods, and agroecology. It refers to ecology in the sense of interactions between organisms (e.g., pests and predators) and the larger sense of environmental impacts (e.g., pollution; climate change), along with key related social issues and solutions.

Laboratory Atop the Graveyard

The democratic welfare states that we take for granted were the far from inevitable outgrowths of chaos and upheaval: revolutions, economic crisis, and wars of unprecedented destruction. In the interwar years, parliamentary democracy seemed as doomed as the monarchies that the Great War had toppled, while fascism and communism laid claim to the future. In the second half of the century, as its old empires crumbled, Europe lived in the shadow of the US-Soviet rivalry, until it emerged into a new but uncertain independence and unity as the Cold War ended.

Race and Feminist Solidarities

In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic that laid bare the inequalities of our society and the recent murder of George Floyd and other Black Americans, alliances between communities of color have never been so critically important. This course examines the history of Black and Asian American feminist solidarities and activisms in their fight against racism, sexism, capitalism, and imperialism.

Cmyk: Graphic Design Studio

Graphic design is a creative and critical practice at the intersection of communication and abstraction. The process of learning graphic design is two-fold, and students in this course will engage both areas: first, students will develop knowledge and fluency with design skills--in this case, software (Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator); second students will address the challenges of design head-on through discussion, practice, iteration, critique and experimentation.

China: Continuity/Change

This is an introductory intensive writing course on China. As such, we will focus on the fundamentals of reading and writing to help students develop clear and persuasive writing styles. We will also pay close attention to understanding and critiquing academic sources. Students will be expected to engage in frequent in-class writing and attend regular writing consultations.

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