Academic Catalogs

ART G123: Race and Ethnicity in American Art

Course Outline of Record
Item Value
Curriculum Committee Approval Date 05/02/2023
Top Code 100200 - Art
Units 3 Total Units 
Hours 54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54)
Total Outside of Class Hours 0
Course Credit Status Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee No
Basic Skills Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable No
Grading Policy Standard Letter (S), 
  • Pass/No Pass (B)
Local General Education (GE)
  • GWC Arts, Lit, Phil, Lang (GC)
California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC)
  • Cal-GETC 3A Arts (3A)
Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)
  • IGETC 3A Arts (3A)

Course Description

This course is a survey of the history of race and ethnicity in American art. It focuses on the experiences of African American, Asian American, Latina and Latino American, and Native American artists and the artwork they have produced from the colonial era to the present day. Depictions of these racial and ethnic groups in American art will also be explored. Students will examine artists' anti-racist and anti-colonial strategies to assert agency and effect change through the creation and display of their art, in both historical and contemporary contexts. Students will also learn about the complexities of intersectional identity, as well as the racism of art organizations and American society. Enrollment Limitation: ETHS G123; students who complete ART G123 may not enroll in or receive credit for ETHS G123. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

  1. Course Outcomes
  2. Analyze Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina and Latino American artists' anti-racist and anti-colonial strategies and assertions of agency in historical and contemporary contexts.
  3. Examine the complexities of intersectional identity in the United States and Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina and Latino American artists' expression of intersectional identity in historical and contemporary contexts.
  4. Identify the impact of racism, racist policies, and systemic oppression on Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina and Latino American artists and their artwork in the United States.

Course Objectives

  • 1. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina and Latino American communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived-experiences and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation.
  • 2. Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina and Latino American communities.
  • 3. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American, African American, Asian American and Latina and Latino communities to build a just and equitable society.
  • 4. Examine historical and contemporary examples of structural racism found in American art institutions.
  • 5. Explain the impact of racist imagery and representations in American society on Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina and Latino American artists and their work.
  • 6. Interpret the artistic output and cultural contributions of Native American, African American, Asian American, and Latina and Latino American artists within the history of American art.

Lecture Content

Identity and Agency Definitions Intersectional/hybrid identity Agency Racist and anti-racist policies and strategies The intersectionality of race and racism as they relate to: Class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language and/or age in African American, Asian American, Latina and Latino American, and Native American communities Examples of artists work that reflect these intersections Agency Strategies African American, Asian American, Latina and Latino American, and Native American artists use to assert agency within the art world, art institutions, and exhibitions Ways art institutions and exhibitions deny and/or amplify artists agency Art and Conquest during the Colonial Era The art of New France, New Spain, and the British and Dutch colonies Art, Revolution, and the New Nation Representing the American revolution and indigenous histories Early American art schools Early American artistic production American Landscape Painting Settler Colonialism Manifest Destiny Early topographical photography Depictions of the pastoral and sublime    American Genre Painting Issues of class, race, and gender Depictions of industrial labor and laborers Depictions of domestic labor and laborers Depictions of gender ideas vs realities  Images of War, Colonialism, Imperialism, and Conquest Depictions of the Mexico-U.S. War and Indian Wars The Civil War and slavery Images during Reconstruction  Images of Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny Santa Fe Railroad advertisements  Race and Ethnicity in Early 20th Century American Art Avant-garde art movements American artists in Mexico The Harlem Renaissance Race and Ethnicity in American Art after World War I New Deal commissions and Federal Art Programs Photography and the Farm Security Administration Public Art in America and the influence of the Mexican Muralists Depictions of the rural South Art from Japanese internment camps Varying approaches to depictions of American patriotism Art in Postwar America Abstraction and the Cold War Abstract Expressionism and race, gender, and class The acceptance of folk and outsider art in the United States Art and Protest Social justice as expressed in sculpture  Art and Civil Rights movements Art against the Vietnam War Feminist Art of the 1970s Postmodern Art Paranoia in art and architecture Public art debates Identity politics Border Art AIDS and art Challenges to the art world and capitalism Attacks on public funding of art and censorship Academic Art in the United States Racism in art history How race is defined and presented in ancient imagery  Racist stereotypes in Academic art and its influence  Orientalis m in art  Primitivism in art The Museum in the 21st Century Decolonizing the museum

Method(s) of Instruction

  • Lecture (02)
  • DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
  • DE Online Lecture (02X)

Reading Assignments

Textbooks and supplemental assigned readings provided by the instructor.

Writing Assignments

Written assignments based on assigned readings, class discussions, and analysis of artworks covered in the course. Written assignments related to various aspects of the historical and artistic influences on Asian, African, Latina and Latino, and Native American artists.

Out-of-class Assignments

In-person or online visit to a museum or gallery that exhibits art by Asian, African, Latina and Latino, or Native American artists. Additional assigned readings, articles, and handouts provided by the instructor.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Student description and analysis of artworks in group discussions and writing exercises; assigned readings; analysis of the collecting and display practices of art museums online and in the physical museum.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Essay response to a virtual or in person museum visit that addresses issues such as racism, gender bias, Eurocentrism, self-determination, and social justice in American art. Research and analyze the visual elements in American artworks that impact our understanding and interpretation of the racial and ethnic context of the work.

Eligible Disciplines

Art history: Masters degree in art history, history of art and architecture, or visual culture/visual studies OR bachelors degree in art history and masters degree in history OR masters degree in art with a recorded emphasis or concentration in art history OR the equivalent. Masters degree required. Ethnic studies: Masters degree in the ethnic studies field OR a masters degree in American studies/ethnicity, Latino studies, La Raza Studies, Central American studies, Latin American studies, cross cultural studies, race and ethnic relations, Asian-American studies, or African-American studies OR the equivalent OR see interdisciplinary studies. Masters degree required.

Textbooks Resources

1. Required Farrington, L. Creating Their Own Image: The History of African American Women Artists , 1st (latest) ed. Oxford University Press , 2011 Rationale: latest 2. Required Farrington, L. African-American Art: A Visual and Cultural History, 1st (latest) ed. Oxford University Press , 2017 Rationale: latest 3. Required Powell, R. Black Art: A Cultural History, 3rd ed. Thames Hudson, 2021 4. Required Barnitz, J., Frank, P. Twentieth-Century Art of Latin America, 2nd (latest) ed. University of Texas Press, 2015 Rationale: This the most recent edition  5. Required Jackson, C. Chicana and Chicano Art, 1st (latest) ed. University of Arizona Press, 2009 Rationale: This is the most recent edition  6. Required Berlo, J., Phillips, R. Native North American Art, 2nd (latest) ed. Oxford University Press, 2014 Rationale: this is the most recent edition  7. Required Chang, G., Johnson, M. , Karlstrom, P. Asian American Art: A History, 1850-1970, 1st (latest) ed. Stanford University Press, 2008 Rationale: this is the most recent edition  8. Required Kina, L., Bernabe, J. C. Queering Contemporary Asian American Art, 1st (latest) ed. University of Washington Press, 2017 Rationale: latest 9. Required Pohl, F. Framing America: A Social History of American Art (Vols. 1 2), 4th (latest) ed. Thames Hudson, 2017 Rationale: latest 10. Required Miller, A., Berlo, J., Wolf, B., Roberts, J. American Encounters: Art, History, and Cultural Identity, OER ed. Washington University Libraries, 2018 Rationale: This is this most recent edition  11. Required Omi, M. and Winant, H. Racial Formation in the United States , 3rd (latest) ed. Routledge, 2014 Rationale: latest and Area F reccomendation  12. Required Golash-Boza, T. M. Race and Racisms: A Critical Approach , 3rd ed. Oxford University Press , 2022 13. Required Watson, K. and Daniels Navaroli, K. This Is America Re-Viewing the Art of the United States, 1st (latest) ed. Oxford University Press, 2023