SNRSCH1530 - ARTH 2612: Introduction to Caribbean Art

Course Description

This course is a broad survey of art from the Caribbean region, spanning from indigenous Taino and Carib art through to contemporary art of the Caribbean and its diaspora. The course will expose students to the history of the region including indigenous cultures before European exploration, European arrivals and conceptions of the "New World", plantation economies from sugar to coffee, the transatlantic slave trade, the Haitian Revolution, art of maroon communities, and the syncretism of African religious practices in Afro-Caribbean faiths like Vodoun and Santeria. Throughout the semester, we will examine definitions of the term "Caribbean". For example, is the term limited geographically to the Caribbean basin or should it take on a more cultural valence, expanding to places like Louisiana and Brazil, both of which share significant historical and cultural similarities with the countries from the Caribbean basin. Major themes of the class will include the impacts of colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, the formation of the Afro-Atlantic diaspora, and legacies of the transatlantic slave trade in contemporary art. Field trips are mandatory for this class.