Summer 2020- 2nd Session - July 27- Aug. 28

LALS-75 - Diego Rivera: Art and Social Change in Latin America

Instructor-Greg Landau Ph.D

email: glandau@ucsc.edu

Mexican muralist Diego Rivera's work exemplifies the use of art to create awareness of history and to promote social change in Latin America. This interdisciplinary class will explore the work of Diego Rivera and the Latin American cultural movements that developed to address relevant social and political issues. The revolutionary art movements also empowered women to become artists and explored the role of women in Latin American society.

Modules List

Course Content

Week 1: Revolution and the Mexican Muralists- Rivera, Siqueiros and Orozco

Week 2: The Role of the Artist in Public Art; Women in Mexican Art- Frida Kahlo, Aurora Reyes, and Maria Izquierdo

Week 3: Challenges to Political Art and the rise of the Zapatistas in the 1990s

Week 4: Culture and Revolution: Cuban Revolutionary Art - The Challenge of the Generation of the1980's

Week 5: Art and Cultural Identity - The Influence of Mexican Muralism on Chicano art activists

Required Books

1. Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros by Desmond Rochfort OUT OF PRINT, AVAILABLE AS A PDF IN THE CLASS SITE

2. Diego Rivera: My Art, My Life By Diego Rivera

This is an epub file to read online.

3. Articles from Mexican Muralists (pdf's available will be available on the class site)

3. Articles from Art and Revolution in Latin America by Davis Craven (will be available on the class site))

OUT OF PRINT, AVAILABLE AS A PDF IN THE CLASS SITE

4. Articles about Frida Kahlo, Aurora Reyes, Maria Izquierdo

5. Excerpts from Radical Women: Latin American Art from 1960-1985

This is a library guide to online resources you can use for your work:

http://guides.library.ucsc.edu/lals75

Films (will be available online)

1. The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas
2. Orozco: Man of Fire

3. Rivera in America

4. The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo

5. Radical Women- Latin American Art 1960-1985

6. Aurora Reyes-La primera muralista mexicana
Contact

We will be in contact every Saturday at 9 am to review the readings and upcoming assignments through the conference function.

Assignments
1. A two-page essay on the influence of the Communist Manifesto on Mexican art of the 1920s.
2. A two-page essay on one of the Mexican murals.
3. Midterm- 6 short essay questions based on the readings
4. Mini-mural- a student-created graphic using the concepts of one of the artists we studied (can be a collage) -not graded
5. A five-page research paper based on the topics covered in the course.
6. Final exam- five short essay questions
7. Participation in online forums and discussions. Discussion posts should be at least two paragraphs and contain significant analysis and examples from the texts and videos in order to receive credit.

8. Online lectures, discussions every Saturday at 9 am. through the conference feature. These will be recorded if you can't participate at that time.

A word about grading.

This course is about critical thinking and the appreciation of art. I don't expect you to memorize dates, places, etc. but rather to dig into the art works we are studying to understand how they reflect the historical moments the artists are living in and to also understand how art has influenced social movements at the same time.

Grading will be based on your expression of original ideas based on the material we have covered. You can get a lot of the answers to the questions based on the assigned readings and links but you will also need to dig into tour own experience and worldview to convey your thoughts. So... be brave, express your opinions and argue with me, your classmates and the authors if you need to.

A perfect essay answer will address the topic in depth, providing evidence to back up your arguments and clear examples. Please try not to generalize or be vague in your answers. I know it is difficult to write about art, many say it is like dancing about statistics, but you can look around at some of the ways that the authors we have read are able to explain complex art pieces. In the end, take your best shot, use your imagination and creativity and DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Contacting the Instructor

I will be available by email always, I check my email at 9 am. and 5 pm. and sometimes more often. We will have weekly video chats to discuss the assignment every Saturday at 9 am PST via the conference feature on Canvas. There is also a chat function where we can chat and a conference function where we can video chat.

If you have problems that come up that make it difficult for you to complete the assignments, please contact me immediately or ask for an extension if you cannot meet the deadlines.

Important 2020 Deadlines:

July 27 - August 28, 2020

Deadlines
• Add - Thursday July 29
• Drop - Monday, August 3 (tuition reversed*)
• Financial Aid Disbursement - July 20 (if enrolled by priority deadline)
• Change Grade Option - Friday, August 7
• Request "W" Grade - Friday, August 14 (no tuition reversal)
• Grades Due - Thursday, September 3

Neither Summer Session nor instructors drop students for non-attendance or non-payment. Students must drop themselves. Dropping results in full tuition reversal/refund. Withdraw posts a W for the grade and full tuition is charged (no refund).

For all dates and deadlines, including ‘change of grade option’ (P/NP) and grades due, here is the summer academic calendar: https://summer.ucsc.edu/studentlife/index.html

For questions about dropping, requesting a W grade for a course, or withdrawing from the summer quarter, email summer@ucsc.edu.

DRC Accommodations:

The Disability Resources Center reduces barriers to inclusion and full participation for students with disabilities by providing support to individually determine reasonable academic accommodations. If you have questions or concerns about exam accommodations or any other disability-related matter, please contact the DRC office, located in Hahn 125 or at 831-459-2089 or drc@ucsc.edu.

Academic Dishonesty

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All members of the UCSC community have an explicit responsibility to foster an environment of trust, honesty, fairness, respect, and responsibility. All members of the university community are expected to present as their original work only that which is truly their own. All members of the community are expected to report observed instances of cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty in order to ensure that the integrity of scholarship is valued and preserved at UCSC.

In the event a student is found in violation of the UCSC Academic Integrity policy, he or she may face both academic sanctions imposed by the instructor of record and disciplinary sanctions imposed either by the provost of his or her college or the Academic Tribunal convened to hear the case. Violations of the Academic Integrity policy can result in dismissal from the university and a permanent notation on a student’s transcript.

For the full policy and disciplinary procedures on academic dishonesty, students and instructors should refer to the Academic Integrity page at the Division of Undergraduate Education.

Title IX:

The university cherishes the free and open exchange of ideas and enlargement of knowledge. To maintain this freedom and openness requires objectivity, mutual trust, and confidence; it requires the absence of coercion, intimidation, or exploitation. The principal responsibility for maintaining these conditions must rest upon those members of the university community who exercise most authority and leadership: faculty, managers, and supervisors.

The university has therefore instituted a number of measures designed to protect its community from sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual violence, and other related prohibited conduct. Information about the Title IX Office, the online reporting link, applicable campus resources, reporting responsibilities, the UC Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment, and the UC Santa Cruz Procedures for Reporting and Responding to Reports of Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment can be found at titleix.ucsc.edu.

The Title IX/Sexual Harassment Office is located at 105 Kerr Hall. In addition to the online reporting option, you can contact the Title IX Office by calling 831-459-2462.

Modules List