ARHS 3312 - Portraiture and Selfhood

Credits: 3

Examines the development of portraiture and self-portraiture against the backdrop of changing social, political, religious, and psychological constructs of the self, and in the contexts of artistic theory and practice. Topics include the construction of gender, the reinforcement and subversion of class distinctions, the changing definition of citizenship, religious and secular ideas of the self, national and racial identity in the context of colonization and global exchange, the artist’s self-image, and the distinction between human and animal. (Temporalities post-1500)