This class lays the foundation for understanding art and culture within the context of society and the economy. It will examine how culture functions as a site of struggle — shaping consciousness, reinforcing or subverting dominant power, and offering possibilities for resistance. Drawing from thinkers like W.E.B. Du Bois and from historical and recent traditions of working-class cultural production,we will explore how art and culture is not  an isolated or purely individual pursuit, but rather it is a collective practice tied to material conditions. Together,  we will build a shared language to understand culture not as separate from politics, but as one of its most contested battlegrounds. The question at the center: in whose interest, and for what purpose, do we produce art?

This class traces the history of art as a force within movements for liberation in the United States, from slavery to the present. The course follows a continuous thread through key traditions of Black cultural expression—from the spirituals created under slavery, through abolitionist-era print and performance culture, the music and visual language of the Civil Rights Movement, the emergence of hip-hop as a global political and cultural force, and contemporary muralism and visual culture continue these traditions today. Rather than treating these moments as isolated genres or periods, the class emphasizes continuity: how each generation inherits, transforms, and reimagines cultural tools under shifting conditions of struggle

This class examines how the US ruling class has produced, policed, and controlled art and culture to maintain power. We will look at  State Department–sponsored cultural diplomacy, the persecution of artists like Paul Robeson,  the Hollywood blacklist, McCarthyism, and the Pentagon’s ongoing relationship with the film industry, tracing how cultural production has been shaped, constrained, and disciplined in the service of empire. Along the way, we will raise key questions: What does it mean for an artist to choose a side? What are the consequences of that choice? And how does the US ruling class respond when culture steps outside the limits set for it, and how have artists fought back? We will ground these questions in both historical and contemporary examples, examining culture not only as a tool of repression but also as evidence of the courage and boldness of artists who have dared to resist.

This class will look at the rich history of artists organizing collectively to fight back — from the John Reed Clubs, which grew and spread across the country as hubs of radical creative life, to the Artists Union, the American Artists Congress Against War and Fascism, and Artists United Against Apartheid — tracing how cultural workers have built power not as isolated individuals, but as a movement. Drawing on these models, students will turn to the question of what we need today: the organizations, collectives, and collective strength required to meet this political moment and forge a culture of resistance equal to the struggle ahead.