HAD-478P Contemporary Art and the Senses

3 Credits

Art and design history are too often ocularcentric. By centering olfactory, gustatory, and haptic perception as primary modes of aesthetic experience, this course challenges the presuppositions of the disciplines. Too often the seminar format focuses on texts and speech, whereas this course is run as a seminar-as-lab model that integrates direct sensory experimentation with rigorous theoretical reading and critical writing. This will allow students to develop the capacity to analyze and articulate the subjective, non-translatable nature of sensory art using cross-disciplinary frameworks from phenomenology, cultural studies, and art criticism.