Constellations: HAA 2502 Special Topics Latin America - Mexican Muralism: Identity and Urbanism in the Twentieth Century

Following Mexico’s 1910 Revolution, visual artists played a leading role in shaping the identity of the modern nation through the production of figurative modernist murals. As rapid industrialization transformed Mexico City into a megalopolis during the 1950s and ’60s, debates concerning public art and national identity took on new urgency as artists and architects developed contrasting approaches to the integration of art into architecture. A survey of the rich literature on Mexican muralism and related fields—including photography, prints, architecture, and urbanism—will provide seminar participants with a solid foundational knowledge of this national movement that had significant international ramifications. A range of methodological and interdisciplinary approaches will be evaluated, with a special focus on recent studies that address the construction of ethnic, gender, and class identities in murals and the forms in which they circulated.  Students whose research interests lie beyond Latin America, as well as those in fields such as history, film, and literature, are encouraged to attend and will have opportunities to consider the course material in relation to their own interests in presentations and papers.