ART of the MOOC: Activism and Social Movements

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/activism-social-movements

Introduction

## Course Review: ART of the MOOC: Activism and Social Movements In a world marked by ongoing social changes and movements striving for justice and equality, the intersection of activism and art has become increasingly vital. The **ART of the MOOC: Activism and Social Movements**, available on Coursera, offers a profound exploration for artists, activists, and thinkers eager to dive deep into this compelling interplay. This course is not only informative but also a transformative journey into understanding how cultural practices can inspire, sustain, and further social movements worldwide. ### Overview of the Course The course focuses on the exciting intersection between socially engaged art and the cultural practices that arise from significant social movements, including contemporary examples from environmental activism to movements like Occupy and the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement. Rather than merely assessing the political effectiveness of such activities, the course enables participants to understand and appreciate their place within contemporary art practices. **Course Breakdown:** 1. **Introduction to Activism and Social Movements:** The initial module sets the stage with an overview of the course structure, the global community of learners it fosters, and guidelines to support participants throughout their learning experience. 2. **Activism and Social Movements: Lectures, Guest Presentations, and Quiz:** Participants explore various case studies of social movements, engaging critically with the cultural responses they evoke and how art and activism intermingle. The module encourages students to select a specific movement they're passionate about and respond creatively to it. 3. **Activism and Social Movements: Project and Peer Review:** This section allows students to experiment with their own projects—originally designed for peer review, these are now optional and self-reflective. This flexibility affords students the creative freedom to engage with their chosen mediums without the pressure of grades. 4. **Aesthetics, Art History, and Cultural Institutions:** Here, the course delves into how social movements have reshaped contemporary art and culture, often borrowing from established cultural theories. It prompts students to contemplate their artistic practices in relation to social engagements like cultivating and cooking, which challenge traditional artistic norms. 5. **Aesthetics, Art History, and Cultural Institutions: Project and Peer Review:** Students are invited to create projects inspired by previously discussed themes, again enjoying the same flexibility regarding assessment and peer involvement. 6. **Embodied Knowledges:** This compelling module links activism and socially engaged art to performance art and personal experiences. It emphasizes the importance of “embodied knowledges” which challenge conventional Western splits between intellect and physicality, encouraging students to draw meaning from their lived experiences. 7. **Embodied Knowledge: Project and Peer Reviews:** Similar to previous modules, students are encouraged to design projects based on the learnings from this unit, with an emphasis on self-directed assessment and personal reflection. ### Why You Should Enroll This course is particularly beneficial if you identify as an activist, artist, or simply a curious thinker seeking to engage more meaningfully with social issues. The value lies in its unique approach that combines theory with practice, allowing students to not just learn about social movements but actively engage in them through art. The inclusion of guest presenters who are recognized practitioners adds a rich perspective and correlates practical experiences with theoretical knowledge. ### Key Takeaways - **Flexible Learning Environment:** The course’s structure encourages self-paced learning, with an emphasis on personal reflection and experimentation rather than traditional grading. - **Diverse Perspectives:** Reflecting global movements and practices, the course brings in various cultural perspectives, creating a rich learning tapestry. - **Practical Application:** Through the emphasis on projects, students have the opportunity to apply theoretical learning in practical settings, making the knowledge relevant and actionable. ### Conclusion I highly recommend the **ART of the MOOC: Activism and Social Movements** for anyone interested in the dynamic interplay of art and activism. It’s an enriching experience that empowers participants to reflect, create, and engage deeply with social issues through artistic expression. Each module builds not only knowledge but also a community of like-minded individuals committed to harnessing the power of art to inspire social change. Whether you’re looking to enhance your understanding of activism or seeking to find new ways to express your artistic voice, this course is a significant stepping stone towards that goal.

Syllabus

Introduction to Activism and Social Movements

This short module includes an overview of the course's structure, working process, global community, and overall guidelines. Make sure to read it right away and refer back to it whenever needed.

This opening segment is dedicated to the prolific and exciting overlap between socially engaged art and cultural practices generated by recent social movements around the world. Environmentalism, AIDS activism, Queer movements, Zapatismo, immigrant rallies, alter-globalization, the World Social Forum, Occupy, the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement, museum boycotts, and democratic uprisings in the Middle East will be seen in dialogue with cultural producers who participate in these movements or are inspired by them. Rather than assess the political efficacy of such cultural activities, we will examine their place within contemporary art practices. Based on Listening, Organizing, Dancing, or Partying, each student’s contribution will respond to a particular social movement of their choosing.

The prompt, lecture and guest presentations will provide the foundation and inspiration for students’ own experiments. These student experiments were originally peer reviewed projects in the ART of the MOOC series, but have now been made entirely optional and self-reviewed. If you want to do them, we recommend you chose one of the two options (one is more social, the other more individual) and complete the optional quiz after you are done. Your project submissions and the quiz are not graded, so they will not impact your performance in the course.

Just as recent social movements have transformed contemporary art and culture, activists have relied on ideas developed in more specialized cultural circles, sometimes without knowing it. Starting with an exploration of the ways in which socially engaged public art has been included and excluded from particular narratives, theories, institutions, and events, we will use this lesson to follow social practices as they question conventional art and art history. As we do so, students will be invited to create projects that directly engage with Cultivating, Farming, Cooking, or Eating—activities that are fundamentally social but traditionally seen to contradict serious artistic production.

The prompt, lecture and guest presentations will provide the foundation and inspiration for students’ own experiments. These student experiments were originally peer reviewed projects in the ART of the MOOC series, but have now been made entirely optional and self-reviewed. If you want to do them, we recommend you chose one of the two options (one is more social, the other more individual) and complete the optional quiz after you are done. Your project submissions and the quiz are not graded, so they will not impact your performance in the course.

This lesson will use the notion of ‘embodied knowledges’ to link activism and socially engaged art to performance art, gesture, and ‘writing without words.’ Recognizing that knowledge is inseparable from one’s lived, physical, and social experience, ‘embodied knowledges” challenge the Western paradigms that separate information from matter, reason from affect, mind from the body, the worker from her labor, the individual from the collective. This lesson’s practical components will ask students to actively think ‘from’ their particular site of enunciation and ‘through’ their particular embodied knowledge. Guest presenters: Mujeres Creando, Regina José Galindo, Mariam Ghani, Sharon Hayes, Chemi Rosado-Seijo

The prompt, lecture and guest presentations will provide a foundation and inspiration for students’ own experiments.The prompt, lecture and guest presentations will provide the foundation and inspiration for students’ own experiments. These student experiments were originally peer reviewed projects in the ART of the MOOC series, but have now been made entirely optional and self-reviewed. If you want to do them, we recommend you chose one of the two options (one is more social, the other more individual) and complete the optional quiz after you are done. Your project submissions and the quiz are not graded, so they will not impact your performance in the course.