This course explores the question, “What does art do?” We will study how art actively engages the complexity of the world through a range of art forms (visual, musical, dance, cinematic, architectural, and other forms) and through a range of aesthetic movements including Classicism, Modernism, and the many configurations of transnational, post-colonial, and Black radical aesthetic. To deepen our historical and conceptual understanding and expand our critical vocabulary, we will read philosophical and historical texts including artists’ statements and manifestos. We will also develop a class archive of annotated art works, using these in the final weeks of the semester to map how a wide range of ideas and practices can help us understand how arts acts within the world. This course fulfills the aesthetics requirement for Lang Arts majors.