This discussion-based seminar examines art and visual culture produced during recent periods of social and political upheaval. Students will learn about artistic responses to political events in the United States, India, Afghanistan, South Africa, and elsewhere. How have artists, cultural organizers, and visual journalists sought to teach history, resist oppressive regimes, and develop broader social inclusion while working amid great chaos? We will explore the artists, activists, and arts organizations who are developing strategies for action and how they continue to work under all kinds of circumstances. Readings will be drawn from art criticism, media analysis, and international reporting including the work of Patricia Stuelke on the reparative turn in artistic practice. Claire Bishop on the pitfalls of participation, and Harun Farocki on the operational image. Students will produce a research paper on an artistic or visual response to a recent political or historical event. During the semester, students will write three short reflection papers. As a final project, students will for a collective with two others to write a grant proposal (using a provided form) for a speculative work of art that addresses an area issue in the world they would like to change. (The sky's the limit, you do not need to be constrained by budget, materials, or logistics.). The class will include visits from working artists and other cultural producers and field trips to New York museums.