The idea of “community” spans various forms of artistic practice, including performance, socially-engaged art, public works, Do-It-Yourself artist-run projects, and curatorial initiatives. Often, community is defined as a group of people who identify with each other by a set of common concerns or backgrounds. It connotes a sense of togetherness, wholeness, and consensus—despite the fact that difference and disagreements are an important part of any group. The concept of community also conjures up a broad set of themes, including identity, desire, friendship, interdependency, collaboration, spectatorship, and accountability. This course examines the concept of community, in its many forms, through contemporary artistic practices and relevant discourses from art criticism, feminist, queer, and decolonial thought. We will discuss artworks that stem from the traditions of feminist organizing, queer social life, relational aesthetics, social practice, and collaborative projects that challenge single authorship and traditional organizing modalities. We will explore case studies from artists/collectives, including Group Material, DIVA TV, Suzanne Lacy, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Thomas Hirschhorn, Krzysztof Wodiczko, rafa esparza, New Red Order, among others. Students will also undertake collective assignments in creative writing, visual art, and performance, in order to experiment with course concepts and to articulate the stakes in their own studio and/or writing practices. The goal of the course is to consider the interrelation between art and social life across genres, to theorize the aesthetic and political possibilities and limitations of community, and to explore what it means to be in relation to one another. Open to: All university undergraduate degree students. Pre-requisites: first-year university writing course and at least one prior history or methods course in art, media, film, or visual culture.