In the early twentieth century, visions of a hemispheric American identity emerged as a way to distinguish cultural production in the Americas as distinct from an older, dominant European model. A number of artists and institutions attempted to unite the Americas and announce a new form of art that was not just a slavish copy of European projects. Tensions within the hemisphere and a history of US imperialism, however, still threaten ability to conceive of any kind of Pan-American identity.

This course seeks to answer the question, is it possible to consider a Hemispheric American Art? It aims to connect U.S. American Modernism with Latin American Modernism through key themes and figures and an investigation into various tensile relationships between “America” and Europe. We explore the concept of “American modernism” by examining case studies as they move beyond or around national boundaries. How were things like nations, citizenship, borders, and empire contested similarly and differently in various loci of “American” art? In the spirit of R1B seminars for first and second year undergraduates, it aims to equip students with tools for reading and writing for their future academic careers. It is therefore organized around key terms that connect our specific case studies more broadly to the world around them.