LAEL 3150

This co-requisite interdisciplinary course qualifies for both Liberal Arts Elective credit (LAEL) and either Non-major Studio Elective credit (NMSE) or Printmaking credit, brings together Black literary and print traditions to inform our understanding of American civil society and, more broadly, democracy and its complex relationship to freedom as a cultural phenomenon. Throughout the course, we will examine a number of central questions:  What is the relationship between concepts of political power and the black archive as a blueprint for liberatory praxis? How can we use ideas of liberation found in black letters to narrate through offset and letterpress print design? What is Rhode Island’s role in these histories and stories of resistance?

Rooted in our local histories of Black resistance and offset and letterpress print craft, the first half of this course will use a lecture and group discussion format to examine the importance of the liberatory imagination in primary source documentation. A core objective is to clarify the silences surrounding oppressive ideology and its promotion of racially repressive phenomena through print culture and political counterframes.

Note: This is a co-requisite course for Juniors, Seniors, Fifth-year and Graduate Students. Enrollment includes both LAEL 3150 and PRINT 3250. Students will receive 3 studio/non-major studio elective credits and 3 liberal arts elective credits, for a total of 6 credits. This course is not available for registration in Workday. To register, please email the Registrar's Office at registrar@risd.edu. Registration will close once the course reaches 15 students.