Western culture is said to have experienced a paradigmatic shift from modernism to postmodernism.
Rather than a smooth process of cultural transformation, however, this historical moment was characterized by a sense of ambiguity, complexity, and rupture. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the visual arts, which have experienced a series of dramatic changes in the past fifty years. In addition to studying specific works of art, students will also analyze contemporary developments in critical theory, film, literature and architecture.