60-376 Critical Studies: The Art of the Archive
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
This course delves into the dynamic relationship between artists and archives, examining how cultural and historical collections shape, inform, and intersect with contemporary creative practices. Students will explore the ways artists engage with archival materials—including photographs, letters, documents, sound recordings, film, and digital media—to reimagine history, challenge dominant narratives, and interrogate collective memory. Through lectures, readings, site visits, guest speakers, critical discussion, and hands-on research, students will analyze artists who critically engage with archives in their work. Through project-based inquiry, students will reflect on their own creative practice and personal collections to further examine the artist's role as archivist. Key topics include the ethics of archival research, issues of representation and erasure, questions of authority and ownership, and the fundamentals of archival theory and practice, from the organization and preservation of artifacts to their reinterpretation in contemporary art. By the end of the course, students will have developed an understanding of archives as powerful tools for storytelling, activism, and artistic innovation, gaining the skills to critically and creatively engage with historical and cultural records in their own work."
Prerequisites: none listed
Offered: Fall 2025
Courseweave needs JavaScript to show sections, workloads and planning tools.