Deepen your understanding of the powerful lineage of African American art —art that has challenged systems, told untold stories, and ignited cultural movements. Together, we will uncover how African American art has shaped and been shaped by the historical and social forces of its time. Professor Swaidan guides us through three eras of artistic expression born of the African Diaspora: folk art and the visual legacies of slavery; the rise of post-Emancipation artistic expression, as black artists strove to counter stereotypes of blackness and to define their power over themselves and their art; the cultural-artistic revolution of the Harlem Renaissance, as they wrestled with the double consciousness written into their experience. There is much to appreciate in this important legacy. Professor Swaidan will give us interpretive tools: the themes, styles, and ideological dimensions of African American art. We’ll encounter artists we don’t know, and some we do, as we consider how these artists have used their craft to resist, remember, celebrate, and imagine new worlds. We hope you walk away inspired.
Christina Swaidan (BA, Mount Holyoke; MEd, Saint Joseph University; EdD, University of Hartford) is visiting associate professor of educational leadership, department chair and program director of the EdD program in the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions at the University of Hartford. Her research explores the psychic duality or double consciousness experienced by African Americans in higher education, and she was recently recognized at the 2025 100 Women of Color Gala and Awards for her work.
Thursdays, Feb. 26, March 5 | 2 p.m.–3:30 p.m. | Woods Classroom/Mortensen Library | $40
Made possible in part by the generosity of the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
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