FFC 100-20
Feminist-Art-Theory-Power
Fall 2014
TTH 11:30-12:45, BK206
Instructor: Prof. CK Magliola
Office Hours: MW12-2 & by appt., Roosevelt Hall 215
E-mail: magliola@chapman.edu
Sociology Main Office: (714)997-6621
“Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage.”
—Adrienne Rich
Course Description:
The feminist movement of the second wave constitutes one of the most profound social
movements in American history. As women challenged patriarchal institutions of all kinds, art
was both an important target and medium of feminist activism. While more than forty years
have passed since Linda Nochlin famously posed the question, “Why have there been no great
women artists?” (1971), the content and significance of the answer remain grossly
underappreciated. This line of feminist interrogation challenged naïve understandings of
“artistic genius,” politicized the institutional exclusion and subjugation of women in the canon
of Western Art, and forever altered the analytical direction of the field of art history. Despite
this, women artists continue to be ignored, silenced and derided in the art world (as part and
parcel of a larger cultural and political exclusion) at the same time that women’s bodies are the
ubiquitous image of our ambient visual culture. From Botticelli to Maxim, perhaps nothing has
been more favored as an artistic subject— more glorified, nor more reviled– than the female
body. The “canon” of Western art as well as much contemporary visual culture systematically
casts women as muses and objects, rather than as artists, creators, and agents themselves. In
the current context of “postfeminism”—which dangerously mythologizes gender equality in the
midst of a violent and egregiously gendered (misogynistic) reality—this course focuses on and
derives its spirit from the Feminist Art Movement of the 1970s in the US and utilizes feminist
theory to rupture the “canon,” to interrogate contemporary visual culture, and to explore social
activism and the revolutionary power of art and feminism.
Course Learning Outcomes:
 Students will obtain an understanding of the power of visual culture and its relationship
to social relations and social change
 Students will obtain scholarly knowledge of the 1970s feminist art movement in the US
and its relationship to contemporary art and society
 Students will develop new ways to think about gender and the social world through the
application of ideas from feminist theory
 Students will obtain improved reading, writing and research skills at the university-level,
especially as it relates to scholarship involving visual culture and gender studies
Program Learning Outcomes:
 As a GE FFC [General Elective Freshman Foundations Course], this course provides
students an introduction to university-level critical inquiry.
 By the end of the term, students will have developed proficiency in critically analyzing
and communicating complex issues and ideas.
Class Policies, Requirements, and Evaluation:
Required Texts:
 The Power of Feminist Art [PFA] Eds., Norma Broude & Mary Garrard. 1996. ISBN9780810926592 (out of print: selections available on Blackboard or for purchase used)
 Art and Feminism [A&F] Ed., Helena Reckitt. 2006. ISBN-9780714863917
 The Feminism & Visual Culture Reader [FVC] Ed., Amelia Jones. 2nd edition. 2009.
ISBN-9780415543705
 The Guerrilla’s Girls Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. [GGBC]
Penguin, 1998. ISBN-978-0140259971
 Course Reader [CR]: Electronic articles available on Blackboard or online.
Recommended Texts:
 Ways of Seeing by Jon Berger. Seal Press, 1990. ISBN-9780140135152
Evaluation:
You are required to attend lecture, keep up on your reading, complete all assignments, and
participate in class. You are responsible for all assigned readings and all material covered in
class, including lecture, films, handouts, and assignments. The instructor of this class does
not give grades; rather, you earn your grade. Your grade will be based on your effort and
performance in the categories of evaluation as follows:
15%
20%
Class Attendance & Participation (including any in-class “artivities”)*
Wordpress Personal Website
15% HW Assignments (e.g., Blog Essays/Response to Readings)
5%
Comments (online responses to peer work; wordpress commentary & upkeep)
5%
Feminist Artist – Analytical Review
20% Art-Theory Projects (art piece & artist statements): 1. Commodity Self Portrait
(individual); 2. Culture Jamming Poster (individual); 3. Gender Performativity Photo Triptych
(individual); Performance Art Piece (individual or group); 5. Public Art Project (group) [~4%
each]
5%
Prezi Group Project
10% Term Paper
25% Final Exam
*(Attendance & Participation= 15 percentage points. DAYS ABSENT _____ x 1 = _____ subtracted from 15= ___
then, calculate PARTICIPATION= high/medium/low. If very high, subtract 0; If medium, subtract 4; if low, subtract 8
= ___/15)
Required Outside-of-Class Viewing of Films:
3 Homework Films: Rear Window (1954); Crying Game (1992); Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

As possible, these films will be made available at the Reserve Desk of Leatherby
Libraries. You are encouraged to organize viewings and watch films collectively.
Additional Recommended films: Heresies; !WAR: Women Art Revolution; Exit through the
Gift Shop; Art 21; The Artist is Present; The Woodmans
As will be discussed further in class, most all student work in this course must be posted to each
student’s individual Wordpress site, which will be linked to our main course website found at
feministartpower.wordpress.com. We will have a workshop early in the semester to get
everyone set up on Wordpress.
In accordance with the concerns of the President and Chancellor concerning the rigor of courses
and the expectation that Chapman students be academically challenged in their courses,
Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences strongly encourages the teaching faculty to
utilize the full grading spectrum for assessing student work. The grades A, A- and B+ will be
reserved for student work that is truly excellent. [Translation: This course is not an “Easy A”
with high grades awarded to those who do the minimum. “A” grades will only be awarded to
students who consistently demonstrated academic excellence in every area of evaluation
throughout the course.]
Attendance Policy:
A student's presence and participation in class are critical factors towards the completion of the
work for the class and achievement of success in the course. Attendance at lecture (two times a
week) is mandatory. Moreover, it is not enough to just show up and sit there. You are expected
to contribute to the class through regular participation. Repeated tardiness is disruptive and
disrespectful. Please try to get to class in a timely fashion. If you arrive after attendance is
taken, your presence may not to be recorded. There will be no make-ups for examinations,
quizzes, lectures, or assignments missed. I will not arrange exams to be taken early. Please
make your travel plans accordingly.
Please be aware:
• If you do not have stellar attendance & participation, it will be impossible to receive an A in
the course.
• In accordance with Chapman University recommendations, students who miss more than
20% of the classes (6 or more) will be automatically failed.
1 ABSENCE = 1 PERCENTAGE POINT PENALTY
3 TARDIES= 1 ABSENCE
There will be no “excused absences” in this course for any reason. You earn credits for the course
through contact hours with your instructor during class meetings. (A 14-week semester produces
approximately 35 contact hours for 3 units of credit or about 11.5 hours per unit.) Regardless of
the reason for your absence, you cannot earn said credits if you are not in class. If you miss class
for medical reasons, a family death/emergency, or any other serious reason, you must work
through the Office of Student Affairs/Dean of Students (714-997-6721, Argyros Forum 101), who
will then contact your professors on your behalf.
This class is a COMPUTER-FREE zone. I will not tolerate the use of laptops, cell-phones, I-pads,
or any other devices superfluous to the course. Violations will result in immediate dismissal from
the class session and the student’s attendance & participation points will be recorded as a zero for
the day.
Assignments will not be accepted via email, unless students are specifically directed to submit
in this fashion.
If a student exhibits disruptive and disrespectful behavior in class, that student's attendance and
participation points will be recorded as a zero for the day &/or that student will be dismissed
from the class session. Two such warnings will result in a meeting with the Chair and possible
expulsion from the course.
In the event that the instructor is not present for a class meeting, and in the absence of a specific
directive, students are asked to extend the courtesy of waiting 10 minutes before departing.
Chapman University’s Academic Integrity Policy
Chapman University is a community of scholars that emphasizes the mutual responsibility of all
members to seek knowledge honestly and in good faith. Students are responsible for doing their
own work and academic dishonesty of any kind will be subject to sanction by the
instructor/administrator and referral to the university Academic Integrity Committee, which
may impose additional sanctions including expulsion. Please see the full description of
Chapman University's policy on Academic Integrity at
www.chapman.edu/academics/academicintegrity/index.aspx.
In addition, please note: All course materials are copyrighted and may not be uploaded or
provided to others without express consent of the instructor.
Chapman University’s Students with Disabilities Policy
In compliance with ADA guidelines, students who have any condition, either permanent or
temporary, that might affect their ability to perform in this class are encouraged to contact the
Disability Services Office. If you will need to utilize your approved accommodations in this
class, please follow the proper notification procedure for informing your professor(s). This
notification process must occur more than a week before any accommodation can be utilized.
Please contact Disability Services at (714) 516–4520 or visit
www.chapman.edu/students/student-health-services/disability-services if you have questions
regarding this procedure or for information or to make an appointment to discuss and/or
request potential accommodations based on documentation of your disability. Once formal
approval of your need for an accommodation has been granted, you are encouraged to talk with
your professor(s) about your accommodation options. The granting of any accommodation will
not be retroactive and cannot jeopardize the academic standards or integrity of the course.
Chapman University’s Equity and Diversity Policy
Chapman University is committed to ensuring equality and valuing diversity. Students and
professors are reminded to show respect at all times as outlined in Chapman’s Harassment and
Discrimination Policy. Please see the full description of this policy at
http://www.chapman.edu/faculty-staff/human-resources/eoo.aspx. Any violations of this
policy should be discussed with the professor, the dean of students and/or otherwise reported in
accordance with this policy.
Reading Schedule
(readings are to be completed by the date listed)
Week 1: Introduction: What is the “canon” of Western Art? Feminism and Art;
Gender, Power and Visual Culture
Tues., 9/2
Introduction, Course Objectives, Class Policies.
Thurs., 9/4
 CR: Nochlin, L. “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”
 GGBC: Skim all; Read “Introduction” and “Conclusion” (p.6-9; p.90-91) [same as FVC
#45: The Guerrilla Girls. “Introduction and Conclusion to The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside
Companion to the History of Western Art” (p.411-415)]
 CR: Woolf, V. “Thinking About Shakespeare’s Sister” (p.473-475)--available online at
http://egophelia.free.fr/2femme/woolfroomsister.htm
Possible Film: Picturing the Genders; The Other Side of the Picture;
!WAR! Women Art Revolution
Week 2: What is Feminism? Historical and Social Context of Feminist Movement.
Key Terms. 3 Historical Waves of Feminism; Feminist Art Movement of the 1970’s;
Art and Social Change; Representations of Women
Tues., 9/9
 Bunting, S. “Yes, You Are” online: http://tomatonation.com/culture-and-criticism/yesyou-are/
 CR: Johnson, A. “Patriarchy, the System”
 PFA: Broude & Garrard. “Introduction: Feminism and Art in the Twentieth Century”
(p.10-29)
 A& F: Reckitt, H. “Preface” (p.11-13)
Thurs., 9/11
COMPUTER LAB FOR WORDPRESS SETUP
Week 3: 1970s Feminist Art Movement (continued)
Featured Artists: Judy Chicago & Miriam Shapiro; Mary Beth Edelson; Carolee Schneeman;
Louise Bourgeois
Tues., 9/16
 PFA: “Feminist Art Programs” (p.32-47)
 CR: Pollock, Griselda. 1999. “About Canons and Culture Wars” from Differencing the
Canon: Feminist Desire and the Writing of Art Histories. (Feminist Theory #91, p.499501)


“In a Pig’s Eye: Mary Beth Edelson” Online:
http://www.marybethedelson.com/essay_pigeye.html
A&F: Phelan, P. “Survey (Intro)Greatness” (p.14-36)
Possible Film: Womanhouse or Agnes Varda’s What is a Woman?
Thurs., 9/18
 PFA: Raven, Arlene. “Womanhouse” (& The Woman’s Building)
 Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party. Visit Online Gallery:
http://www.judychicago.com/gallery.php?name=The+Dinner+Party+Gallery and
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/teachers/Dinner_Party_Edu_r
esources.pdf
 PFA: “Conversations with Judy Chicago and Miriam Shapiro” (p.66-85)
 A&F: “Survey: Essentialism: Language and the Body” & “A Digression on Wishes” (p.3639)
(Possible Artivity: Feminist Screenprinting or Central Core Imagery)
Week 4: Theorizing the Body; Woman as Other; Objectification and
Representation; the Patriarchal Gaze; The Aesthetics of Power; the Colonial Gaze:
Oppression, Spectatorship, Modernity
Featured Artists: Hannah Wilke; Ana Mendieta; Suzanne Lacy; Joan Semmel, Alice Neel;
Jenny Saville; Sylvia Sleigh
Tues., 9/23
 FVC #7: Berger “Ways of Seeing” excerpt. (p.49-52) [same as Ways of Seeing book Ch. 3,
p. 45-64 but illustrated]
 Artforum Article “Absent-Minded Female Nude on Bed: for David Salle” 1981 (1 page)
 CR: Excerpt from Kenneth Clark’s “The Nude” Online:
http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/nudes/naked.html
 Nochlin, L. “Offbeat and Naked.” Online:
http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/nochlin/nochlin11-5-99.asp
 Dworkin, Andrea. “Vargas’ Blonde Sambos” Online:
http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/exhibitions/vargas/dworkin.shtml
Possible Film: Dreamworlds 3/Codes of Gender/Killing Us Softly
Thurs., 9/25
 PFA: Frueh.“The Body Through Women’s Eyes” (p.190-207)
 CR: Nochlin, L. “Eroticism and Female Imagery’” in Woman as Sex Object
 CR: Wolf, Naomi. “The Beauty Myth” (excerpt, 5 pages)
 FVC #57: Nead, Linda “Theorizing the Female Nude” (p.519-534
COMMODITY SELF PORTRAIT DUE/Class Exhibit
Week 5: (above continued)
Featured Artists: Betye Saar; Yolanda Lopez
Tues., 9/30
 CR: Zeisler, Andi. “Pop and Circumstance: Why Pop Culture Matters” (prologue & 1-21)
 FVC #9: Mulvey, L. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (p.57-65)
 FVC #14: hooks, b. “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators” (p.107-118)
 A&F: “Survey: In Theory” (p.39-42)
Thurs., 10/2
FFC-100 Library Instruction with Lugene Rosen, LL-305
Week 6: Feminism, Art, and Violence against Women; Sexism & Racism; Memory,
Trauma
Featured Artists: Artemisia Gentileschi; WAC; Regina Galindo; Yoko Ono; Suzanne Lacy &
Leslie Labowitz; Rachel Rosenthal; Käthe Kollwitz
Tues., 10/7
 CR: Bal, Mieke. “Reading Art?”
 CR: Garrard, Mary. “Artemisia and Susanna”
 GGBC: “Artemisia Gentileschi” (p.35-37)
 PFA: Lopez & Roth “Social Protest: Racism and Sexism” (p.140-157)
Possible Film: In Mourning and in Rage (excerpt); As Seen Through These Eyes
Thurs., 10/9
 CR: Lippard, Lucy. “Rape: Show and Tell” from The Pink Glass Swan (p.241-247)
 PFA: Lacy, Suzanne. “Affinities: Thoughts on an Incomplete History” ( p.264-275)
CULTURE JAMMING POSTER DUE
Week 7: Racism and Feminism in Art; Identity and Difference; Power, Desire
Appropriation, Pastiche, Parody, and Postmodern
Featured Artists: Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems, Adrian Piper; Judy Baca; Lorraine
O’Grady; Howardena Pindell
Tues., 10/14
 PFA: “Backlash and Appropriation” (Schor, Mira. 248-263)
 PFA: “The Feminist Continuum: Art after 1970” (Cottingham, Laura. 276-288)
 “The Art of Kara Walker” website and “Gallery Guide to My Complement, My Enemy, My
Oppressor, My Love” PDF (9 pages) Online: http://learn.walkerart.org/karawalker/
 FVC #31: Piper, Adrian. “The Triple Negation of Colored Women Artists” (p.273-281)
 FVC #24: O’Grady, Lorraine. “Olympia’s Maid: Reclaiming Black Female Subjectivity”
(p.208-220)
Thurs., 10/16 Catch up on assigned readings.
Possible Film: ART 21: Cindy Sherman; Kara Walker
Week 8: Gender Performativity, Identity, Sexuality, Feminism & Postmodernism
Featured Artists: Cindy Sherman; Claude Cahun; Harmony Hammond; Eleanor Antin;
Martha Wilson
Tues., 10/21
 FVC #15: Phelan, Peggy. “Broken Symmetries” (p.118—127)
 CR: Williamson, Judy. “A Piece of Action: Images of ‘Woman’ in the Photography of
Cindy Sherman.”
 CR: Paoli, Julia. “Deconstructing ‘Woman’: the Works of Cindy Sherman.” Found
online http://uwo.ca/visarts/research/2008-09/bon_a_tirer/Julia%20Paoli.html &
Blackboard
Possible Film: ART 21- Cindy Sherman
Thurs., 10/23
 FVC #19: Hammond, Harmony. “Lesbian Artists” (p.159-160)
 A&F: “Survey: Up to and Including Our Limits” (p.43-46)
 FVC #18: Halberstam, J. “The Transgender Look” (p.146-154)
 GGBC: “Claude Cahun” (p.62-63)
GENDER PERFORMATIVITY PHOTO TRIPTYCH DUE
Week 9: Gender, Art and Religion; Freud and Sexuality; “Goddess Art”
Featured Artists: Monica Sjoo; Helen Redman; Ana Mendieta; Mary Beth Edelson
Tues., 10/28
 CR: Tong, R. “Psychoanalytic Feminism” ( p. 128-135 on Freud/Millet)
 CR: Koedt, A. “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm” (p.186-190)
 PFA: Orenstein “Recovering Her Story: Feminist Artists Reclaim the Great Goddess”
(p.174-189)
 CR: Christ, Carol. “Why Women Need the Goddess” (7 pages) Online:
http://www.goddessariadne.org/whywomenneedthegoddess.htm
 CR: Sjöö, Monica. “Art is a Revolutionary Act” (p.591-592)
Thurs., 10/30 Catch up on assigned readings.
Possible Film (Excerpt): Goddess Remembered
Week 10: Gender and Performance; Feminist Performance Art and Body Art
Featured Artist: Coco Fusco; Rachel Rosenthal; Carolee Schneeman; Orlan; Regina Galindo.
Martha Wilson; Yoko Ono; Marina Abramovic
Tues., 11/4
 PFA: “Feminist Performance Art” (p.158-173)
 FVC #54: Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution”(p.482-492)
Thurs., 11/6
 FVC #26: Fusco, Coco “The Other History of Intercultural Performance”(p. 225-226)
 FVC #44: Lacy & Labowitz. “Feminist Media Strategies for Political Performance (p.400410)
Possible Film: Couple in the Cage ; The Artist is Present
Week 11: Cultural Imperialism, Culture Jamming; Public Space
Featured Artists: Judy Baca; Carrie Mae Weems; Yolanda Lopez; Cady Noland, Hannah
Hoch, Barbara Kruger; Jenny Holzer; Tracy Moffat; Panmela Castro
Tues., 11/11
 CR: Solom0n- Godeau, Abigail. “Taunting and Haunting: Critical Tactics in a Minor
Mode” (p.371-401)
 CR: Hayden, Dolores. “Urban Landscapes as Public History” (p.69-75)
 CR: Neumaier, Diane. “Judy Baca: Our People Are the Internal Exiles” (p.65-79)
Thurs., 11/13 Catch up on assigned readings.
Week 12: Class Presentations
Tues., 11/18 Groups Presentations: PREZI due
Thurs., 11/20 Groups Presentations: PREZI due
PUBLIC ART PROJECT PROPOSAL & MOCK-UP DUE
Week 13: (11/24-11/28) Thanksgiving Recess. No Class.
Week 14: Third Wave Feminism; More Contemporary Feminist Artists
Tues., 12/2
 FVC #32: Mira Schor “Patrilineage”(p. 282-289)
 CR: Isaak, Jo Anna. 1996. “The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Laughter” In
Feminism and Contemporary Art. London & New York: Routledge, p. 11-46.
Possible Film: !WAR ! Women Art Revolution; The Woodmans; Jenny Holzer;
Grrrl Love and Revolution: Riot Grrrl NYC; The Heretics; or,
Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress, and the Tangerine
Thurs., 12/4
Catch up on assigned readings.
PERFORMANCE ART PIECE DUE
Week 15: DIY Aesthetics; Conclusion to Course; Final Paper Projects
Tues., 12/9
“DIY Aesthetics” with Annie Knight (tentative) -- reading TBA
Thurs., 12/11 Review Session, Course Wrap-Up
Term Paper Due
Final Examination Week:
Fri., 12/19
FINAL EXAM 10:45-1:15