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Course Description

Summary

This course examines major themes in the writings of German philosopher and cultural theorist Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) including history, politics, aesthetics, technology, urban life, archives, and collections. Our goal is to gain a greater understanding of Benjamin’s significance for cultural producers across disciplines, in particular artists, critics, and curators. Texts range from his seminal essays such as “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” to Benjamin's enigmatic masterwork, the Arcades Project. Close readings of assigned texts are coupled with lectures and student research on contemporary examples of Benjamin’s influence—including engagement with a Usdan Gallery exhibition about personal collecting. A review of Benjamin’s tumultuous life provides a frame for his Marxist and antifascist positions; his analysis of the emergence of modern society and technology; and his faith in the survival of art and potential for redemption amid violence and repression.