Length: 3 weeks
This unit will introduce the key overarching concepts that will recur throughout the curriculum. We begin with a primer on social justice, privilege, and intersectionality. We will also delve in to the intersections of art, culture, and history. Students will research and share with their classmates their family’s history and cultural background. Students will also study and share artists who share similar identities with themselves and critically evaluate how their work either 1) counters deficit narratives, 2) resists the dominant culture, 3) and/or celebrates joy in their identity.
After having the chance to appreciate each other’s culture and background students will begin planning their first activist art project, an interpretative self portrait. Throughout this process students will reflect on their strengths, sources of pride, and the aspects of their identity that are most important to them. Once completed, students will share their work, speak to their learning, and engage their classmates in a discussion around their art.
Priority Goals
- Students will explore their place in their own world, set their own goals, and determine how they want to be seen in order to develop a positive sense of identity. They will express and affirm their identity through the artwork that they create.
Essential Questions
- What role do artists play in society?
- How has art historically been used to cultivate change?
- Who gets to define me and how can I define myself?
- How does family play a role in shaping our values and beliefs?
- How does intersectionality relate to identity and justice?
- Share the definition of “cultural capital? Why is it important and how do we build it?
Notes: