ETHICS IN THE ARTS (PANF 3100) COURSE OUTLINE

Description:
This course will examine various ethical considerations and approaches at the intersection of creative practice, social justice, and the creative industries. Emphasizing the history of art and social change, the course will explore the ethical responsibilities of individuals within the creative industries to develop frameworks that guide their practices. Topics will include ethical considerations in media communication, feminism, decolonization, racism, transhumanism, and emerging technologies (such as AI, surveillance, etc.). The course will also explore how creative practices and industries can be continually challenged and revised by diverse perspectives, including those from Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Near and Middle Eastern communities, and racialized people, with an intersectional focus on feminist, queer, trans, and critical disability studies, among others. By the end of the course, students will learn how to apply this knowledge and implement an ethical framework within their creative practices and organizations, culminating in a public exhibition. This course is open to non-majors.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe the ways that art can challenge power structures relating to gender, race, disability and other identities through weekly writings and discussions.

  2. Analyze examples of cultural representation and appropriation through research and presentation.

  3. Identify and describe an interdisciplinary selection of creative work by a range of historic and contemporary artists, entrepreneurs, and arts organizations.

  4. Demonstrate a deeper sense of meaning as creators and as citizens through regular in-class prompts and a final creative project.

  5. Collaborate on a final public art exhibition that reflects collective values and aspirations for future work.

Assignments:
Weekly journal responses – 20% of grade
There is a weekly journal response assignment for this class. It’s due before class every Thursday, with exceptions noted on the schedule. Journal responses should be posted as a pdf document on the journal assignment designated for that particular week. Journal responses will be written or created in response to the reading/viewing assignment given the preceding week. The format of the response will be specified in the individual journal assignment. For example, some weeks you will be prompted to write a 300–500-word response, while other weeks you might be prompted to create an artistic response with a short written description to accompany it. The journal responses help me to gauge your comprehension of the material and offer you the opportunity to hone your observational writing and making skills.

Midterm – 20% of grade
he Midterm Project will be assigned in small groups and respond to the following prompt:

Design a public intervention that does the following:

  1. Provokes a conversation.

  2. Considers the social context of the place where it takes place.

  3. Takes inspiration from one of the topics discussed thus far in class (refer to the reading assignments up to Week 7.).

Read about previous student midterm project examples here.

Please prepare a 5-minute project pitch for Thursday, September 25. This should be a concise presentation should include visuals along with  the following information:

  1. What the project is.

  2. Where it will be.

  3. Who it's intended for.

  4. Why it's important.

  5. The ethical considerations and potential impact of the project.

The project pitch will be presented to a panel of AMPD and local Toronto artists and curators for feedback on September 25. Please have your project pitch in the form of a Google Slides presentation.

For the midterm critique on October 23, please prepare a Google Slides presentation of no longer than 7 minutes. The presentation should include visual documentation of your public intervention through photography and/or video, as well as written text either on the slides or in the notes section that reflects on the following:

  1. What was the intention of your public intervention, and did it succeed? Why or why not?

  2. How did the public respond to your intervention?

  3. What did you take inspiration from in this project? What additional research did you conduct to enhance your project intention?

  4. What ethical considerations did your group have to consider when preparing for this project? 

  5. What were the challenges, and how did you address them?

Final Project - 35% of grade
Individually or in a group, you will choose ONE creative work that we’ve discussed over the semester and reinterpret/reinvent the project for a public group exhibition. This exhibition will be presented in the Special Projects Gallery at AMPD from November 24-28, 2025. The exhibition will be executed collaboratively, and we will engage in group discussions to establish its overall intention and curatorial framework. Consider not only what’s important for your project but also how it relates to the group exhibition as a whole.

Your project should be carefully thought out and executed, directly addressing the themes of the course and the ethical considerations discussed in class.

*The work that you've viewed and discussed in this class is provocative, politically and/or socially engaged, and self reflective. It invites viewers and participants to respond to and critically reflect on the material. This assignment invites you, as a student and an artist, to practice critical self reflection and thoughtfully consider the works that you've viewed. You will choose one work and reinterpret it in a way that suits your own voice and the social context within which it's being presented. You should think about how you want the work to speak to a specific issue or topic, and how the viewer/audience should respond to it.

Submission Requirements:
Your final submission will include the creative work and a written reflection. The written reflection should cover the following criteria:

  • Research citations: At least 2

  • Artist statement: Include a description and process

  • Project documentation

  • Impact: What is the public relationship to the work, and what was the intended outcome? Was it effective?

  • Reinterpretation: How is your version different from the original, and why? What necessary changes were made based on the context and project intention?

  • Challenges and solutions: What challenges did you face, and how did you address them?

Timeline and Due Dates:

  1. Written Proposal: Due by Thursday, October 30 (15% of final grade)

  2. Final Project Work-In-Progress: Due by Thursday, November 13 (15% of final grade)

  3. Final Project with title and description: Due by Thursday, November 20 (40% of final grade)

  4. Written Reflection: Due by Thursday, December 4 (30% of final grade)

Exhibition organizing – 10% of grade
All students are expected to contribute to the exhibition’s curation, installation, and gallery attendance, which will be factored into your final grade.

Attendance & Participation – 15% of grade
This class is designed to be taught in person and experienced in person, with active participation in group discussions, class critiques, in-class exercises, and visiting artist presentations being essential. During group discussions, please be mindful of the balance in the conversation. Let’s aim to create a classroom environment where everyone can speak without needing to talk over others or feel excluded. If you notice that you’re speaking more frequently than your classmates, please allow them time and space to contribute as well. Conversely, if you find yourself not speaking much, I encourage you to make an effort to share your ideas. If you need any support or have concerns, please feel free to speak with me at any time.

Readings/Viewings:

Week 1:
Gómez-Peña. “Radical art, radical communities, and radical dreams.” YouTube, TEDx Talks, 19 June, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1KkjVpc5Go

Week 2:
Taylor, Diana. “A Savage Performance: Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Coco Fusco's 'Couple in the Cage.'” TDR (1988-), vol. 42, no. 2, Summer 1998, pp. 160–175. The MIT Press.

Week 3:
Glass, Hamilton, and Pam Hervey, directors. “Mending Walls.” YouTube, 19RED, 2021. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPmhudTQdbM

Week 4:
Lowe, Rick. “Rick Lowe: Big Ideas in Art and Culture Lecture Series.” YouTube, CAFKATV, 8 Jan. 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q09es4PZtY&t=1s

Week 5:
Jacobson, Abbi, host. “If It’s Got Naked People, RuPaul Is In.” A Piece of Work, WNYC Studios, 26 July 2017, https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/pieceofwork/episodes/rupaul-performance-art-yoko-ono

Week 6:
Walker, Jerald. “How to Make a Slave and Other Essays.” Ohio State University Press, 2020. Chapter “Dragon Slayers.”

Week 7:
Reilly, Maura. “Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating.” Thames & Hudson, 2018. Chapter “What is Curatorial Activism?”

Week 8:
Gupta, Kanika. “On Diversity and Representation in the Arts.” Canadian Arts, 19 Mar. 2019, www.canadianarts.org/on-diversity-and-representation-in-the-arts
& “On Accessibility.” An Incomplete Archive of Activist Art, edited by Kevin Gotkin, Zoey Hart, Jerron Herman, Yo-Yo Lin, and Carmen Papalia, 2023, pp. 87–97.

Week 9:
del Campo, Matias. “Art Beyond Mechanical Reproduction: In Conversation with AI Artist Mario Klingemann.” Architectural Design, vol. 94, no. 3, 2024, pp. 62–69. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.3056