Modernisms
Faculty Coordinators: Laura Chiesa (RLL) and Damien Keane (English)
“Modernism” is a theoretical and field designator, representing both a time period and the innovative aesthetics primarily identified with that time period, in the fields of visual arts, music, architecture, literature, dance, theater, and film—which is to say in every field of creative endeavor. Not coincidentally, this was a time of tremendous political upheaval and technological invention worldwide—that is, a period in which both daily life and cultural/social life underwent dramatic change. The Modernist Studies Association has an international membership of around a thousand, and there is a prestigious journal devoted to this field—titled in a way that embraces the Janus-face of time period and aesthetic: “Modernism/Modernity.” While this field can be defined in relation to aesthetics as extending all the way up to the present, typically it designates the period between the 1890s and the 1950s or ’60s. The relationship between nineteenth-century aesthetics and social mores and those of the early twentieth century, as also between “modernism” and “post-modernism,” remain areas of active debate. With the title “Modernisms,” we seek to include faculty and graduate students working in all aspects (and in any geographical location) of this period, which revolutionized the arts, aesthetics, design, and life in ways still influencing criticism, historical analysis, and creative work in the twenty-first century.
Upcoming Modernisms Research Workshops
There are no upcoming events.
Click here for the archive of Modernisms Research Workshop events.
