The Visual West

"Visual Wests" explores the imagery and material culture that shaped ideas about the American West. The institute emphasizes the visual silences that undergirded dominant narratives by erasing or marginalizing Indigenous peoples, African Americans, and others who challenged triumphalist tales by their actions and very presence. We foreground cultural practices, such as those of Native artists, for example, which complicate the story. The West that emerges contemplates complexities of Indigeneity, race, gender, sexuality, freedom, and nature. Participants will grapple with methods for interpreting visual evidence, draw on OU’s faculty expertise and rich archival and museum resources, and experience evocative field trips.