Contemporary Views: Contemporary Voices of War
This handout explores recent wars and armed conflicts through contemporary art.
WAR & ACTIVISM LESSON 2:
HANDOUT 4
1-2 class periods (60-90 min)
- Art and Culture
Medium > Visual Arts
Subject Matter > Art History
Subject Matter > Music
- History and Social Studies
Place > Africa
Place > The Americas
Place > Asia
Place > Europe
Place > The Middle East
Themes > Culture
Themes > Immigration/Migration
Themes > Politics and Citizenship
Themes > Religion
Themes > War and Foreign Policy
World > The Modern World
- Analysis
- Compare and contrast
- Critical thinking
- Cultural analysis
- Discussion
- Gathering, classifying and interpreting written, oral and visual information
- Historical analysis
- Interpretation
- Making inferences and drawing conclusions
- Media analysis
- Musical analysis
- Poetry analysis
- Research
- Summarizing
- Synthesis
- Textual analysis
- Visual art analysis
- ELA Reading: 7
- ELA Writing: 7, 9
- ELA Speaking & Listening: 1-2
- HSS Reading: 1-2, 7, 9
- HSS Writing: 7, 9
CONTINUE THIS LESSON
Complete the lesson now with one of our Student Activity Options
- Allow additional time for students to research recent conflicts and their artists in more depth, using resources from the handout as well as our War & Activism Unit Research handout.
- Reflection and concluding questions may also be assigned as short essays or response papers.
- Compare contemporary philosophical and theoretical writings on war, injustice, and activism to the work of artists of war and exile, asking students to read and discuss excerpts, then write a short reflection in response. Possible resources include selections from the work of Mark Danner (Stripping Bare the Body: Politics, Violence, War, Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War), Judith Butler (Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable?), and Rebecca Solnit (Hope in the Dark); see the War & Activism Unit Research handout for additional resources.