Too many white men have created great art over the past few centuries, and Yale is finally going to do something about it.
The Ivy League university will be scrapping its art history survey course, “Introduction to Art History: Renaissance to the Present,” in order to become less “problematic.” Apparently, the class focused on too many straight, white men, that abhorrent genre of geniuses.
Art history department chairman Tim Barringer explained in an email to the Yale Daily News: “I want all Yale students (and all residents of New Haven who can enter our museums freely) to have access to and to feel confident analyzing and enjoying the core works of the western tradition. But I don’t mistake a history of European painting for the history of all art in all places.”
Perhaps instead of scrapping the course, Barringer could just change its name to be more reflective of its contents. That seems easier than ditching an important survey course altogether. Plus, why eliminate a class that’s already so woke?
According to a syllabus note for this spring’s final iteration, the course will already focus not only on race, gender, class, and capitalism; it will also address the relationship between art and climate change, a truly essential consideration. Haven’t you ever wondered about Leonardo da Vinci’s carbon footprint? Mona Lisa was only smiling because she didn’t know about the ozone layer.
But Barringer, himself a white man, said that in a few years, that narrow-minded survey course about the greatest art in the history of the world will be replaced. So sad that Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and van Gogh were white dudes. Time to throw out the Sistine Chapel ceiling, The Night Watch, and The Starry Night.
The course will be eliminated in favor of classes such as “Art and Politics,” “Global Craft,” “The Silk Road,” and “Sacred Places.” Even then, the classes won’t be safe from white men, though. They should be wary of Michelangelo weaseling his way into “Sacred Places” or Picasso popping up in “Art and Politics.”
Yale’s decision to scrap a survey of art history because it contains too many white male artists is absurd, and its quest for the perfect level of diversification will send it down an endless spiral.
The emphasis on diversity quotas over knowledge is nothing new in higher education. A few years back, Yale students called for faculty to stop focusing so much on dead white men. You know, guys such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton. In response, the English Department chose to “decolonize” its degree requirements.
Never mind that these great works of literature focus on universal themes and often depict diverse figures, even if they were created by white men. Or that it is also possible to learn about white dudes as well as lesser-known and more diverse artists.
Yale has devalued the meaning of art by viewing it only through a politically correct, 21st century lens. Soon, liberal arts majors may graduate knowing little of great artists simply because of their gender or the color of their skin. That sounds pretty “problematic.”
