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Course Description

This design history course is offered in partnership with Polymode.

Black Design in America: African Americans and the African Diaspora in Graphic Design 19th to 21st Century

Through recorded lectures, readings, and discussions, quizzes and assignments, the class sheds light on moments of oppression and visibility. The series revisits and rewrites the course of design history in a way that centers previously marginalized designers, cultural figures, and particularly BIPOC and QTPOC people.

Course Topics:

  • Afrikan Alphabets and African Diasporic Design Lineage
  • Systems of Slavery and White Supremacy
  • Designing Emancipation
  • Blackface and Minstrelsy Tradition
  • Black Data: W.E.B. Du Bois and Data Visualization
  • Black Queer Stories in Print: 19th Century to the Harlem Renaissance
  • The Great Migration: Harlem Artists Guild, and the 306 Group
  • Strikethrough: Typography Messages of Protest for Civil Rights
  • Iterative Identity: Art Deco, Worlds Fair, and American Limits on Humanity
  • Ebony, Special Issue: The Black Revolution. August 1969.
  • Black Revolutions: Organizing the Production of Black Design
  • Funk, Blaxploitation, and Hip Hop Aesthetics
  • Behind and Ahead of the Times: Histories and Futures of Black Futurity
  • Radical Design Pedagogy: Towards an Autochthonic Black Aesthetic for Graphic Design Pedagogy

Additional Information

Students who enroll in an Extended Studies course may purchase a one-year Adobe Creative Cloud subscription at the reduced price of $250.00.
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Enroll Now - Select a section to enroll in

Section Title
Black Design in America
Type
ES Online Asynchronous
Dates
Feb 03, 2026 to Mar 24, 2026
Delivery Options
Online-Asynchronous  
Course Fee(s)
Tuition non-credit $250.00 Click here to get more information
Section Fees
Adobe Creative Cloud $250.00 Optional

Section Notes

THIS COURSE IS ACCESSED THROUGH CANVAS

Students may complete the coursework at their own pace. Assignments are graded at the end of each month.

Most Canvas online courses qualify towards a CalArts Certificate.