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  2. GENED 1072

Video Commune
GENED 1072

Course Information

Description

From gifs and memes to confessions and controversies, what can the riotous festival of contemporary expression in video teach us about living together?

In this hybrid lecture/production course, students will tune into the aesthetic, social, and political frequencies of video through individual and collaborative study, creation, and performance. Art history will commingle with social media as we put works of video art from the 1970s to the present into conversation with gifs, memes, and other forms of contemporary viral transmission. Lectures, discussions, and technical demonstrationswill be punctuated by guest presentations and collective workshops. Together we will examine and develop a range of approaches to thinking, feeling, and making with video, creating space to reflect on the instability of our times through its signature medium. Students will respond to this collective inquiry by creating and sharing one short video per week.

Class Notes

This course is part of the Gen Ed lottery and has an enrollment cap. To participate in the lottery, you must request permission to enroll by submitting a petition and ranking your choices through my.harvard by 11:59 p.m. EST Monday, November 9, 2026. 

  • Note: You must rank your course choices to participate in the lottery--even if you choose only one course. 

The Gen Ed lottery will run Tuesday, November 10. If you are successful in the lottery, it will say “Petition Approved” in green above the course in your Crimson Cart. You will have until 11:59 p.m. EST Thursday, November 12, to select “enroll” and claim your seat. After that time, enrollment will open up to non-lottery petitioners. 

For instructions on how to participate in the lottery, please visit: https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=c3e857c9db7d4bc4a752f1a51d96190e 

For more information on the Gen Ed lottery specifically, please visit: https://gened.college.harvard.edu/courses/registration-and-lottery/

School Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Not Available for Cross Registration

Course Component Lecture
Grading Basis FAS Letter Graded
Course Requirements Course open to Undergraduate Students Only
General Education Aesthetics and Culture
Quantitative Reasoning with Data N/A
Divisional Distribution None
Course Level Primarily for Undergraduate Students